CITY Issue 55 - (Page 50) CITY LIFE / HOW WE LIVE / THE LIVING ROOM WRITER’S BLOCK Located in the heart of New York’s West Village, Tom Dolby’s classic, yet modern apartment is an author’s dream space. With a tailored personal style and fine collection of off-beat art, this is one residence worth writing home about. By Renee Lucas “The ed abbit sittin on the Louis uitton t un as f om a limited edition made b a Ge man a tist that I encounte ed in a alle outside F an fu t. It as c eated fo the th annive sa of Dü e ’s famous paintin of the same abbit. The a tist, Ottma Hö l, made thousands and displa ed them in the to n squa e in Nü nbe as pa t of an installation. I ne I had to bu th ee — one in blac , one in hite, and one in ed. The e e elativel ine pensive — I thin the shippin cost mo e than the abbits themselves — but it’s fun and p ovides a splash of colo .” A n introverted, coming-of-age -year-old, Ethan Whitley arrives at his new Massachusetts p ep school wide-eyed and timid in autho Tom Dolby’s new novel, The Si th Fo m. The Califo nia teenage makes quick f iends with Todd Eldon, a spoiled New o k City ich kid, who invites Whitley to his family’s Fi h venue apa tment. s Whitley takes in the stunning home, the setting comes alive. “The walls of the Eldon apa tment’s p ivate vestibule at Fi h venue we e upholste ed in tan suede panels,” Dolby w ites, “a Picasso d awing of a female nude g eeting visito s as they got off the elevato . The floo s we e ebonized to a deep black shine and cove ed in Pe sian ugs.” ound anothe co ne , Dolby continues: “Flowe s eve ywhe e, eno mous multicolo ed a angements, pe haps put togethe by the housekeepe , in little nooks, on bedside tables, in the powde oom: small vases of f esh oses, a single lily.” Vib ant, ichly detailed desc iptions like these se ve a dual pu pose fo Dolby: to show his love and espect fo fabulous inte io s, and to ope ate as a cha acte study. Befo e Dolby can fully develop a cha acte in one of his novels, he fi st envisions thei su oundings. ///// / / / / / / / / / / / / / / “I’ll o en imagine whe e a cha acte lives befo e I even know all the details about thei life,” the -yea -old explains. Dolby shows his passion fo inte io design in the eal wo ld, too — th ough his own apa tment. The day I met Dolby at his West Village esidence, the ea ly mo ning ain quickly b oke and sunlight flooded into the et o living oom th ough a la ge window that p ovides an t Deco view of lowe Manhattan. It’s an unusual scene, as most buildings in this a ea a en’t as tall as his. “People love the oom, which always th ills me,” Dolby says. “It comes alive at night, pa ticula ly — the cityscape is the most pe fect New o k view I could eve imagine, and the black and white accents just feel ve y u ban to me. It’s so vib ant and the West Village is a d eam neighbo hood fo a w ite .” Today, Dolby is off to his alma mate , the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., to speak to an English class about The Si th Fo m. Though the book is not autobiog aphical, much of the inside knowledge about New England boa ding schools clea ly came f om having attended one. “It should be fun. I’ll get a sense f om the kids as to whethe I captu ed thei lives accu ately,” he says. PEOPLE LOVE THE ROOM, WHICH ALWAYS THRILLS ME. THE CITYSCAPE IS THE MOST PERFECT NEW YORK VIEW I COULD EVER IMAGINE. “Ph llis Hattis, an a t consultant and famil f iend, ave me the si ned ‘Ch isto aps the Museum’ poste fo m st bi thda , lon befo e e all became eacquainted ith Ch isto th ou h ‘The ates.’ ” “I have the fi st pai of Calvin lein unde ea eve p oduced. The pai as iven b lein to nd a hol, ho f amed them in Ple i las and si ned them on the side. I bou ht it at an auction at Sotheb ’s in , and had it a chivall f amed — it as completel open on the bac — so it’s nice to no that it’s a one-of-a- ind a hol object that’s no bein p ese ved.” CITY 50 TY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN PARK INTERIORS STYLING BY AMANDA BETZ.
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