Thursday night was a book signing talk/party for the new tome The Novogratz Chronicles, in the rare book room at The Strand, one of NYC’s oldest, and still one of the best, bookstores anywhere.
A little background if you’re not familiar with Bob & Cortney Novogratz, the married design duo/ power couple & parents of 7;Wolfgang, Tallulah & Bellamy, Breaker, Five & Holleder & Major.
HUGE mystery how these two had such gorgeous kids…?
Robert and Cortney Novogratz, are most famous for being on HGTV’s Home by Novogratz and Bravo’s 9 by Design, all while raising those 7 kids. They’ve transformed fabulous properties across the U.S. and The Novo Chronicles is an intimate and personal look from their first house renovation project in Chelsea in the 90s to their latest home in Greenwich Village plus projects in LA, Brazil, and the Berkshires.
The night was a slide show of some of their greatest hits with Maxwell Ryan of Apartment Therapy.
Trey Speegle, Leave a Mark (pink camo) 2012, 48 x 60", silkscreen, house paint on canvas installed at The Hotel Dylan in Woodstock, NY by Novogratz’s, who oversaw the project from soup to nuts (and art)
I first met them over a decade ago when they commissioned ne to do several projects for the W Hotel in Hoboken plus a painting which went from their ‘castle” in LA to The Hotel Dylan in Woodstock.
I visited them at The Castle in LA in 2016, and wrote a post about it here. More recently, they commissioned a VOTE pairing for a townhouse redo (featured in anther on of their books below) as well as a print of VOTE for the 2020 election sold on their website. (Check it out here, good stuff plus some bargains. 50% OFF!)
They are both so kind and thoughtful but this book doesn’t tell the glam parts only, it details their story warts and all. Buying and renovating older homes requires patience and creativity as well as resources and they started out with lots of the first two and not so much of the latter.
They bought a brownstone in Chelsea in ‘95, which had been partially gutted and although they say they don’t talk money so much (I wish they would as that’s another book maybe) Cortney confessed they got it for $400,000 which is not free but for NYC it’s known as a bargain, especially in ‘95 for a townhouse on W. 19th Street.
If you’ve attempted renovations on older homes on a budget (nearly everyone has a budget and it always gets blown) their stories are great insight into the process they went through and the amazing results when you are persistent, creative and don’t take NO for an answer.
Their own book summary says,
“DIYers, HGTV fans, weekend warriors, and anyone interested in building, selling, and renovating houses and spaces will love reading The Novogratz Chronicles and discovering the expertise that lies beyond their renowed how-to decorating prowess to inform and inspire their own renovation dreams and endeavors.”
My VOTE painting is in this, one of their many books.
After the talk there was some book signing, hugging, and congratulating. Cortney pointed out their book Novogratz Design Fix had my VOTE painting in it (I bought the last copy!)
I brought along my new friends visiting from Cardiff, Mat Simon & Aled Pickard, who were staying at The Chelsea to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary and my good pal Susan Kilkenny came along to round out our foursome.
I ran into a few old pals, Claudia Lebenthal of Style of Sport founder, who I worked with at Allure 20+ years ago as well as the amazing artist Marc Dennis, who’s pals with the Novogratz clan as well.
Afterward we went to Indochine for drinks, dinner and more celebrating Mat & Aled’s 10th and who did we run into? The Queen of the Night herself, Dianne Brill all decked out for Halloween in red (with lighting to match). Perfect end to a great night.
Do check out The Novogratz Chronicles: Lessons Learned from Twenty-Five Years of Buying and Renovating Houses, normally I might provide an Amazon recommended link, but since we are mad at Jeff Bezos for his Washington Post non-endorsement, I’d suggest getting it from your local bookseller or better yet, get your own signed copy from The Strand here. And enter to win $1000 gift card to Novogratz.com! –TS
