Small Lot, Big Outdoor Space in the City

From the New York Post writer Katherine Dykstra: "After a crushing winter, the entire city is now delirious with spring — just witness the swarms of people standing dazed on street corners, soaking up the sun.  What’s even better — if far rarer — is having your own private space in which to bask.  Over at a new boutique five-unit building on E 30 St, outdoor space comes with each and every apartment.  When the building’s developer, Mark Pariti, first happened upon the lot, it housed a three-story Federal-style townhouse with office space and two floors of residential on top.  Pariti, owner and president of MP Design Consulting, who purchased the Kips Bay property in 2008, says: 'My vision was to bring a little brownstone Brooklyn . . . to the East Side.'  He did this by maximizing the 25-by-99-foot lot for outdoor space, which included excavating a courtyard one floor below street level for the first-floor duplex apartment.  He also used the top of the duplex, which winds L-shaped around the courtyard, to create a terrace for the apartment above it.  In fact, the five new units boast a whopping four different types of outdoor space, including a roof deck and 4-by-12-foot Juliet balconies, in addition to the courtyard and terrace."  Full article here.  (Photo credit: Lorenzo Ciniglio.)