Rooms at the Top: the penthouse is on a high

In 2019, a real-estate record was broken when hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin paid $238 million for an apartment at 220 Central Park South in New York – the most expensive residential sale in US history. That apartment was a penthouse: “The One Above All Else”.

For many, the penthouse is the pinnacle of property aspiration. With sweeping views and no neighbours but the birds, these airy summits are the real-estate world’s trophy buy. Considerable cachet comes with life at the top. For interior designer Michael S Smith, who was responsible for the makeover of Obama’s White House, his own penthouse is an absolute luxury: “In my imagination, it’s a classical late-18th-century pavilion – a sanctuary of pleasure and privacy.”

Adam Simmonds, director of super-prime sales at Savills in London, agrees. “You gain real exclusivity with a penthouse on top of a luxury development,” he says. “There’s no one around, you’re far from the street noise, you get masses of light – and all the best views. That’s why they’re at a premium.”

With more high-rise penthouses in Britain than ever, demand is increasing for interior designers with top-end experience. When Dara Huang, founder of Design Haus Liberty, takes on a penthouse, she asks specific questions of her clients: “How do you see yourself? How do you want to be in this penthouse? And do you like to entertain?” Her schemes focus on enjoyment of the space. “You can revel in the decadence of being the highest person for miles around.” 

For buyers of this kind of statement architecture, entertaining plays a big part in their lives. It’s one way of sharing the wow factor of their home, both within – the double-volume space, the private elevator, the high security – and without.

“Generally, the terrace is key,” says Charu Gandhi, founder of interior design studio Elicyon. “We try to create outdoor spaces that serve as a seamless extension of the indoors. This extends to outdoor technology, too, whether that’s bespoke kitchens, concealed screens and speakers or even rain-sensitive canopies. At a recent project in London, we incorporated a beautiful rooftop kitchen garden into the terrace.”

Yet the roof space wasn’t always the first choice for the well-to-do. For much of history, a standalone mansion was the preferred option. At the top of the grand Parisian homes of the Haussmann era, the chambre de bonne was for the maid, while in early-20th-century New York, the “roof apartment”, wrote Donald L Miller in Supreme City, was “a boxlike residence for the servant class”. Before the elevator, who would dream of walking up?

Then, in the 1920s, the rooftop’s axis shifted to haute société. It has been top drawer ever since, putting the “up” into Upstairs, Downstairs and providing showcase homes for families such as the Guccis, who have a New York penthouse on Fifth Avenue, and the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who lived close by.

“If you want to buy a penthouse in New York right now, it’s tough,” says Rory McMullen, head of Savills North America desk and director in the Private Office. “There is a finite number, but buyers love to own a piece of real estate that no one else has.”

In London, where many tall buildings have gone up in the past few decades, things are looking up. Every high-profile new development has a penthouse – and they’re becoming popular in other cities across the UK. There are four at The Blade in Manchester, each over two floors, with services including a 24-hour concierge, a Peloton cycling studio, a health and fitness suite, and a private dining room.

Penthouses often follow wealth, says McMullen: to the Middle East and beyond. “In Dubai, developers are building tall branded residences that resonate with high-net-worth buyers such as tech types, digital executives and entrepreneurs.”

Around the world, along with One High Line in NYC, there are exceptional penthouses at Four Seasons at The Surf Club in Miami Beach and at the Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona. With all these developments, it’s the penthouse that helps to create the buzz. “When a new building is announced, there will always be serious interest in the penthouse first,” says McMullen.

At present, the most desirable penthouses in London include those at The OWO Residences and Holland Park Gate, says Simmonds. In Clerkenwell, there’s a glass-clad four-bedroom property designed by starchitect David Chipperfield – the penthouse as high-tech pavilion. Inspired by the modernist buildings of Mies van der Rohe, it has 2,635 square feet of internal space and 1,943 square feet outside.

While developments continue to reach for the sky, penthouses will also flourish. Form an orderly queue for your stairway to urban heaven.

ADAM SIMMONDS
adam.simmonds@savills.com
+44 (0) 20 7499 8644

RORY McMULLEN
RMcMullen@savills.com
+44 (0) 7803013362

Pictures from top: the Portia Fox Penthouse at One Casson Square in London; the duplex penthouse at Pearson Square; a penthouse terrace designed by Elicyon; The Blade in Manchester; and the Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona