Inside Christopher Meloni’s Serene NYC Home

Architectural Digest

Today, AD is welcomed by Christopher Meloni to tour his New York City home. The Law &amp; Order: Organized Crime star and his wife transformed their West Village penthouse into an eclectic, art-filled space. Originally one floor, Meloni purchased the apartment below and had a custom staircase by Gabrielle Shelton built in to connect them, creating more space. With uninterrupted views of the NYC skyline, the actor has filled his space with warmth through walnut walls, Moroccan rugs, and personal touches from his youth and travels to create a serene space for his family to enjoy.

Transcript

00:00Shh. Oh hey AD, how are you? Christopher Maloney here just doing a little light reading.

00:07Come on in, let me show you around. This is our crib here in New York City. Here we have the living

00:24area and we were going for something that had a little bit of flow to it. We also wanted an

00:29openness to the outdoors so we have a kind of connection to it so these used to

00:34be windows that only went up to about here and we knocked them all out. This is

00:40really kind of the entertainment area and you know you can just spread out and

00:44enjoy either the intimate conversation or the conversation over there with the

00:48backdrop and the view and everyone gets to share in the fireplace. Custom coffee

00:52table. My wife had it made. This is Beth Carter and I just found this so profound

00:58I don't know just a little bit of Diane Arbus, those old-school Carney pictures

01:04but also I thought it was kind of an homage to superheroes. Creepy, interesting,

01:09whimsical. I like it. There are a few right angles in the building. We worked with our

01:15architect Alexander Hughes and we kind of went with that and we just felt like

01:21smooth everything out. Over here is the bar area where no one should keep their bike

01:26but they do. That was me. Want some wine?

01:32And this is the dining room where my wife sets up the Parcheesi game so she can cheat

01:44before we play. Hey, where did we get this table, babe? This is Tucker Robbins. He finds

01:49already felled trees in South America and brings them back. Doesn't cut anything down. We love

01:54natural materials. Marbles. Every room has a different marble. There's a lot of natural

01:58woods, stones, tiles. It brings an organic feel to the very modern space. So let's be

02:04clear. The genius, the brains behind this entire operation, everything you see in

02:09here is my wife Sherman and she's always the brains behind the operation when it's

02:14anything style or anything that needs to get done. Actually, I just act.

02:19I've often heard the phrase that, oh, it pulls the whole room together. Well, we were supposed

02:27to put tiles here.

02:30Yeah, we were going to duplicate those tiles. Yeah, we were supposed to duplicate those tiles that are out

02:34there and put them here, but we couldn't reach the tile guy because he was on his

02:39boat in the middle of the Mediterranean. We were tired of waiting. So you came up with

02:43the great idea of the fluted maple, right? Walnut. Walnut. Yeah. And on top of it, this pulls the whole thing together.

02:51Now, these are crystals that are magnetized. I also use it as a way to align my chakras and I

03:01know it's happening because this lights up after a while. I just sit here. I feel better. Come on down.

03:12So when we first got this space, that floor is what was for sale and we almost didn't buy it. And we told the guy,

03:28look, it's just not enough room. And he said, well, I have two apartments downstairs. Why didn't tell us? I don't know.

03:34But anyway, we decided to get it all together, but we had to connect them because this wasn't here, obviously.

03:38So we drilled a hole and we hired a welder, Gabrielle Shelton, to fabricate this fantastic staircase.

03:45It's one of my favorite pieces in the whole house. This twist, the spine of the staircase, I just find fantastic.

03:52So come on, second floor.

04:00All right. So, geez, are you hiding back there? Oh, yeah, I was trying to.

04:08So this is our daughter's room or her wing. And we did that intentionally to kind of entice her to hang out

04:15with us for just a little bit longer before she goes. It's the same daughter who came up with the great

04:20idea about having a demo party. We had to gut the entire apartment, both floors. My daughter came up

04:25with a great idea that, you know, because space is kind of rare and difficult to find in New York,

04:31especially kind of open. And she just wanted to have a party with a few friends over.

04:37Turned into a rave.

04:40With spray paint cans.

04:42And guys hanging over my balconies.

04:44I still love her.

04:45I happen to be a rug freak. I can't travel anywhere without spending money on carpets.

04:56So this one and this one out here, we met in Morocco. Each area of the world always has

05:02their own special way and vision and motifs. And I'm just enamored with all of them, wherever

05:11they may come from. See this right here? Handmade by a young artist named Christopher

05:16Maloney 50 years ago. I love Delvis Costello. And my daughter has kept the tradition alive.

05:28When my wife and I first traveled to Bali, we noticed all of the beautiful carvings that

05:31they do. And they're world-renowned for their ability to carve wood. And so we got these yogis.

05:37But we had them shipped to us. And through a friend. And they thought it was a yogi emergency.

05:46So they sent it overnight express. So the yogis cost $50 a piece. And the shipping cost $1,600.

05:56Before we go to my office, Carpe Noctum. Seize the night. Our son at the bottom of the door.

06:07My office. Go ahead. Scan. My wife is a young ballerina. My wife is a young beauty. You know

06:18them. You know them. You know him. This is one of my prized possessions when SVU got spoofed by

06:24Mad Magazine. In fact, I wrote Mort Drucker. And he wrote me back. He was 94 years old. I told him

06:32how I'd grown up on him. And he was such an inspiration to me. And this is where the magic

06:37happens. This is where many acting decisions are made. Right here is where I wrote my one

06:43and only Law & Order Organized Crime episode. Most of the time I just look at comics though.

06:50You know what's funny about the baseball bats? I have about 15 of them lying around. And I have

06:55no idea why, except I know how it started. When my daughter was first born, one of the

07:01background players on the show Law & Order Special Victims Unit gave me a baseball bat

07:08as a birth present for my daughter. Because he said, oh, you're going to need it when she

07:14gets older. True story.

07:16I'm a view freak. That's why I like it here. Because I get to see the classic West Village

07:22that will remain unchanged for the most part. And behind it is the ever-sprawling, ever-changing

07:28metropolis that will grow like the weed that it is. And that's okay too. You know what you

07:34signed up for.

07:46This is Happy. It's a neon sign of one of my co-stars from the show Happy that I did. And

07:52this kind of stuff right here with the branches of the trees, you know, that's our way of connecting

07:58to the natural, the elements, the stones, the woods that we've used. You know, we live

08:04in a concrete jungle, but you need nature.

08:08So this is the other side of the downstairs. My wife painted these portraits of our kids.

08:15My wife painted that of our son. So out of the blue, David Wayne, who was the director,

08:20co-writer of Wet Hot American Summer, calls me up and says there's this art exhibit where

08:25people displayed everything Wet Hot American Summer. And so I got on it and I went online

08:31and I got this. I think it's really cool. That's my character, Jean.

08:38This is my wife's art studio. You know, all of her things that she's worked on or working

08:43on and she does the work, but I come in here and I just enjoy seeing her work come to fruition.

08:50This is what I do. I'm the sculptor in the family.

08:54I haven't found my niche yet, but I'm getting it. This is a boxer. This guy just got, is

09:00throwing a hook, but he's already been knocked out. So the guy hit him first. So that's what

09:05I'm going for here. So we'll see. We'll see. So I'll let you know how it turns out.

09:13And this is my happy space. This is my stress reliever. And this is where I pump the iron

09:19and all that stuff. Get the sweat on and yeah, try and get in shape. This is my favorite

09:25machine for getting the workout in and out quick. But you know, this is the one that you

09:30go to build a little bit of strength. You can do your squats and your deadlifts. And then,

09:35you know, I like the dumbbells. I like it all. I need a kettlebell or two or three or four.

09:40But the Peloton I also use. Love that. I think these were placed here. I don't know. I think

09:47it's a little hokum, but, uh...

09:49Come on into the primary.

09:59I think it's the only room like this. You get a 270 on the views. You got the Hudson,

10:06you got the South, and then you got Manhattan behind you. That was a picture that we took

10:12on our trip to Africa. My wife had this made. She designed it herself. This rug.

10:18This rug is one of the larger commissioned rugs. It's about a hundred years old from the Hopi

10:25nation. I got it out of Santa Fe on a trip a long time ago. I think my wife got this because

10:32of, obviously, all wood. So, you know, that, again, we're staying in the organic feel of

10:37things. And then, you know, these irregular shapes, you know, the bubble effect to go with

10:42the no right lines to things, that it is swaying around. Now, this room where you can go to bed

10:50at night and you have 270-degree view, but you feel very, you know, hunkered down and secure.

10:56And, you know, the shades go down and you're done. You're out.

11:06Here we have the kitchen. We have brass inlay into this very long counter. We've got the stools back here.

11:14So, we'll set it up there. We'll eat at the dining room table. What is that, imperial blue, I think,

11:20with the inlay? And this goes into the media room because, again, we're looking for constant flow as

11:26opposed to it's just one room and just another room. We're trying to get everything kind of lofty.

11:33Is that a...?

11:34Yeah, just open.

11:35Yeah. And our reading room. I'm the great pretender at guitar. Anytime you want to hear Blackbird from the Beatles,

11:43I'm happy to pick it up and not play it for you.

11:50Don't be afraid. I've never been more proud of a bathroom than I am of this and the marble and how it was framed in there.

11:59Come here. Come here. Now look over there.

12:03We like to watch.

12:04And the most important part of this whole operation, the espresso room.

12:16Shh. Let's just stare at it. You want an espresso?

12:21This is the best part of the place, but especially at night, it's the only part of the place.

12:35So, we redid the whole thing. Obviously, the terrace was here, but we put down new pavers.

12:41This thing about the motif of nature. All the flowers and the tiles. We like it. It just gives you a hint. Nature.

12:51And then beyond it, Manhattan. It runs the length of the apartment.

12:56New York, baby.

13:06Bye-bye, Architectural Digest.

13:19Glad you came. You look fantastic.

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