$350K UES studio designed in the ’80s by Adam Tihany resembles a luxury train car

A quirky studio designed by the interior designer Adam Tihany, praised as one of the greatest American interior architects by the New York Times, has hit the market for $350,000. The design has essentially remained unchanged since the apartment was featured in an early 1980s issue of Metropolitan Home, which compared the design to that of a luxury train car. According to the listing, this modest interior, packed with inventive storage, is an early example of Tihany’s world renowned hotel work (some of his commissions include the Mandarin Oriental in Vegas, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and two Four Seasons in Dubai). It’s located in the 16-unit Upper East Side co-op 223 East 78th Street, which has one more studio for sale asking $315,000.

Tihany was tasked with adding character–and lots of storage–to a small, narrow studio. The results are seven multi-leveled cherry wood cabinets that lead to a raised sleeping platform. The Metropolitan Home feature explained the interior as such: “Rosy cherry wood turns the sleep platform into an Orient-Express carriage, while exquisite, curvy cabinets add architectural detail where there was none.”

Here’s another great line from the article: “The rosy, curvaceous cherry wood cupboards in the apartment provide storage, and their irresistible patinas are reminders of the Twenties and Thirties, the last great luxury age, when people shipped out or crossed continents in the wood-paneled cabins of the Normandie and the Orient-Express.”

The sleeping platform is lined with two large, northern facing windows that look down onto gardens below. There’s more pull-out storage below the platform.

Talk about space saving techniques: the kitchen was set off from the bathroom by a slide of ribbed, opaque glass, meaning you walk through the kitchen to get to the toilet. If you don’t mind the two spaces in such close proximity, each area boasts a unique interior design that’s storage friendly. The bathroom gets a burst of color from the floor tiles and seems a bit more expansive due to the mirrored walls.

Do you think you could pull off such tight confines, considering the unique and inventive interior design? One thing’s for sure: Adam Tihany did not disappoint in creating a noteworthy apartment on Manhattan’s east side. The small co-op is located right between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, about a 10-minute walk from Central Park.

[Listing: 223 East 78th Street, #3D by Debra Solomon Pendleton for Halstead]

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Photos courtesy of Halstead