When Matty Maggiacomo and Evan Feeley began hunting for their forever home, a prewar apartment on New York’s Upper West Side wasn’t high on their wish list. Though Evan was charmed by the neighborhood’s quiet streets and slower pace, Matty had lived through a renovation before and wasn’t eager to repeat the experience. But the panoramas from one Central Park West property proved so spectacular that the couple couldn’t help but sign on the line. There was just one problem: the interiors were nothing to look at.
“When we first walked in, I was questioning why the apartment had not sold,” says Matty, a tread and strength instructor for Peloton. “It’s above the tree line facing east over the park and Reservoir—but it was very plain. We had to make it look like a true Central Park apartment.”
The couple enlisted designer sisters Joan and Jayne Michaels, architect Ann Krsul and general contractor Charles Ramdass to reimagine the space, transforming it from a warren of tight, bland rooms into a stately yet practical home worthy of its iconic address and views. That meant maximizing sight lines throughout the home and reallocating square footage to give the formerly narrow living room more graceful proportions and make way for a showstopping dine-in kitchen. “Matty should be a TV chef,” Joan shares. “Cooking is such a big part of his personality and it’s how he releases stress.”