Suite Couture

Kelly Beamon, Jen DeRose, and Craig Kellogg -- Interior Design, 4/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

New Yorkers and Eloise lovers have been been watching the exterior restoration of the Plaza for two years. Now, what's been going on inside Elad Properties's $350 million renovation is finally on view. As a teaser for the condominium hotel's 182 residential units and 282 guest rooms, all with interiors by Gal Nauer Architects, GNA has also designed two model apartments, one being this $12.5 million, 2,600-square-foot two-bedroom.

Starting with an empty shell, Gal Nauer was able to play with elements from the original hotel. The bathrooms' mosaic tile pattern, for example, links to the 1907 building's lobby floor. A black-and-white motif freshens up French Renaissance–style moldings and mantels.

Nauer then brought in furnishings from the Versace Home collection: seating covered in leather, tables in lacquer and chrome, stupendous amber crystal chandeliers. Staying on theme, she chose fashion-oriented work by emerging international artists. These pieces, the interior architect explains, "contribute a human scale." Though not that of a precocious 6-year-old.