RITZ-CARLTON RESIDENCES
Puttin' on the Ritz
February 20, 2010
Rita Zekas
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Who would want to live in the showroom of a high-end furniture store? It is too intimidating. That first blob of ketchup on the settee would be a deal breaker – even if it were Heinz.
But I could happily move into the Ritz-Carlton Residences' model suite at Front and Simcoe Sts.
Hey, I could live in the walk-in closet.
How suite it is: The elevator opens up into your apartment, just like it does in those swanky New York digs featured in films like Bonfire of the Vanities.
Alessandro Munge, managing partner in Munge Leung & Associates, the man behind the set decoration and appointment of the model suite and sales centre, admits they were going for a "New York feel."
The residences at the Ritz-Carlton will be in a 53-storey building housing 159 condo suites and penthouses. Over 70 per cent of the suites are sold; the remaining ones go from $1.595 million to more than nine million big ones and range in size from 1,512 to 6,020 square feet.
The model suite is the Monte Carlo, measuring 2,000 square feet, less the second bedroom, bathroom and powder room. The actual two-bedroom suite starts at $2.985 million and runs 2,557 square feet.
They are, after all, masters in putting on the Ritz so they didn't skimp on anything. Built-in dresser drawers in the hall closets have easy/soft glide drawers with customized hardware – no more getting your drawers stuck between the drawers.
The finest finishes and materials have been incorporated: flooring ranges from woven marble tiles to walnut hardwood laid in a herringbone pattern in the dining room floor. The ceilings are 10 feet high; the doors, eight feet.
There is a TV in the bathroom so you can keep tabs on the financial markets or the housewives from New Jersey, and how cool is the two-sided gas-burning fireplace between the living room and den?
"It opens up the space and gives it a 3D effect, like a picture frame," explains Munge.
The kitchen is state-of-the-art: Sub-Zero and Miele built-in appliances, Wolf five-burner gas cooktop, and Bellini custom-designed cabinets – which is all fine wine and dandy but probably redundant, given the residents will undoubtedly be frequenting the hotel's restaurants or ordering room service.
The model suite is understated without being boring. They have incorporated simple lines with layers of textures and a palette of earthy colours: Calvin Klein meets Armani.
The master bedroom, a study of taupe and beige, risks being a tad predictable if not for the dramatic double headboard. A standard padded headboard rests in front of a custom-designed one triple its size.
"We wanted to make a big statement in the room," Munge explains, smoothing out the bedspread.
If God is in the details, He would be in heaven here. Instead of installing a traditional bed skirt, Munge had the box spring upholstered, thereby creating a sleeker line.
There is texture in the curtains – a silk-blend, beige, pinstriped sheer – and the walls are a basket-weave grain with a silver sheen. The den has leather on the walls and its centrepiece is a lamp with chicken feet, which look more like gnarled tree roots.
"It is very organic," Munge explains. "It is hammered metal that looks like wood."
The seams in the silver grey and burgundy seagrass wall covering in the living room deliberately don't match. It makes the artwork – everything from Harold Town to Parisian street scenes – pop, giving a new meaning to "pop art."
A black leather ottoman serves as a coffee table in the living room and there is a screen behind the sofa just for the performance art of it.
"The screen anchors the couch," Munge explains. "There is only one floor lamp, which casts a great light on the screen – I like asymmetrical.
"Our mantra is `don't be predictable in your spaces,'" he adds, settling onto a bench covered in faux lizard. Munge scours the globe for unique pieces; he and his staff even bring in stuff from their own homes.
"We will hit 30 to 50 stores," he says. "I called on seven or eight shops for the living room carpet."
In the lobby is a glass-ceiling fixture by Jeff Goodman, which looks like a giant goldfish. Kids visiting the suite relate to it.
"This suite is not just the 60-year-olds and up," Munge insists. "The demographic is sophisticated with a sense of taste. I didn't want it to feel old. It is not so stodgy, but polished, fresh and worldly – a little exotic yet comfy. People have said `I feel I can move in.'"
Occupancy is summer 2010. Don't know when they are going to strike the model suite but until then, I am available for sleepovers.
Toronto Star