What is Penthouse apartment?

Simply said a special apartment on the top floor of a building is called is Penthouse. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.

Due to the high cost of a penthouse apartment, most real estate agents and rental agencies will not even show a penthouse until a customer has produced proof that he or she can pay.



This is designed to cut down on the number of gawkers traipsing through a penthouse when it enters the market, and to avoid the tremendous waste of time involved in working with clients who cannot actually afford a penthouse.

Typically, these apartments are handled by specialists who work exclusively with high end real estate.

First penthouse

The idea of a penthouse apartment was born in the 1920s, called “The Roaring Twenties”, when economic growth brought a construction boom to New York City, the heart of the American economy.

The high demand for living in urban areas and the wealth of Americans led to luxury apartments on the top floor or floors of a building.

One of the earliest penthouse apartments in the city was publisher Conde Nast’s duplex penthouse at 1040 Park Avenue.

The original 1923 plan for the building provided three units on each floor with additional maids’ rooms on the roof, but in 1924 the building’s upper spaces were constructed to provide a grand duplex for Nast. Connected by a staircase to the rooftop entertaining salons, the corner unit at the top floor was redesigned to be private family quarters.

The whole unit was decorated in the French manner by Elsie de Wolfe. Completed in 1925, Conde Nast’s duplex penthouse was used for many lavish parties, which were made famous as much by guest lists as by the entertainment.

Design



In architecture, the term penthouse is used to refer to a structure on the roof of a building that is set back from the outer walls. These structures do not occupy the entire roof deck.

High-rise buildings will often have penthouse structures enclosing mechanics such as those in an elevator machine room.

While European designers and architects long recognized the potential in creating living spaces that make use of rooftops and such setbacks, in US cities, exploitation of these spaces began in earnest in the 1920s.

It was a matter of news when the development of a rooftop apartment at the Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park was announced in 1923, and this was followed by rapid development of luxury penthouse apartments in the following years.

Penthouse apartment at the top of a building on the Upper West Side, New York City.

Advantages

Penthouse apartments have not only the advantages of a regular apartment such as security and convenient location but also all those of a house such as size and design.

Similar to apartments, penthouses are usually located in the heart of busy cities yet offer a sense of being situated far away from or above noisy and crowded urban life. Such locations provide easy access to hotels, restaurants, malls, and schools.

Overcoming the issue of small space in regular apartments, penthouses are large. Sometimes having two or more levels, penthouses have a size that is equal to multiple

Penthouse residents often have fine views of the city skyline. Access to a penthouse apartment is usually provided by a separate elevator. Residents can also access a number of building services, such as pickup and delivery of everything from dry cleaning to dinner; reservations to restaurants and events made by building staffers; and other concierge services. Most of penthouse have swimming pool.

Penthouse apartments are considered to be at the top of their markets, and are generally the most expensive, with expansive views, large living spaces, and top-of-the line amenities.

Tue, Mar 17
Share:

1 comment:

  1. True! Pent house apartments are quite expensive. 10 years back I bought a pent house apartment for 20 Lakhs.

    ReplyDelete

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Recent Posts

Featured Post

Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant – MITRA – SEBI

Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant – MITRA – SEBI   SEBI proposes MITRA to reduce unclaimed amount in mutual funds...