The Apartment of Our Small Space Dreams Exists, and You Can Buy It

You’ve seen their work on Instagram. Chances are, you’ve pinned their kitchen to your Pinterest dream board. And now, you can actually live in a Zio & Sons designed home: Founder Anthony D’Argenzio just listed his one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s East Village. As it’s already one of StreetEasy’s most saved listings, we recommend acting fast if you want to secure the purchase.

The announcement came via the Zio & Sons Instagram account on May 23. “Guys it’s really happening!” wrote the brand in the post. “This space can be yours. We have decided to sell our celebrated East Village apartment. It’s been on the market a few days now, and it’s already the top saved listing in all of New York City! I’m blown away.”

Listed for $485,000, the home is situated on the second floor of a co-op building. A StreetEasy blog post detailing the property reveals that it was D’Argenzio’s first-ever real estate purchase—and while the initial burden of homeownership seemed daunting, he says it ended up being well worth the risk.

The space, which he bought back in 2013, has great light, thanks to large windows and beautiful prewar details. Since its purchase, the place has undergone some pretty serious renovations: D’Argenzio exposed the brick walls and whitewashed the oak floors. An antique marble sink and matching bathtub add vintage charm—the kitchen, meanwhile, got a modern facelift courtesy of marble counters and on-trend subway tiles.

It’s also no surprise that the kitchen is the room D’Argenzio will miss the most about his apartment: “It’s kinda my claim to fame. To this day, it is one of the top pinned kitchens on Pinterest,” he tells Domino.

Future homeowners will also be able to separately purchase a curated selection of decor from ABC Home, who helped D’Argenzio stage the condo. Contemporary pieces like a blush pink chair mesh well with more vintage decorative touches, creating more than enough for a decent base if the lucky owner wants to keep the look of this apartment. If not, there’s tons of space to make your mark with pieces of your own.

“It’s a mix of old and new,” D’Argenzio tells Domino of the finished apartment, which he says took two months to renovate. “I consider it ‘vintage modern.’ The design happened over time—it’s been through a few different looks since buying it in 2013.”

Besides the obvious design draw, there’s financial incentive for anyone looking to pick up a new home: The building itself is an HDFC (or restricted sale) building, meant to provide affordable housing for people with limited income. This means that, while the $485,000 price tag may initially seem daunting, it’s actually only a monthly payment of $2,480 (assuming a down payment of $97,000 or 20 percent). And as the StreetEasy blog post points out, this is actually a significantly lower amount than the median rental cost of an East Village apartment: $2,795. Still not great, but considering the New York area is one of the most expensive for renters, it’s definitely something.

As for who D’Argenzio envisions as the ideal homeowner for the Pinterest-worthy home? Simple: “I would love [someone] who appreciates good design,” he says. “Someone who would love to call it home.”

If that sounds like you, head to StreetEasy to check out the listing, held by Douglas Elliman.

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