Inside Aston Martin's First Luxury Apartments

Aston Martin’s design language extends well beyond luxury cars. From helicopters to boats the British marque has now tried its hand at the luxury home, the latest of which sees a collection of five exclusive homes available for purchase in the enviable 130 William building – New York City’s premier new luxury residential development.

Together with developer Lightstone, architect Sir David Adjaye and Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman have worked select residence’s custom furnishings and architecture.

Adjate is responsible for the entire vision of 130 William – designing both interior and exterior elements – which holds 242 residences at over 244-metres and 66 storeys.

The exception being five fully furnished Aston Martin collaborated homes located on the 59^th and 60^th floors of 130 William with each featuring a private, expansive loggia spanning the entire length of the residence, while bespoke screens divide balconies into a series of distinct zones for dining and relaxing.

Furnishings boast a curated selection of handcrafted materials and textiles from the acclaimed Aston Martin Home Collection by Reichman and Adjaye with other nods to the British marque’s crosshatch pattern – found here in bronze – alongside a smoked glass mirror engineered by Aston Martin and which reflects the city’s skyline.

The flowing spaces combine with the kitchen featuring custom textured blackened oak Italian cabinetry, Gaggenau appliances, marble countertops and a cantilevered Nero Marquina marble top – which acts as additional bar seating.

Bathrooms feature a textured Italian Salvtori marble throughout with the master featuring a solid carved marble bathtub and carved marble double vanity sinks alongside a walk-in shower.

Of the master suite expect an expansive bed with custom cashmere headboard cushions, slender metal detailing alongside bedsides by Formitalia, spacious walk-in closets and wall-mounted lighting by Boffi.

Buyers will have the option of customising one of the rooms in the two-and three-bedroom homes in a racing simulator, an office and library space or bedroom.

As something of a sweetener, owners will also receive the 130 William Adjaye Special Edition Aston Martin DBX in a bespoke colour inspired by the building’s exterior and which features unique elements such as real stone accents, marble inlays matched with satin walnut wood interior finishes and leathers that includes ‘parliament green’ trim and a steering wheel from Aston Martin’s customisation service, ‘Q by Aston Martin.’

Priced from approx. $5.65m with penthouses from approx. $14.8m; astonmartinresidences.com

Many luxury hotels only build on their gilded reputations with each passing decade. But others are less fortunate. Here are five long-gone grandes dames that fell from grace—and one that persists, but in a significantly diminished form.

The Proto-Marmont |

The Garden of Allah, Los Angeles

A magnet for celebrities, the Garden of Allah was once the scene-making equivalent of today’s Chateau Marmont. Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner’s affair allegedly started there and Humphrey Bogart lived in one of its bungalows for a time.

Crimean expat Alla Nazimova leased a grand home in Hollywood after World War I, but soon turned it into a hotel, where she prioritised glamorous clientele. Others risked being ejected by guards and a fearsome dog dubbed the Hound of the Baskervilles. Demolished in the 1950s, the site’s now a parking lot.

The Failed Follow-Up |

Hotel Astor, New York City

The Astor family hoped to repeat their success when they opened this sequel to their megahit Waldorf Astoria hotel in 1904. It became an anchor of the nascent Theater District, buzzy (and naughty) enough to inspire Cole Porter to write in “High Society”: “Have you heard that Mimsie Starr…got pinched in the Astor Bar?”

That bar soon gained another reputation. “Gentlemen who preferred the company of other gentlemen would meet in a certain section of the bar,” said travel expert Henry Harteveldt of consulting firm Atmosphere Research. By the 1960s, the hotel had lost its lustre and was demolished; the 54-storey One Astor Plaza skyscraper was built in its place.

The Island Playground |

Santa Carolina Hotel, Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique

In the 1950s, colonial officers around Africa treated Mozambique as an off-duty playground. They flocked, in particular, to the Santa Carolina, a five-star hotel on a gorgeous archipelago off the country’s southern coast.

Run by a Portuguese businessman and his wife, the resort included an airstrip that ferried visitors in and out. Ask locals why the place was eventually reduced to rubble, and some whisper that the couple were cursed—and that’s why no one wanted to take over when the business collapsed in the ’70s. Today, seeing the abandoned, crumbled ruins and murals bleached by the sun, it’s hard to dismiss their superstitions entirely.

The Tourism Gimmick |

Bali Hai Raiatea, French Polynesia

The overwater bungalow, a shorthand for barefoot luxury around the world, began in French Polynesia—but not with the locals. Instead, it was a marketing gimmick cooked up by a trio of rascally Americans. They moved to French Polynesia in the late 1950s, and soon tried to capitalise on the newly built international airport and a looming tourism boom.

That proved difficult because their five-room hotel on the island of Raiatea lacked a beach. They devised a fix: building rooms on pontoons above the water. They were an instant phenomenon, spreading around the islands and the world—per fan site OverwaterBungalows.net , there are now more than 9,000 worldwide, from the Maldives to Mexico. That first property, though, is no more.

The New England Holdout |

Poland Springs Resort, Poland, Maine

The Ricker family started out as innkeepers, running a stagecoach stop in Maine in the 1790s. When Hiram Ricker took over the operation, the family expanded into the business by which it would make its fortune: water. Thanks to savvy marketing, by the 1870s, doctors were prescribing Poland Spring mineral water and die-hards were making pilgrimages to the source.

The Rickers opened the Poland Spring House in 1876, and eventually expanded it to include one of the earliest resort-based golf courses in the country, a barber shop, dance studio and music hall. By the turn of the century, it was among the most glamorous resort complexes in New England.

Mismanagement eventually forced its sale in 1962, and both the water operation and hospitality holdings went through several owners and operators. While the water venture retains its prominence, the hotel has weathered less well, becoming a pleasant—but far from luxurious—mid-market resort. Former NYU hospitality professor Bjorn Hanson says attempts at upgrading over the decades have been futile. “I was a consultant to a developer in the 1970s to return the resort to its ‘former glory,’ but it never happened.”

Inside Aston Martin’s First Luxury Apartments

Buy the apartment, receive a special edition Aston Martin SUV.