A Minimalist Penthouse at the Ritz

Written by Trish Donnally Photography by Daniel and Ayelet Shanken

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Some couples would be happy to have his and her sinks in the master bathroom. Some would be even happier to have his and her bathrooms. Barbara Crane Gilbert and David Gilbert, who have been married for six years, are happiest with his and her homes.

That’s right, in addition to David’s bohemian and eclectic artist’s haven in the Dupont Circle area, the Gilberts maintain a minimalist condominium penthouse at The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in West End for Barbara. This non-traditional arrangement allows them to each respect the other’s home.

“We’re like a bi-coastal couple, but we’re just bi-neighborhood. Together we have five children and nine grandchildren. The marriage works, it’s magical,” says David Gilbert, who is close to 70, a real estate broker and artist.

“I was divorced and he was widowed, so we had our separate things,” says Barbara Crane Gilbert, who is 60ish, and a luxury travel consultant with Executive Travel Associates. “Ordinarily, couples get married and are raising children, so they can’t do this,” David says.

The Gilberts probably spend more time together than most married couples since they travel for three months of the year. In the last 12 months, for instance, they’ve been to Argentina, Chile, India, Russia, France, and the Bahamas. Plus they spend time together in each other’s condominiums throughout the week.

“It’s like a dating marriage,” David says. “When she wants to put those cucumbers on her eyelids, she stays here,” he adds jokingly, seated in the living room of the penthouse.

Actually, having personal space is critical to Barbara, who has Attention Deficit Disorder. She savors the Zen calm of her 2,000-square-foot monochromatic penthouse that is decorated sparingly with choice treasures from their travels and thought provoking black and white art.

“My mind is cluttered, my desk is cluttered, my closet is cluttered. So to have a peaceful space like this works for me. When I walk in here, I’m so relieved. It almost has a meditative quality to it,” Barbara says. “I crave organization…Here at home, this has such a great feeling for me. It has great feng shui.”

A Serene Space

Interior Designer Lisa Bartolomei of Bartolomei & Company, who had decorated Barbara’s previous home, kept symmetry, structure and geometric forms in mind knowing that her client would be most comfortable surrounded by the orderly feeling these elements can create. And while Bartolomei kept most rooms monochromatic with whites, blacks and grays, she painted one room a rich warm shade of red.

Bartolomei transformed what was undoubtedly intended to be the living room into a living room/dining room area. And she converted the room just off the kitchen that was likely intended as the dining room into a den. Bartolomei made one bedroom a sitting room. In the other, she created a luxurious bedroom that is worthy of a five-star-plus hotel.

A Sense of Arrival

Bartolomei set the tone for this soigné condo with a sophisticated entry.

“I felt that when you entered the penthouse there was no sense of entry,” she says. So Bartolomei designed a glass wall and double doors of frosted and clear circles and squares framed with ash wood that she had stained espresso brown. “To enhance the feeling of arrival, it gives you the feeling that you need to be invited in to go any further,” she says.

Bartolomei also had the original marble in the foyer area removed. “It chopped the condo up,” she says. Oak floors stained espresso were installed throughout the condo.

Architect Ernesto Santalla of Studio Santalla, who collaborated with Bartolomei, found that the biggest challenge of the project was lowering the living/dining room ceiling and creating a design that worked with the existing sprinkler system. “Lowering the ceiling not only holds recessed down lighting but it also allowed us to create visual geometry throughout the space,” says Santalla, who created a long rectangle to reflect the shape of the room, and a circular shape within that rectangle that designates the dining area.

Self Discovery

To enter Barbara’s living/dining room is to feel an instant sense of calm. The beige chenille sofa, the handsome custom-made coffee table and the streamlined credenza flow into the dining area with its square table and eight tailored chocolate brown leather chairs. “Untitled 2000,” Robert Longo’s triptych of a peephole, consulting room door and head, all from Sigmund Freud’s Vienna office, holds a place of honor above the sofa.

“I’m a student of psychology. This is a holy place to be in Freud’s study,” Barbara says. “You can imagine all the stories that went on in this room.”

And of all the exotic journeys she’s taken, Barbara loves being surrounded by select sculptures that she and David have found in far corners of the world. “For us it’s a travelogue when we go through here. Every single item brings back memories. It’s a great place,” she says.

Luxurious Sleep

The bedroom is another oasis of calm with its smoky grays and creams and a sensuous image by Annie Leibovitz. Bartolomei designed the platform bed and softened it with a headboard of gray linen-velvet. She added a mahogany panel that reaches the ceiling behind the bed as an architectural feature and balanced it with custom-made mahogany night tables. Geoffrey Hodgdon shot the black and white calla lily photographs that flank the bed.

A Room That Envelops You

As incongruent as a red room might sound in this otherwise monochromatic condo, it works.

“There’s something about a dark room, it feels like you’re being folded in someone’s arms,” Bartolomei says. This sitting room holds furniture from Barbara’s previous home, including a large wooden armoire that seems to recede into the red walls. Bartolomei illustrated the benefit of buying custom furniture when she altered two matching sofas she had originally designed for Barbara’s former home and had built to order by Kisabeth Furniture. For the penthouse, Bartolomei sent the sofas back to Kisabeth and had one converted into a sleep sofa and the other into a love seat.

Divine Details

A striking and unexpected highlight in the powder room is a square glass sink by Axolo. This sculptural clean-lined sink is nestled into a wenge wood cabinet that Bartolomei designed.

The Last Word

Barbara adores her personal space at the Ritz. “I have a concierge watching after my mail and my condo. And Sports Club/LA is on the second floor. If this isn’t assisted living, what is?” she asks with a laugh.

And when the mood strikes for cozier, earthier surroundings, she’s only a 10-minute walk from David’s. Now that’s the best of both worlds.