Inside Christopher Meloni’s Serene NYC Home

Shh.

Oh hey AD. How are you? Christopher Maloney here.

Just doing a little light reading. Come on in.

Lemme show you around.

[bright music]

This is our crib here in New York City.

Here we have the living area

and we were going for something

that had a little bit of flow to it.

We also wanted an openness to the outdoors

so we have a kind of connection to it.

So these used to be windows that only went up to about here

and we knocked them all out.

This is really kind of the entertainment area

and you know, you can just spread out

and enjoy either the intimate conversation

or the conversation over there

with the backdrop and the view.

And everyone gets to share in the fireplace,

custom coffee table, my wife had it made.

This is Beth Carter and I just found this so profound.

A little bit of Diane Arbus,

those old school carny pictures.

But also I thought it was kind of an homage to superheroes.

Creepy, interesting, whimsical. I like it.

There are a few right angles in the building.

We worked with our architect, Alexander Hughes,

and we kind of went with that

and we just felt like we were gonna smooth everything out.

Over here is the bar area

where no one should keep their bike, but they do.

That was me.

Want some wine?

[bright music]

And this is the dining room

where my wife sets up the Parchisi game

so she can cheat before we play.

Hey, where'd we get this table babe?

[Sherman] This is Tucker Robbins.

He finds already fell trees in South America

and brings them back, doesn't cut anything down.

We love natural materials, marbles.

Every room has a different marble.

There's a lot of natural woods, stones, tiles.

It brings an organic feel to the very modern space.

So let's be clear, the genius, the brains

behind this entire operation,

everything you see in here is my wife Sherman.

And she's always the brains behind the operation

when it's anything style

or anything that needs to get done.

Actually I just act.

[bright music]

I've often heard the phrase that,

oh, it pulls the whole room together.

Well were supposed to put tiles here.

[Sherman] Yeah, we were gonna duplicate those tiles, but.

Yeah, we were supposed to duplicate those tiles

that are out there and put them here.

But we couldn't reach the tile guy

because he was on his boat

in the middle of the Mediterranean.

We were tired of waiting.

So you came up with a great idea of the fluted maple, right?

[Sherman] Walnut. Walnut, yeah.

And on top of it, this pulls the whole thing together.

Now these are crystals that are magnetized.

I also use it as a way to align my chakras.

And I know it's happening

because this lights up after a while.

I'm gonna sit here.

I feel better.

Come on down.

[bright music]

So when we first got this space,

that floor is what was for sale and we almost didn't buy it.

And we told the guy, look, it's just not enough room.

And he said, well I have two apartments downstairs.

Why he didn't tell us I don't know.

But anyway, we decided to get it all together.

But we had to connect them

'cause this wasn't here, obviously.

So we drilled a hole and we hired a welder,

Gabrielle Shelton, to fabricate this fantastic staircase.

It's one of my favorite pieces in the whole house.

This twist the spine of the staircase. This fine. Fantastic.

So come on. Second floor.

[bright music]

All right.

So Chase, are you hiding back there?

Oh yeah, I was trying to.

[David laughs]

So this is our daughter's room or her wing.

And we did that intentionally to kind of entice her

to hang out with us for just a little bit longer

before she goes, it's the same daughter who came up

with a great idea about having a demo party.

We had to gut the entire apartment, both floors.

My daughter came up with a great idea that, you know,

'cause space is kind of rare

and difficult to find in New York, especially kind of open.

And she would just want to have a party

with a few friends over.

Turned into a rave.

With spray paint cans.

[techno music]

And guys hanging all over my balconies.

I still love her.

[bright music]

I happen to be a rug freak.

I can't travel anywhere without spending money on carpets.

So this one and this one out here, we met in Morocco.

Each area of the world always has their own special way

and vision and motifs.

And I'm just enamored with all of them

wherever they may come from.

See this right here?

Handmade. by a young artist named Christopher Maloney,

50 years ago.

I love Elvis Costello.

And my daughter has kept the traditional alive.

When my wife and I first traveled to Bali,

we noticed all of the beautiful carvings that they do

and they're world renowned for their ability to carve wood.

And so we got these yogis,

but we had them shipped to us and through a friend

and they thought it was a yogi emergency.

So they sent it overnight express.

So the yogis cost $50 a piece

and the shipping cost 1,600.

Before we go to my office.

Carpe Noctem, seize the night.

Our son at the bottom of the door.

[bright music]

My office, go ahead, scan.

My wife as a young ballerina, my wife is a young beauty.

You know them, you know them, you know him.

This is one of my prized possessions.

When SVU got spoofed by Mad Magazine.

In fact, I wrote Mort Drucker and he wrote me back.

He was 94 years old.

I told him how to grown up on him

and he was such an inspiration to me.

And this is where the magic happens.

This is where many acting decisions are made.

Right here is where I wrote my one and only

Law & Order Organized Crime, episode.

Most of the time I just look at comics though.

You know what's funny about the baseball bats?

I have about 15 of them lying around and I have no idea why.

Except I know how it started.

When my daughter was first born,

one of the background players on the show

Law & Order Special Victims Unit, gave me a baseball bat

as a birth present for my daughter.

'Cause he said, oh, you're gonna need it

when she gets older, true story.

I'm a view freak. That's why I like it here.

'Cause I get to see the classic West Village

that will remain unchanged for the most part.

And behind it is the ever sprawling,

ever changing metropolis that will grow like the weed

that it is.

And that's okay too, you know?

You know what you signed up for.

[bright music]

This is Happy.

It's a neon sign of one of my co-stars

from the show, Happy, that I did.

And this kind of stuff right here with the branches

of the trees, you know, that's our way of connecting

to the natural, the elements, the stones

or the woods that we've used.

You know we live in a concrete jungle, but you need nature.

So this is the other side of the downstairs.

My wife painted these portraits of our kids.

My wife painted that of our son.

So out of the blue, David Wayne,

who was the director co-writer of Wet Hot American Summer,

calls me up and says, there's this art exhibit

where people displayed everything Wet Hot American Summer.

And so I got on it and I went online and I got this.

I think it's really cool. That's my character, Jean.

[bright music]

This is my wife's art studio.

You know, all of her things that she's worked on

or working on and she does the work.

But I come in here and I just enjoy seeing her work

come to fruition.

This is what I do. I'm the sculptor in the family.

I haven't my niche yet, but I'm getting it.

This is a boxer, this guy is throwing a hook,

but he's already been knocked out,

so the guy hit him first.

So that's what I'm going for here. So we'll see.

So I'll let you know how it turns out.

[bright music]

And this is my happy space.

This is my stress reliever

and this is where I pump the iron and all that stuff.

Get the sweat on, and yeah, try and get in shape.

This is my favorite machine for getting the workout

in and out quick.

But you know, this is the one that you go

to build a little bit of strength.

You can do your squats and your dead lifts

and then you know, I like the dumbbells.

I like it all. I need a kettlebell or two or three or four.

But the Peloton I also use. Love that.

I think these were placed here.

I don't know, I think it's a little hokem

but come on into the primary.

[bright music]

Come on into the primary.

I think it's the only room like this.

You get a 270 on the views.

You got the Hudson, you got the south,

and then you got Manhattan behind you.

That was a picture that we took on our trip to Africa.

My wife had this maid, she designed it herself.

This rug is one of the larger commissioned rugs.

It's about a 100 years old from the Hopi nation.

I got it outta Santa Fe on a trip long time ago.

I think my wife got this because of obviously all wood.

So you know that again,

we're staying in the organic feel of things.

And then you know, these irregular shapes,

you know the bubble effect to go with the no right lines

to things that it is swaying around.

Now this room where you go to bed at night

and you have 270 degree view, but you feel very, you know,

hunkered down and secure and you know the shades go down

and you're done, and you're out.

[bright music]

Here, we have the kitchen,

we have brass inlay into this very long counter.

We've got the stools back here. So we'll set it up there.

We'll eat at the dining room table.

What is that? Imperial blue I think with the inlay.

And this goes into the media room

because again, we're looking for constant flow

as opposed to it's just one room and just another room.

We're trying to get everything kind of lofty. Is that a-

Yeah, just open.

Yeah. And our reading room.

I'm the great pretender at guitar.

Anytime you wanna hear Blackbird from the Beatles,

I'm happy to pick it up and not play it for you.

[bright music]

Don't be afraid, I've never been more proud of a bathroom

than I am of this and the marble

and how it was framed in there.

Come here, now look over there. We like to watch.

[bright music]

And the most important part of this whole operation,

the espresso room.

Shh. Let's just stare at it. You want an espresso?

Okay.

[bright music]

This is the best part of the place,

but especially at night, it's the only part of the place.

So we redid the whole thing.

Obviously the terrace was here, but we put down new pavers.

And as I was saying about the motif of nature,

all the flowers and the tiles, we like it.

It just gives you a hint, nature.

And then beyond it, Manhattan,

it runs the length of the apartment.

New York baby.

[bright music]

Bye bye, Architectural Digest.

Glad you came. You look fantastic.

[bright music]