Words: Jonathan Wells
Hugh Jackman likes coffee. It’s a fact we found out when, in a past Gentleman’s Journal cover interview, the actor revealed that he opened Tribeca’s ‘Laughing Man Coffee Shop’ after being unable to find traditional Australian coffee anywhere near his Manhattan home. “That was incredibly selfish of me,” Jackman admitted. “But there are eight or nine Australian coffee shops in the city now, so it’s obviously caught on!”.
As of this August, there are two Laughing Man Coffee Shops in New York alone (the second is in Rockefeller Park). And Jackman himself recently found a freshly-ground New York address — one just a coffee bean’s throw from both. At Chelsea’s magnificent 100 Eleventh Avenue building, a development designed by esteemed French architect Jean Nouvel, Jackman has purchased the penthouse. And his new home has sweeping sunrise views even the finest flat white couldn’t improve…
The home has a clean, modernist feel — with open areas and floor-to-ceiling windows to drink in those extraordinary views. And nowhere better can these views be sampled than at the penthouse’s breakfast bar. With ample seating and grand steel work surfaces, the kitchen a chef-worthy space — and has plenty of countertop room for as many grinders, percolators and home roasters as the Australian actor might desire.
But it’s not just the kitchen that’s been cooked up with a bright, white aesthetic. The whole home shares this airy, illuminated feel. But so it should. Located atop the eye-catching 57-unit building, Jackman’s new penthouse sits in rarefied airspace. And, with 4,675 square feet to decorate, keeping things minimalist may have been a clever move.
Elsewhere, the home has plenty of amenities befitting an Oscar-nominated actor. There are four well-sized bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and two fireplaces to be found within its walls. The ceilings soar at a sonorous 14 feet, the floor-to-ceiling windows wrap-around the condo’s corners and those sleek terrazzo floors give each step a touch of apt red-carpet refinement.
The layout, too, was devised and designed to make entertaining guests easy. Inside, the floorplan flows, and the 3,692 square-feet of outdoor space includes a large roof terrace divided into dining and lounging areas. Elsewhere in the building, Jackman will have access to an action hero-ready fitness centre, and a private cinema in which he can screen his latest blockbusters.
Jackman has made this latest move with his wife, fellow actor Deborra-Lee Furness — with whom he has also recently listed their existing 11,000 square-foot triplex in Manhattan’s West Village. Situated in a Richard-Meier-designed tower, this old home shares a similar minimalist style, and is now on the market for $38.9 million. The new penthouse cost Jackman around $21 million.
But it was worth every dime — never more so than when the sun begins to set, and those views really come to life. Through the penthouse’s vast windows, Jackman will enjoy views of Manhattan and the Hudson River, all the way down to the Statue of Liberty. And, as the golden hour hits the city, this vista will make for the perfect, relaxing panorama with which to enjoy his last latte of the day (decaf, of course).
Want more celebrity homes? Step inside Jordan Belfort’s $10 million mansion from The Wolf Of Wall Street…
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