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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, May 30, 2014 | M3

MANSION

BALANCE SHEET

A Fine HomeFor Wine

A wine expert uncorks hiscreativity to remake his apartment

around a quirky collection ofart and artifacts

WINE EXPERT Mark Oldman’sattitude toward home designmirrors his approach to wine:“I love a bottle of Cristal ifsomeone else is paying for it,but I also love a fine sparklingwine that is one-eighth of theprice but 80% of the joy,” hesays. “You’re tasting victory.”

In 2012, Mr. Oldman em-barked on a nearly two-yearrenovation of his 2,200-square-foot loft apartment inManhattan’s Chelsea neighbor-hood. He bought the unit in2010 for $2.2 million, and hespent an additional $267,000to create a “vinous-orientedpad” that didn’t feel like thelair of a “wine obsessive.”

He nixed his initial plans tohire an interior designer afterinterviewing a few candidates.“I had prima donna decoratorscoming in, arching an eyebrowand caressing their tortoise-shell glasses, telling me it wasgoing to cost some obsceneamount,” he recalls. So he em-barked on the project alone—with his mother and sister asunofficial advisers. (Mr. Old-man, 45 years old, is single:“I’m taking the scenic route tomarriage,” he says.)

Most of the effort went to-ward what Mr. Oldman calls theWine Sanctuary, which includespart of the living/dining areaand an adjoining room the pre-vious owners used as a nursery.The room’s centerpiece is a sortof light box illuminating an en-larged image of a 1907 GustaveKlimt painting and fronted witha handcrafted metal grille thatcan hold up to 150 wine bottles.Through a friend of a friend, hefound an artisan in North Caro-lina to craft the metal work. The9-foot-tall ebonized structure,with hidden compartments tohouse glassware, was built by aNew Jersey cabinetmaker. Aftersketching the installation on pa-per and commissioning the vari-ous parts, Mr. Oldman says helived in fear that his planwouldn’t work. There were afew glitches: The metal grille’sdimensions were off slightly,enough that they didn’t hold thewine bottles. When the makersuggested acrylic bands to fixthe problem, Mr. Oldman sayshe “gently but firmly implored”him to redo the piece.

He found other design ele-

ments “through old-fashioneddetective work” that took himto North Carolina antiquesstores, a Miami oriental-rugshop that was going out ofbusiness and Chinatown light-ing emporiums. A New York-based digital printing firm en-larged a poster of the Klimtpainting for the light box.

A self-described “novice artappreciator,” Mr. Oldmanadded other wine-themed findsto his living room, including apiece of signage emblazoned“WINE TRAIL” fashioned into achair by sculptor Boris Bally.

Mr. Oldman’s 1911 buildingwas converted to loft apart-ments in 1999, and his unitdidn’t need much structuralrenovation. But he did createan alcove for three of his winefridges, concealed with a re-mote-controlled velvet curtain.He also knocked down one wallto eliminate a hallway and en-large the former nursery, andhad a new doorway cut into theliving room wall. The openingleads to the space he calls “theFelony Room,” which Mr. Old-man describes as “one partgentleman’s club, one part raff-ish lounge.” It features a curiocabinet filled with wine memo-rabilia, including bottles ofwine from disgraced financierBernard Madoff’s collectionbought for $1,200 at auction.

In the door frame above aset of antique Italian doorsfrom a Jersey City architec-tural-salvage shop, Mr. Oldmanadded a stained-glass typepanel made out of the bottomsof 47 cobalt blue wine bottles.

Mr. Oldman was a co-founderof career website Vault.com(which he sold to a private-eq-uity firm in 2007), has writtentwo books on wine and is a fre-quent speaker on the food- andwine-event circuit. He held twoevents in his apartment beforethe renovation was completedin April. One was a sit-downwine seminar for 48 alumnifrom his alma mater, StanfordLaw School. The other was awine-tasting for eight people—an experience won at auctionfor $3,500 to benefit a Food &Wine magazine charity.

“Until the curtain comes up,you never know what people’sreaction will be,” he says. Hesmelled success when guestslingered late into the night inthe Felony Room. “It was exhil-arating.”

BY NANCY MATSUMOTO

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS Mr. Oldman, above, isa co-founder of career website Vault.com, whichwas sold in 2007. Above right, a light box thatholds wine; the home office, center, and the mas-ter bedroom, bottom. At left, a memorable bottleof Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache 1962.

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ADDINGIT UPDemolition,living/dining area

$9,500Buildingmaterials

$5,000Labor

$13,000Light fixtures(living room,kitchen,bedroom)

$47,000The Wine Wall(light box,metalwork,wood frame)

$13,640Blue-bottleglass panel

$1,070Cabinetry

$12,000Furnishings(Italian doors,couches, tables)

$145,500Remote-controllighting systemand wirelesssound system

$12,200Miscellaneous

$8,250TOTAL

$267,160

Before After

ON DISPLAY Wine memorabilia in what Mr. Oldman calls the Felony Room, above, includes bottles of wine once owned byconvicted financier Bernard Madoff that were sold at auction.

WASTED SPACE Mark Oldman bought his apartment in Manhattan’sChelsea neighborhood in 2010 for $2.2 million.

ENTER HERE Mr. Oldman found these antique Italian doors at aJersey City, N.J., architectural-salvage shop. A stained-glass panelmade from the bottoms of cobalt-blue wine bottles was mountedabove the doors.

‘VINOUS-ORIENTED PAD’ Mr. Oldman spent $267,000 to redo theapartment, the living room area shown above, with wine-themed décor.

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