Soho sanctuary: designer's rental transformed into creative hub

Forget cookie-cutter apartments. Designer Maximilian Eicke and stylist Irina Kro Eicke have turned a SoHo rental into a vibrant, functional playground – a testament to their shared creative vision and a healthy disregard for conventional design rules. It’s a space where furniture prototypes coexist with vintage finds, and a 3,000-pound marble table shares space with Etsy-sourced runners.

A ground-floor revelation

The couple, who met in Bali eight years ago while Maximilian was designing a house that would become their first collaborative project, initially sought to rent the 3,500-square-foot ground-floor apartment with a full basement and lofted sleeping areas. Rather than submitting an offer to purchase, they proposed a renovation-friendly rental agreement – a gamble that paid off handsomely.