Privacy comes with price at Da Vinci penthouses

Sunday, July 16, 2006
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Every so often, there seems to be a need for wealthy Indonesians to build bulky, colonial-style houses with gigantic pillars and over-the-top ornamentation that may not necessarily blend with its surroundings (rundown buses, stinky rivers and regular floods during the rainy season).

Bulky, colonial-style houses need matching furniture. Enter Da Vinci.
The Singapore-based company is the creator of furniture which makes you think your time machine is working and it is the Roman period all over again.

The Da Vinci Tower in the heart of the business district on Jl. Sudirman says it all. It has more ornamentation than Borobudur Temple and at night, it gives a new meaning to the Greek Tragedy.

The tower has 12 floors for showrooms, each occupying about 400 square meters taking a different theme (Greek, classical, colonial, baroque, etc.)

Cynics say the furniture is for people for whom the phrase "money can't buy taste" exists, or else, nouveau riche.

A restaurateur even mused over who would buy this furniture which she thought was too heavy.

"Who would buy that? I mean, it's not that it's cheap," she said. Indeed, a chandelier after being discounted still costs nearly Rp 200 million (around US$22,000).

However, Da Vinci has enjoyed good sales all this time. Aside from the tower in Sudirman, Da Vinci also has a showroom in Jl. Panglima Polim, South Jakarta and another one in Surabaya, East Java.

"Demand is still high. More and more people are opening businesses at home, and they need classical and glamorous furniture to express power," said Da Vinci's general manager Erwin Hawawinata.

Business is good, so it is time to expand. Seeing the thriving apartment market, Da Vinci decided to add floors to its tower to build penthouses.

"The apartment market is still good. We are offering a combination of good location, privacy, quality and elegance," Erwin said.

The project, which began three years ago, has been completed and the penthouses were launched last week. The Da Vinci Penthouses occupy the 14th to 32nd floors of the tower with only 28 units.

There are three types of units: The Penthouse, Deluxe Penthouse and Grand Penthouse, ranging from 340 square meters to 382 square meters, and each unit has a name like Naples, Firenze and Giovanni.

And yes, the penthouse has adopted classic European design in every detail, starting from the elevator that is all marbles with floral motifs and engraved mirrors.

The unit has a private elevator lobby, foyer, living room, breakfast area, pantry, kitchen, dining room, and four bedrooms each with an attached bathroom. The interiors are about gold and marble, 3.2 to four-meter high ceilings, floral motifs, statues, fountains, four-poster beds, and all that.

Facilities include private access, fingerprint scan, videophone, two shifts of 30 security personnel, as well as tennis court, "The Bath of Apollo" swimming pool, private spa and gym.

Surprisingly, Da Vinci has also built a contemporary and more urban unit called Puccini. It has a trendy, minimalist look, which is a 180 degree departure from the usual Da Vinci style.

According to Erwin, 30 percent of the penthouses have been reserved. The price? Rp 10 billion and above.

Labels: culture, urban

Posted by hera at Sunday, July 16, 2006 8:28 PM | Permalinks