When Travis Grimm moved into one of the private residences at the Carlyle, the storied Upper East Side hotel that opened in 1930, he wanted to honor two legacies: the history of the hotel that has hosted luminaries including Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the legend of his own family.
Mr. Grimm is, yes, a direct descendant of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, best known as the Brothers Grimm, who collected fanciful tales and folklore that form the canon of childhood storytelling. The brothers, who grew up in Hanau, Germany, stitched together the goblins, gremlins and greedy witches of traditional Germanic folklore into the most eternally popular characters, like Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Hansel and Gretel, to name a few.
Also an interior designer with an eponymous studio, Travis Grimm Interiors, Mr. Grimm, 41, took care to merge the fairy-tales and hotel history into the décor and style of the three-bedroom apartment that is now for sale with an asking price of $11.8 million.
The couple purchased their unit in 2022 for $7.75 million and then spent another $2 million on a gut renovation. “It needed to be aired out,” Mr. Grimm said of the unit. “It needed to be brought to a comfortable living standard for today while still respecting the Carlyle.”
He also leaned heavily on three items in his possession: a faded, burgundy first edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, that his husband found at auction, and a silver pocket watch and slim German-language Bible, both of which had belonged to the brothers and were passed down from Mr. Grimm’s father.
In addition to the three bedrooms, the apartment has four and a half baths, a gym, office and library. The entire apartment has custom millwork and light fixtures, and floors of herringbone and oak.
The bright kitchen has white tiled walls meant to evoke the Upper East Side kitchens of the 1920s, as well as a laundry room and spacious butler’s pantry. The elevator landing is fluted mahogany, a decision, Mr. Grimm said, “that gives you a very dramatic entry. When you come home and when you leave, you have this moment of glamour.”
Mr. Grimm’s favorite room is the library, where the warm, powerful tones of the fairy-tale volume are most lovingly evoked.
“That room was meant to be this moody, dramatic room. It was designed for nighttime,” he said. “I love the color of the book. I love that it’s old and it’s not the bright burgundy it once was. It’s this rich burgundy and gold and that’s what I took for the library.”
The unit is, in many ways, also an art gallery: A piece by Eric Freeman hangs in the foyer. In the living room, there is a piece by Ross Bleckner and another by Chuck Close. In the gallery, greeting guests as they enter, is a massive dark-blue work by Florian Maier-Aichen that Mr. Grimm said reminds him of his many years in Los Angeles.
Mr. Grimm designed the unit hoping to stay forever. But tragedy struck two years ago, and he and his husband lost their son. They need a fresh start.
“I put my absolute heart and soul into this apartment and never intended to leave it,” he said.
They are showing the unit privately. Furniture is included. He plans to keep the art.
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