Martin Farach-Colton, chairman of New York University's Computer Science and Engineering department, has applied his methodical planning skills beyond academia to redesign his living space in Manhattan. Farach-Colton and his husband, Andrew Farach-Colton, a classical music writer for Gramophone magazine, recently completed a major renovation of a downtown New York loft, transforming it into a custom-designed home tailored to their needs.
The couple’s housing journey began in a modest 1,200-square-foot Upper West Side apartment, where they lived in 1999 when expecting twins. At the time, acquiring a larger living space elsewhere in Manhattan was financially unfeasible on their salaries, and they were reluctant to move to other boroughs or nearby New Jersey.
In 2000, Martin Farach-Colton took a two-year leave from his teaching position at Rutgers University to join Google as one of its earliest employees. This opportunity prompted a relocation to the San Francisco Bay Area for two years, after which they returned to New York. A successful Google stock option payout allowed them to purchase a 3,200-square-foot brick townhouse in the West Village in 2007 for $6.8 million, where they raised their children and Martin resumed teaching at Rutgers.
Despite the spaciousness, the townhouse did not meet the couple’s lifestyle preferences. Andrew Farach-Colton explained that much of their time was spent on a single floor, making the multiple stories feel underutilized. They also encountered ongoing maintenance challenges with the historic 1889 building. “We missed apartment living,” Andrew said.
In 2019, the Farach-Coltons sold their townhouse for $8 million and acquired a 2,750-square-foot loft on East 12th Street for $4.2 million. Initially, the loft was disorganized, featuring angled Plexiglas partitions that disrupted the use of space. However, it featured a prominent wall of windows overlooking an inner courtyard, offering abundant natural light.
Martin Farach-Colton created his own floor plan and brought architect Gordon Kahn on board to oversee a $2.6 million renovation. Kahn, known for projects with high-profile clients such as Gigi Hadid, Tina Fey, and Andy Cohen, removed the existing partitions and reconfigured the loft along a more logical grid. The redesign resulted in a large, open living area, three bedrooms, two home offices, and a substantial storage space adjacent to the kitchen.
The renovation was a collaborative process, with Kahn acknowledging that he transformed Martin’s conceptual ideas into practical designs. Andrew’s influence is also evident in the space, particularly in the living room area where a piano is situated alongside a vinyl record wall and a display of handmade Czech Bohemian crystal glassware—a nod to his upbringing attending auctions with his parents.
Reflecting the couple’s complementary approaches, Andrew characterized himself as “the analog to Martin’s digital,” underscoring the blend of thoughtful planning and personal aesthetic that shaped their downtown New York home.