UPPER EAST SIDE — One of these townhouses is not like the others.
Farrow & Ball, the high-end British purveyor of traditional paint and wallpaper announced its arrival on East 73rd Street by wrapping the facade of its new home, an elegant 4-story townhouse, in the company's iconic blue Lotus pattern wallpaper.
Farrow & Ball, which has showrooms in SoHo and in the Decoration & Design building on Third Avenue, officially opened at 142 E. 73rd St. last month. It's the company's first foray to the Upper East Side, where store officials said many of its customers reside.
Making even the most minute changes to Upper East Side's landmark blocks are often notoriously challenging, but the shop applied for a permit from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
"We approved a permit for the temporary installation of the wallpaper on Sept. 30, and it’s good for 60 days," an LPC spokeswoman said.
The wrapped store, which formerly housed a hair salon on the quiet, leafy block, has been turning heads.
Susan Katz, 59, a dental hygienist who has been working on the block for 20 years, initially thought the design had been painted but on further examination, realized it was pasted on, like "subway ads," she said.
"I think it's fantastic," she said. "In a sea of everything that's been here so long, to see something stand out like this is great marketing."
