Followers of Pretty in the Pines, all 465,000 of them, are likely very familiar with Shelby Vanhoy’s vaguely Parisian two bedroom on Central Park West. The D.I.Y. influencer has styled (and photographed) the space extensively, some might say excessively, in the three years she’s lived there with her family. Now, for $8,500 a month, you can rent it for yourself, faux paneling, Farrow and Ball paint and all.
Vanhoy announced this fall that she and her family were moving back to North Carolina, and her Instagram followers have taken to asking if they can rent the apartment in the same way that they inquire about her choice of paint colors. (The ceiling and doors in the nursery are Farrow & Ball Green Smoke, in case you were also wondering.)
StreetEasy shows she rented the place for $6,100 a month in 2020, during the brief window when rents in New York actually dropped. (It was going for $6,500 a month in 2019.) Though just how much she invested in the bespoke faux moldings, fireplace mantels, and the like remains a mystery.
Many followers have expressed dismay that the landlord might make Vanhoy rip out her DIY renovation, but the apartment’s listing agent, Cristina Lopez, of Rachel Realty, says that Vanhoy’s décor, minus the furniture and a few light fixtures, will remain, including the peel-and-stick molding and tile she put in. (While some might question the longevity of such modifications, Lopez says they’re in good shape. If they have issues in the future, there’s a glue for that.) “She has done such a beautiful job curating it to her style,” Lopez adds, describing it as “French European, cozy cottage, traditional.” (On Instagram, Vanhoy describes her style as “classic, casual,” which you may or may not think tracks with wallpapering the ceiling.)
The apartment has been on the market for the past month — lovely though it is, and much as her fans might wish to snap it up, such is the gap between aspirational lifestyle influencing and the reality of paying just over $100,000 a year in rent. Although Lopez says one potential tenant did recognize the space when she walked in the door. “She said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve seen this apartment before.’”
