Westhouse Your House

Asya Asenova

Being #InResidence means being around a likeminded group of people who know the style and beat of the city intimately. So in celebration of New York Fashion Week, we’re sharing the six places or objects that a number of fashion-savvy WestHouse ambassadors can't live without. First up, our ever-stylish Director of Front office Asya Asenova shares her essentials:

1. MY CAMERA. New York is a place of constant color and movement. And in an age of Instagram and digital memories, I’ve developed a renewed appetite for tangible ways to capture the city. Many of our guests agree. So I can't live without my Leica Sofort Camera. It is truly amazing, as you’d expect from the German camera maker.

2. FLORAL ART. Flowers and floral art have always been in the DNA of WestHouse. Like our in-house florist, I am a fan of the New York City Flower Market on 28th Street. The markets here start at 5:30am, and indeed early morning is the best time to visit the many retailers and wholesalers. Right now there are so many beautiful early seasonal blooms from Lemon Peonies to Roses to some varieties I had never seen before.

3. TYPEWRITERS. WestHouse is all about personalized service, and that translates into my life. All of my correspondence is typed by hand on my old Underwood typewriter. Find your own vintage treasure from a select number of retailers in Manhattan including one of my favorites, the Gramercy Typewriter Company, which has been open for business since 1932 and is only a short drive from WestHouse.

4. LISA PERRY. I love stripes and color. So it’s hard not to love the designs of New York-based designer Lisa Perry, whose designs are inspired by the art and fashion scenes of the 1960s.

5 JEFFERY. People travel near and far to shop in New York City, and with some of the best shopping in the city around WestHouse, you are very well placed. I am shoe-obsessed (!) and love Jeffrey, a store that carries the latest seasonal offerings and familiar favorites from major brands like Christian Louboutin, Saint Laurent, and my dream work shoes from Givenchy.

6. THE NICHOLAS ROERICH MUSEUM. Look beyond the monumental marble walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA, to the lesser-known cultural gems. My favorite? The marvelous Nicholas Roerich Museum on 107th Street. The museum's collection comprises more than 200 paintings of the artist, exhibited on three floors of a classic Upper West Side townhouse.