Who Will Buy Victoria MacKenzie-Childs's Boat?

"Victoria and Richard bought the Yankee in 2001, not long after losing their namesake brand in bankruptcy proceedings. The couple needed studio space (they eventually started another company in 2004), but, apparently, Manhattan was largely out of reach on their budget. And so they looked to the "fringes" of the island, as MacKenzie-Childs put it in an interview last year."

"The couple ended up transforming the four-level, seven-bedroom vessel into an unofficial showroom. They wrapped beams in floral wallpaper and support columns in their familiar black-and-white motif. There was even a pair of hanging rope chairs to swing from and dining tables that could be raised or lowered via pulleys. It's all characteristically steampunk Easter Bunny."

"The boat was "really falling apart" at the time, says the couple's daughter Heather Chaplet. "The second deck was gone." The vessel, built in 1907, had previously shuttled immigrants to Ellis Island and troops in the world wars before the MacKenzie-Childs purchased and renovated it into their creative space."

Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs purchased the Yankee, a 10,000-square-foot steamship built in 1907, in 2001 after their namesake brand faced bankruptcy. The vessel, which previously transported immigrants to Ellis Island and troops during world wars, was in severe disrepair when acquired. The couple extensively renovated the four-level, seven-bedroom ship into an unofficial showroom and studio space, incorporating their signature design aesthetic with floral wallpaper, black-and-white motifs, and whimsical features like hanging rope chairs and pulley-operated dining tables. The transformed vessel served as both their creative workspace and a gathering place for the boating community. After Victoria's recent death, the Yankee remains available for sale.

Read at Curbed