An historic landmark has been reborn in New York, "marking the intersection between decades of nightlife expertise and over 100 years of luxury design." Located in a circa 1865 building in the heart of the city's most famous nightlife neighborhood, The Gates features an interior salvaged from the art nouveau masterpiece the New York Biltmore Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Upon the hotel's demolition in 1984 the most impressive elements from the lobby and bar (including an original bronze and marble telephone booth) were rescued and re-established in the Chelsea space which has since become one of the most iconic rooms in the city.

After laying empty for several years and having fallen into a state of neglect, The Gates (formerly the Biltmore Room) was recently brought back to life by nightlife impresarios Danny Kane and Rod Surut. The lavish space, featuring floor-to-ceiling Carrera marble walls (valued at $2.5 million alone), is kept private from the street by a pair of stunning brass gates from the original hotel, which give the venue its name. A VIP room complete with a fireplace and crystal chandeliers, a full kitchen and bar catering to 285 people, a state of the art sound system, DJ booth and the refinement of the bar room to its previous glory are the key elements breathing new life into a storied space.

"We were working with a room that had such a strong personality, it was great to play that against all the innovations we were making to create one of the most unique spaces in the country," Kane notes. The project felt like the "re-emerging of a character who's played such an important part in the social history of New York City." The New York Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1913 with nearly 1,000 rooms, was a landmark luxury hotel designed by Warren and Wetmore, who also designed the adjoining Grand Central Terminal. Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald honeymooned there (and were asked to leave on account of rowdiness) and the Biltmore figured in several of his stories as well as in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

I've covered many expensive books over the years but there aren't too many like "Michelangelo: La Dotta Mano" the new book by Italian publisher FMR. The book measures 18 by 28 inches and weighs a backbreaking 61 pounds. Why so heavy? The cover is a marble carving of a replica of the Madonna della Scala encased in a velvet binding. Inside there are reproductions of drawings by Michelangelo, photographs by Italian photographer Aurelio Amendola and writings on Michelangelo spanning centuries of scholarship. The book commemorates the 500th anniversary of the start of Michelangelo's work on the Sistine chapel. You can see the book at the New York Public Library's Bill Blass Public Catalog Room from Dec. 2-8. Or, if you have the money and sturdy shelves you can pick up one of your own from the limited edition of 99 for $130,000.

[via LA Times Jacket Copy]

Bring a little contemporary Japanese style into your bathroom with the Papillion Bathtub by Stone Forest. Shown here in Carrara marble, it's also available in Black Granite and Limestone versions. The rounded form and sweeping rim is relaxing and makes me think of gently moving water, and it's nicely both functional as a bathtub and beautiful as a sculpture. And as always with natural marble, each is unique due to individual grain patterns.

Two things I wonder, though, looking at this beautiful tub: It looks like it has a small and rounded base, so is it comfortable to sit in? And it looks just a little too easy to slosh water out and all over the place.

We've covered fossil countertops from Wyoming before and let's check out Maison Sijilmassa, a New York-based company that sells stones from sourced from 450 million year-old prehistoric Sahara sea fossil stone found in Morocco.Their latest collection includes floor tiles and slabs as well as sinks and tables. The fossils are available in five general tones ranging from black to bordeaux red. The fossils are quarried from ancient seabeds of the prehistoric Paleo-Tethys and Tethys seas that are now part of the Sahara desert. The stone features a wide variety of fossilized orthoceras (rocket-shaped remains) and ammonites (spiral shapes).  Their website has more pictures of the new designs available for Spring 2006.