When CBS-TV news anchor Chris Wragge’s marriage broke up in 2007, he decided he needed to start fresh. But he didn’t want to give up the apartment. “I loved it so much, I didn’t want to sell it,” he says of the full-floor condo.
“What turned me onto this place is the fact that on the Upper West Side, there are few, if any, loft-style apartments with open space like this,” Wragge says. “This is new construction; when I first saw the building, it was all studs and ironwork. Except for artists’ renderings, I bought it sight unseen.”
Soon after, in 2006, Wragge and his then wife, model Victoria Silvstedt, moved into the 13-story building just off of Broadway. They set to work decorating the 1,650-square-foot space, with two bedrooms (one serves as an office), two full bathrooms, a terrace off the master bedroom, a working fireplace and a washer/dryer.
When the marriage ended, Wragge realized he loved the pad, but not the décor.
“I decided the best option would be to completely redo it,” he says. He hired interior designer Bridget Nisivoccia and set about making right everything that he thought had been so wrong.
“Before, the furniture was a lot bigger, and there was just no room in here,” he says. “It was all white and stark, with two big mirrors leaning against the wall. It looked like something you’d see in Miami.”
It was not his style at all: “My parents and friends used to come here with the way it was before, and they’d say, ‘It’s not really you.’ There was no warmth to the apartment.”
So Wragge cleaned house.
“I got rid of all the old furniture,” he says. “I punished my furniture by sending it to storage in New Jersey.”
The apartment is now decorated warmly, in bright jewel tones — all reds, blues, yellows and greens. The colors work in harmony with a living-room rug woven in stripes of all the primary colors.
“I love this rug,” he says. “My ex-wife hated it. So I had it in storage for a few years. But when things went downhill, it was the first thing I brought back. Everything in here is built around this rug.”
There’s also a brown leather couch with lots of throw pillows (“It’s so comfortable,” he says, “Just sit on it and you’ll fall asleep”), brown leather armchairs and plants, fresh flowers and photos all around. (“That was something we didn’t have before. No pictures,” he says.)
Two of the walls in the living/dining area are done in exposed brick, which Wragge put in. “It’s actually real masonry,” he says. “I lost about 2½ inches of the walls on both sides.”
All this decorating know-how seems to be genetic; his mother is a retired decorator. Before this interview, she sent him this teasing text: “Don’t forget to mention that your decorating sensibilities were honed and heightened because you grew up surrounded by cozy and colorful interiors that left a lasting impression. And you owe it all to me.”
Other things Wragge likes about his place: the trash chute (“You just throw it down there; that’s heaven-sent!” he says) and the building’s roof deck (“The deck is really beautiful,” he says, “because it’s the tallest building in the area, and I get 360-degree views all around. I go up there every morning and read the newspapers”).
And while he’s gotten the apartment just how he wants it, there’s one drawback — all the time he spends away from it. At CBS, Wragge went from sports reporting to co-anchoring (along with Kristine Johnson) the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, Monday through Friday, in 2006. In addition, he co-anchors “The Early Show” (with Erica Hill) on Saturday mornings.
For all this hard work, he’s earned eight Emmy Awards, and he’s now nominated for another six. (The winners will be announced on April 18.)
His future plans? “To stay gainfully employed,” Wragge says. “My goal is to make the people who employ me happy enough to want to keep me. And I want to get better at my job.”
So, is this successful, single, 6-foot-3, almost-40 Upper West Sider seeing anyone special at the moment?
“No, but when I do date someone,” Wragge says with a laugh, “if she walks in [my apartment] and doesn’t like it, I’ll know we have nothing in common. If someone comes here and says, ‘Oh, this is awful,’ there’ll be no future for us.”
Chris Wragge’s favorite things
* A box that looks like a Rubik’s Cube in red, yellow, black and brown — a gift from his mother
* His “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “La Dolce Vita” paintings
* A photograph of the Chrysler Building at dusk
* An antique schoolhouse clock
* The multicolored rug
* His Empire State Building bookends
* A custom-made credenza
* His eight Emmy Awards