A Tour of Jane Friedman's Fabulously Bookish Manhattan Duplex

Posted on April 20, 2012

Jane Friedman has spent her life in book publishing. Starting as a typist at Alfred Knopf, she eventually became the CEO of HarperCollins for 11 years. Now she runs Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher and content provider.

Jane gave Lauren Schuker of The Wall Street Journal a tour of her fabulous Manhattan duplex, where her literary parties are legendary. Jane bought a small apartment in the duplex in 1975 for $146,000. As she rose through the ranks, she expanded her home, first with the apartment next door and eventually into the penthouse above her. Now she has a home that's simply devoted to books. From the amazing red lacquer library with more than 10,000 books, to her tree of life room, to her bathroom covered in bookish wallpaper, this is clearly a home of a devoted bibliophile. Her home office features a red lacquer desk to match the red lacquer library and Chinese scrolls. Jane says, "As my career grew, so did my apartment." Take a look: