All in the Family
There are many wonderful creations in this bedroom, beginning with its occupant, Sofia Rower, who will soon turn 3. Her parents, Maria Robledo, a photographer, and Holton Rower, an artist, who live in a Manhattan loft, brought the considerable talents of several generations to bear on the tiny space, which makes up in personality what it lacks in size. (It's about 9 by 11 feet.)
The gem of the room, besides Sofia, is the oak crib, which was lovingly handmade in Cambridge, Mass., 30 years ago by the little girl's great-uncle, Kenneth Rower. 'He built it for his kids,' says Holton Rower. 'Then it went to a friend of his. Then, when I had a child, he offered it to me.'
The crib, which can be taken apart, is made entirely of wood. 'When you pull the side up, little wood hands that are spring-loaded shoot out to lock it,' Rower explains. With an ample shelf for toys or linens, and two roomy storage drawers below it, the crib also converts into a bed when the sides are removed. 'It's so sturdy that we can climb in with Sofia and read to her,' Robledo says.
Above the crib is another legacy: a metal mobile given to Holton Rower by his grandfather, the artist Alexander Calder. The other objects have stories, too: the stuffed Humpty Dumpty was made by Sofia's grandmother, Mary Rower; the quilt is by her other grandmother, Letitia Robledo; the owl was sewn by a family friend, Sophia Murer, and the rabbit was hand-stitched by Sofia's father, who also spelled out his love in the acrylic painting on the wall.
As this issue went to press, Sofia was awaiting the arrival of a sibling. So who will get the crib? 'It's unpredictable,' Robledo says. One matter, however, Rower is sure of: 'This bed will last for 400 years.'