The first-floor common area of The Grove, a luxury apartment complex on Lake Avenue, is known to residents and the Saratoga community alike as the “Great Room”—and for good reason. The magnificent architectural details and thoughtful interior design really do make the space, which was formerly a chapel, great.
“The coffered barrel vault ceiling is just amazing,” says developer Sonny Bonacio, who renovated the aging building after it was purchased in 2014 from a group of Redemptorist priests. (The priests had been using the space as a retirement home; previously it served as a teaching college for priests and as a rectory for Saint Clement’s Church.) “It’s not something you often see outside of an old European cathedral,” Bonacio continues. “It’s also a great mix of form and function—since the curvature of the ceiling amplifies sound, music sounds great in there even without modern mic systems.”
Following extensive renovations and an interior design facelift courtesy of Beverly Tracy Home Design, The Grove reopened as a luxury apartment building, boasting an indoor pool, theater room, and onsite fitness center. But even with granite countertops and a washer/dryer in every apartment, there’s no question that at The Grove, access to the Great Room is the greatest amenity of all.
