Carole Radziwill may be returning to “The Real Housewives of New York City” after eight years away, but viewers shouldn’t expect everything about her old RHONY life to look familiar.
Radziwill is still living in the longtime SoHo apartment fans came to know during her original run on the Bravo series. Inside, however, the space has undergone another major transformation.
In a sneak peek at the Sept. 15 episode of RHONY Season 16, Radziwill shows off her renovated New York City home, revealing everything from a much brighter entryway to a completely reworked kitchen.
“I renovated my apartment again,” Radziwill says in the preview.
And longtime viewers may need a minute to recognize it.
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Carole Radziwill Completely Changed the Look of Her SoHo Apartment
Radziwill’s latest renovation trades some of the darker, cooler elements viewers saw in her home years ago for a considerably warmer look.
Her entryway, which featured dark walls and a moodier aesthetic in 2014, now has a much brighter palette along with new mirrors and sconces. The hardwood floors throughout the apartment have also gone from a darker finish to a lighter wood.
The living room may offer the most striking before-and-after comparison. Gone are the predominantly gray and blue tones seen in Radziwill’s earlier RHONY years. The updated room incorporates a brown rug, warmer lighting and neutral-colored furniture and drapes.
One particularly notable change involves her kitchen, which has already served more than one purpose during her time in the apartment.
“I had turned my kitchen into my office, so I turned it back into a kitchen,” Radziwill explains.
There is one catch. The renovation hasn’t exactly inspired a new culinary era for the former Housewife.
“I still don’t cook, but I do make my coffee there,” she jokes. “But now my office is in my car.”
Carole Radziwill Has Called the Apartment Home for More Than 20 Years
While Radziwill has repeatedly reinvented the space, the SoHo apartment itself has remained a constant in her life for more than two decades.
She moved downtown following the death of her husband, Anthony Radziwill, in August 1999. By the time she joined RHONY in Season 5 in 2012, she had already made extensive changes to the property.
“This is my living room. It has 16 foot ceilings. When I bought it, it was completely different. I gutted it and renovated the whole thing,” she told Bravo during a 2012 tour.
Radziwill renovated again several years later, including transforming an upstairs attic space and moving her office into the kitchen.
One of the home’s most memorable pieces also comes with significant family history. A vintage tiger-striped sofa once belonged to Radziwill’s mother-in-law, Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Radziwill later had the aging sofa reupholstered in blue velvet.
“I’ve had it in my life for 27 years,” she told Architectural Digest in 2017, adding that the piece held “a lot of memories” and was “a piece of history.”
Now, the apartment is entering another chapter right alongside its owner. Radziwill’s return to RHONY Season 16 marks her first time back as a cast member since departing the series after Season 10.
