Coterie Hudson Yards resident Martina has crafted a life of easygoing connection and comfortable solitude, of true independence and selective support.

From leaving her longtime East Side home to finding her place in Hudson Yards, this ability to adapt traces back to a time when it wasn’t a choice, but a necessity.

A Life Shaped by Art

Born in Amsterdam in the late 1930s, three-year-old Martina left Holland on one of the last transatlantic cruises before America entered World War II. Her family landed in Philadelphia, where she grew up surrounded by her grandfather’s art collection. She spoke Dutch at home while learning English at school. This early experience—leaving one world behind and embracing another—would prove essential throughout her life.

Martina studied art history at Wellesley College in Boston and was encouraged by a professor to pursue a graduate degree. Martina politely declined. “I didn't want to sit there looking at books. I wanted to look at art,” she recalls. This led her to an entry-level job at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum, where she discovered paper conservation—a specialty so new that she helped develop the very techniques that are still used today.

In 1960, she married her husband, a Harvard Law grad and business attorney she’d met on a blind date. The couple set up their home in a five-story brownstone on Manhattan’s East Side. Though at first reluctant about the move, she soon discovered that no one else in the city specialized in restoring artworks on paper.

Working from her studio on the top floor of the brownstone, she built relationships with artists—including the well-known Modernist painter and teacher, Josef Albers.

The German-born Albers had emigrated to Connecticut with his wife and brought Martina many drawings from his collection that needed restoration. “I worked in exchange for art rather than cash, and that worked out very well for both of us, because I love his work,” Martina recalls.

During their sessions, Albers would sit and talk while playing with Martina’s young children, who were five and eight at the time. His genuine affection for the family meant that he “became almost a member of the family,” turning what could have been purely transactional exchanges into a lasting friendship.

Creating a Home at Coterie Hudson Yards

After 60 years in her brownstone home, widowhood prompted Martina to explore senior living options. She toured several communities before discovering Coterie. “I never expected anything like this. I expected, you know, a dingy apartment someplace.”

The decision to move represented more than downsizing—it meant embracing an entirely new part of town. Hudson Yards, with its mix of residential and office buildings, shopping and dining spots, public parks and plazas, offered the same spirit of innovation that had defined Martina’s career. “It’s kind of fun to be in a newly developing area. It’s just changing constantly, and that’s interesting,” she observes.

And life in the newly constructed building itself revealed unexpected pleasures. Her east-facing apartment floods with morning light through floor-to-ceiling windows—a dramatic departure from the smaller paned windows of her former home. She especially loves the views of Manhattan and the Hudson River from her residence. “It’s very unusual for a New York City apartment building,” she says.

The move to Coterie also meant reimagining how to display her treasured vintage furnishings and art pieces, which include a framed party invitation from Andy Warhol. Working with an interior designer, Martina transformed the space into an even brighter backdrop for her collection, complete with designer lighting fixtures and custom-built shelving to display art books and personal relics.

A Mind in Motion

At Coterie, Martina has found her ideal balance between shared experiences and independence. The on-site programs satisfy her intellectual curiosity with everything from lectures on urban development to discussions of jazz history. “We have a full schedule every day of the week, each class more interesting than the last,” she says.

Beyond Coterie’s walls, transportation services keep her connected to Manhattan’s cultural offerings. Whether visiting museums, attending a theater performance, or exploring the evolving dining scene in Hudson Yards, her appetite for discovery remains undiminished.

“After many decades living in the city, I thought I was familiar with the city. But on moving here, I’ve found there are new areas, new discoveries, new shops and galleries to explore.”

Living with Purpose

Martina chooses to approach each day with the same restless energy that has always driven her. She maintains connections to her home country of Holland, visiting family there regularly, and continues discovering new sides of the city she’s called home for decades.

Her legacy extends beyond her work—former colleagues now hold positions at major museums like the Whitney, and the paper conservation techniques she helped pioneer remain the standard in museums worldwide.

In her apartment overlooking the Manhattan skyline, with Penny nearby and walls filled with art that tell the story of her remarkable career, Martina continues her work of living a life that remains anything but still.