I almost didn't take this listing. Then the door opened onto a sun-drenched corridor of oak

I almost didn't take this one.

On paper, it's 415 square feet in JVC. I've walked through so many of those, and most feel exactly like their price. When the owner gave me his number, I drove to The Sloane ready to explain, gently, why the market would disagree.

Then the door opened.

You don't see the apartment first, you see the end of it: a long line of pale oak and white tile running straight to a wall of glass, and the city waiting beyond it. The kitchen runs along one side and keeps quiet about how good it is. There's a built-in oven, a hob, and oak cabinetry that closes without a sound.

Well that's Ellington for you, they don't build loud. They build carefully and let you notice.

At the end of the hall the room opens up with floor-to-ceiling glass, a wood floor catching the light in one long stripe, and a door onto a balcony that looks out over the skyline.

The bathroom is something out of a 5-star hotel brochure: frameless glass shower, rainfall head, a backlit mirror, a floating oak vanity. There are built-in wardrobes, a laundry closet hidden behind a door with the washer already installed, and your own covered parking space.

Upstairs, the building keeps the same promise with a pool deck sits among the towers, with low cushioned lounges in the shade. There's also a residents' library lounge under woven lanterns with a games room where someone has left the foosball table waiting. Add a gym, 24-hour security, a staffed lobby, a barbecue area, a day care center, and pets are welcome.

That day I called the owner and told him I wouldn't argue with his price. What separates this from an ordinary JVC studio is the difference between somewhere to sleep and somewhere you're glad to come home to.

You pay for that once, but you feel it every day.

Come see it in the morning, that's when the light does its best work.