It’s been 20 years since Carrie Bradshaw & co frolicked by the rooftop pool at Soho House on “Sex and the City” — before being unceremoniously thrown out.
Who can ever forget Samantha Jones’ ridiculous English accent after purloining member Annabelle Bronstein’s card?
But the Nick Jones, the man who brought Soho House to New York has revealed he had never seen a second of the show when he agreed to let it film there, creating one of its most famous moments.
The Meatpacking District private members club, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week, was not even open when Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, alongside the late Willie Garson, arrived to film the 2003 episode, “Boy, Interrupted.”
“They paid a fee to use the house, I didn’t know what the storyline was going to be,” Jones tells Page Six.
Amy Harris, a “SATC” producer, writer and Soho House New York member, revealed it came about after she met a friend working on opening preparations who told her there was going to be a rooftop pool.
“The crazy thing about the day we were shooting is that Soho House still wasn’t open, so there was no water in the pool,” Harris told Page Six.
“They filled it the night before with hose water, and it was freezing. They weren’t able to heat it up in any way, so it was like an iceberg.
“At one point one of the actors tried to get in and her teeth started chattering so much she couldn’t say her lines. Only Willie could get in and say his lines without his teeth chattering. It was so cold.”
Jones said: “I didn’t understand the impact, or the global reach of ‘Sex and the City.’ It was iconic, and it was such a piece of luck that they did it with us, and I’m forever grateful — it was the start of our 20 years in America.”
Despite Cattrall vowing never to return to the show, she made a cameo at the end of the second season of the “SATC” follow-up, “And Just Like That…,” where she put on Bronstein’s accent once again in a jokey phone conversation with SJP’s Carrie Bradshaw.
The club, built in an old electrical warehouse, has been the scene of celebs, scandals and plenty of cocktails over the last 20 years, with “SATC” giving it a launch into popular culture.
“The timing was remarkable,” said Jones. Invites to the anniversary bash on Tuesday were actually “Annabelle Bronstein” membership cards.
Jones, who is now cancer-free after being treated for prostate cancer, told how he never quite believed the Meatpacking club would open.
He had arrived in the city the day before 9/11 to get the permits for the property and was having breakfast at his hotel in Soho when the first of the planes struck the World Trade Center.
“It was horrendous, but what struck me was the resilience and the brilliance of New Yorkers, how they coped and how they came together.”
The meeting for permits still went ahead on time. He then went around “cap in hand” to seek backers — hosting dinner at the building site, with guests including David Bowie, who became a major investor.
On the night of the opening party 20 years ago, there was no hot water, the roof was not covered properly, and it rained down on the guests having dinner inside.
“It was nerve-wracking to see if New York would take to a members-only club, and thankfully they did,”Jones said. “It was a safe place for well known people to come.”
A host of celebs are members, including Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, but as Page Six revealed, Kanye West had his membership revoked over his anti-semitic rants.
One of Jones’ best memories is asking Prince to play at the Soho House branch in West Hollywood. The star asked Jones to play first, so he played Chopsticks on piano.
By 2025, the 30th anniversary of the chain’s original club opening in London’s Soho, there will be 20 houses across the States.
Next comes a “passion project” for Jones; a Soho House in Rhinebeck, 100 miles from the city. It will be built on the grounds of the Grasmere estate and modeled on two retreats Jones has opened in the English countryside; Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire and Babington House in Somerset.
“I was always determined to find a version in upstate New York, and it should be ready in a few years,”Jones revealed; “It will be a country escape.”
