Meg Ryan loves renovating homes as it makes her feel "in control"

Speaking to Architectural Digest magazine, she said: "I know it sounds crazy to most people, the idea of renovating that many houses. But I love renovating. I think it's tied to living the actor's life. As an actor, you are so rarely in control. You're always saying words that someone else has given you, standing in a room that someone else has designed, to create a reality that someone else wants to see. But with decorating I am in control; it's a chance for me to bring my vision into the world."

And the 'When Harry Met Sally' actress - who has son Jack, 24, with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and adopted daughter Daisy, 11 - had had her eye on the loft for some time as she had been to a party there years before.

She said: "It was all quite different back then, and the space had been through many eras. At one point Cindy Sherman had used it for her photo studio. In fact, what's now my coatroom was her darkroom. But even when I had visited all those years ago, I was amazed by the volume. It was like so much of New York: cinematic. That's what attracted me. That's what I wanted to work with."