The Joys of Letting Go

The Solomons began one night 38 years ago when Angela, who was living in a "no-bedroom" in Greenwich Village, reluctantly agreed to go on a blind date with a young doctor who had just finished studying in Switzerland. "I was so not into settling down," says 70-year-old Angela, now a communications consultant for television and film clients. "It was the '60s."

The two were married on May 3, 1969—a date they're reminded of by a signed '69 Spoleto Festival poster, a wedding gift from a friend, on display in their living room. All the art in their home is the work of people close to them—everything from photos taken in Japan, India, and Paris to groupings from a school of ceramics Joel simply calls "friend pottery." The couple doesn't have children, but pictures of young relatives are everywhere. "What we wanted to hang on to in our new home is what downtown New York represents for us—it's all about our friends," Angela says. "Other than that, we wanted to cut and run!"