Upper East Side Townhouse by Modernist Pioneer William Lescaze Sells for $16M
After five long years on the market, the William Lescaze-designed townhouse at 32 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side has found a buyer, according to Curbed. As 6sqft previously reported, Lescaze was a Swiss-born, American architect who is credited with pioneering modernism in America. His personal Midtown East townhouse (the William Lescaze House) is considered the first modernist residence in New York City, built just one year prior to this 1934 uptown commission. The Upper East Side house sold for $12 million in 2008. Starting two years later, it’s been on and off the market, ranging from $14 million to $19.5 million, but finally went into contract last week for $15.9 million.
32 East 74th Street was built for Raymond C. Kramer, a textile entrepreneur and United States Colonel, who commissioned Lescaze after seeing his 48th Street house. Both homes have the same stucco facade, curved entryway, and ribbon windows. Though the listing provides no interior photos, it does describe its “elevator, wood-burning fireplace, south-facing garden with oversized rear windows, a spectacular al fresco Winter Garden, solarium and undulating terrace overlooking a sun-drenched backyard garden.” A 2010 article in the Observer about the house hitting the market (that has since been taken down) alluded to the hefty construction and renovation work needed inside.
The sale was listed in Olshan’s luxury market report, so no word yet on who the buyer is, though 6sqft will be keeping an eye out for city records.
[Listing: 32 East 74th Street by Julie Pham of the Corcoran Group]
[Via Curbed]
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Images via the Corcoran Group
