Historic Gramercy townhouse from Bob Dylan album cover sells for $23M
Photo courtesy of Wally Gobetz on Flickr
An 1846 townhouse, once owned by former New York City mayor and publisher James Harper, has sold for $23.09 million in an off-market deal. The historic Greek Revival home located along Gramercy Park features sun-filled rooms, high ceilings, and elaborate crown molding, and it comes with a coveted key to the park. But the biggest bragging rights, as the New York Post learned, are that Bob Dylan sat on the stoop of the red-brick house for the cover of his album “Highway 61 Revisited.”
4 Gramercy Park West, image courtesy of NYPL
James Harper was elected mayor of New York in 1844 for a one-year term, and while in office, he banned free-roaming pigs from city streets and began planning for a sanitation system. He also founded the publishing company Harper & Brothers, which later became HaperCollins, and lived in the Greek Revival townhouse from 1847 until his death in 1869. The property’s architect, Alexander Jackson Davis, designed the ornate cast iron porches and its intricate arches that support the roof. During that era, lamp posts in front of the home, which remain there today, signified the mayor’s residence. If they were lit, that meant the mayor was not to be disturbed.
While the 26-foot-wide spacious home has been renovated, unique turn-of-the-century architectural details, such as beautiful hardwood floors, five decorative fireplaces, and elaborate moldings, remain.
The parlor floor is fully equipped with a chef’s kitchen and a dining area that can fit up to 20 people. The east-facing windows bring in plenty of natural light and provide views of Gramercy Park. Just down the stairs, there’s a balcony that overlooks a very green backyard with plantings and a sitting area.
As 6sqft previously covered, it’s thought that in 1945 E.B. White set his beloved “Stuart Little” novel, a story about a human boy born as a mouse, in 4 Gramercy Park West.
[Listing: 4 Gramercy Park West by Robert Falcone, Tracie Hamersley, and Lisa Simonsen for Douglas Elliman]
[Via NY Post]
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Images courtesy of Douglas Elliman unless otherwise noted
