All articles by Michelle Cohen

Michelle is a New York-based writer and content strategist who has worked extensively with lifestyle brands like Seventeen, Country Living, Harper’s Bazaar and iVillage. In addition to being a copywriter for a digital media agency she writes about culture, New York City neighborhoods, real estate, style, design and technology among other topics. She has lived in a number of major US cities on both coasts and in between and loves all things relating to urbanism and culture.

Photo courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

November 20, 2024

This $839K co-op in an Upper West Side mansion has a presidential connection

By Michelle Cohen

If you'd like to live in a grand Upper West Side mansion for less than $1 million, this four-room co-op at 280 West End Avenue rises to the occasion. Built in 1887, the stately Romanesque Revival mansion–once the home of the son and widow of President Ulysses S. Grant, according to the listing–holds the $839,000 key to Manhattan mansion living in the form of a one-bedroom home with an elegantly rounded bay window.
have a look a-round

Distinctive Homes

$2.35M Gramercy co-op wraps classic pre-war style with vintage opulence–plus a key to the park

Photo credit: Alejandro Leon / DD-reps

November 19, 2024

$2.35M Gramercy co-op wraps classic pre-war style with vintage opulence–plus a key to the park

By Michelle Cohen

This unique apartment within the city's first co-op at 34 Gramercy Park East was formerly two separate units, the combination of which resulted in a large–if unconventional–space with lots of options. The co-op's covetable location across from Gramercy Park affords it a rare New York City perk: a key to the private park. The renovated apartment, asking $2,350,000, is a winding, detail-rich journey through time, enhanced by color, pattern, and architectural detail.
get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

This $3.75M Lefferts Manor townhouse has well-preserved historic details and every modern luxury

Photo credit: Hayley Ellen Day / DD-reps

November 18, 2024

This $3.75M Lefferts Manor townhouse has well-preserved historic details and every modern luxury

By Michelle Cohen

Sometimes a listing has so much going for it, we wonder how anyone could leave it behind. This four-story Brooklyn townhouse at 49 Rutland Road embodies that "has it all" status. Asking $3,750,000, the neo-Renaissance townhouse–one in a row of five built in 1897 in the Lefferts Manor Historic District section of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens–offers turn-key living within a beautifully restored historic home.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

This $8.75M Village townhouse is a downtown dream home with an elevator, three terraces, and a rooftop office suite

Photo credit: DD-reps

November 15, 2024

This $8.75M Village townhouse is a downtown dream home with an elevator, three terraces, and a rooftop office suite

By Michelle Cohen

If your idea of the perfect home is a historic townhouse in the West Village, you're definitely not alone. This two-family home at 12 Leroy Street embodies the dream with 4,300 square feet of tranquil interior space in the endlessly charming vicinity of Bleecker and Bedford Streets. Asking $8,750,000, the 20-foot-wide property consists of a garden apartment and four renovated upper floors accessible via private elevator, several terraces, and a suitably enchanting landscaped garden in the rear.
Village townhouse tour, this way

Distinctive Homes

Photo credit: Celeste Godoy Photography

November 14, 2024

For $5.8M, this Fifth Avenue co-op has ‘Mad Men’-era vibes and Central Park views

By Michelle Cohen

With its mid-20th-century sophistication and sleek design, this one-bedroom co-op at 825 Fifth Avenue, currently owned by an art collector, offers the classic Manhattan elegance of a bygone age, but the Central Park views from this covetable Upper East Side address are timeless. The apartment, asking $5,795,000, is set up as a showcase of art and design for a busy city lifestyle.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

The world’s first streetcar began operation in Lower Manhattan in 1832

Horse-drawn streetcar no. 148 of a New York City system. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

November 14, 2024

The world’s first streetcar began operation in Lower Manhattan in 1832

By Michelle Cohen

On November 14, 1832, the John Mason, a horse-drawn streetcar, began its route between Prince and 14th Streets. Named for the railroad magnate who commissioned it, the new transportation addition was the first of its kind and a vast improvement over the horse-drawn omnibus that was currently in use. Built in 1827, the omnibus was little more than a boxy stagecoach, with riders packed into it like "sardines in a box with perspiration for oil. Passengers hang from the straps like smoked hams in a corner grocery." Fares were only 15 cents, and though cars were only supposed to hold 15 people, riders even clambered onto the roof, holding on for dear life.
Not perfect, but an improvement

For $25M, a Flatiron penthouse in a golden cupola, with Manhattan at your feet

Photo credit: Eitan Gamliely for Sotheby’s International Realty

November 13, 2024

For $25M, a Flatiron penthouse in a golden cupola, with Manhattan at your feet

By Michelle Cohen

If you're asking $25 million for a Manhattan condo, even if it's a mansion-sized penthouse with Empire State Building views and a Fifth Avenue address, it had better occupy a gilded sky dome atop a neighborhood landmark. With that qualification met, this extravagant duplex atop the Sohmer Piano Building at 170 Fifth Avenue–the listing calls it a "Renaissance rocket ship"–has more grand gestures to offer: The seller, entrepreneur Greg Carr, has pledged the home's sale proceeds toward his highly-regarded philanthropic project, the rebuilding of a decimated national wildlife park in Mozambique.
find out more

Distinctive Homes

Photo credit: Oleg Davidoff Photographer Co.

November 12, 2024

A Victoria’s Secret model’s angelic East Village flat with a solarium and terrace asks $2.9M

By Michelle Cohen

This three-bedroom "condop" in the East Village at 50 Avenue A would be a heavenly home even without the added cachet of being home to former Victoria's Secret model Shannan Click. Asking $2,900,000, the light-filled flat is an all-weather oasis, with an 880-square-foot terrace and a glass-clad solarium for basking in the sunlight.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

For $3M, this two-family Crown Heights townhouse fills every available inch of space with great style

Photo credit: Hayley Ellen Day

November 8, 2024

For $3M, this two-family Crown Heights townhouse fills every available inch of space with great style

By Michelle Cohen

This two-family Crown Heights townhouse at 742 Lincoln Place is a great opportunity for rental income in the form of a garden apartment, with a spacious duplex above–or for creating a three-floor home. Beyond living space and perks like a full basement and a backyard, the 20-foot-wide property, developed and designed by Bolt Equities and asking $2,995,000, is a showcase of dazzling interior design, with modern fixtures and comforts galore.
take the townhouse tour

Distinctive Homes

Color, texture, and pre-war details define this decorator’s dream of a $4.85M Village co-op

Photo credit: Yoo Jean Han for Sotheby’s International Realty

November 7, 2024

Color, texture, and pre-war details define this decorator’s dream of a $4.85M Village co-op

By Michelle Cohen

This freshly renovated Greenwich Village co-op has interior designer Katie Ridder to thank for the just-right mix of sophisticated patterns, textures, and powdery pastel hues that grace every room. Updates to the two-bedroom duplex at 45 East 9th Street, asking $4,850,000, go beyond aesthetics with central air conditioning, new windows, pantry, bathrooms, laundry facilities, and a newly-minted kitchen. The building is known for its design showcase homes and notable residents like Vogue editor Hamish Bowles and "Sex and the City" writer Candace Bushnell.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

This $3.6M Spuyten Duyvil home is a tranquil refuge indoors and out, within New York City limits

By Michelle Cohen

In the leafy Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood in the Bronx, this charming 20th-century residence at 800 West 231st Street was built in 1935 with updated interiors for 21st-century living on four levels. Stone walls and a slate roof give the single-family home, asking $3,600,000, a rustic-yet-modern charm that's subtly unique. Just south of Riverdale, the five-bedroom property is surrounded by a landscaped garden, and a stone patio frames a large outdoor pool.
see more, this way

Distinctive Homes

For $20.5M, West Village townhouse meets suburban mansion behind a historic facade

Photo credit: MW Studios for Sotheby’s International Realty

November 5, 2024

For $20.5M, West Village townhouse meets suburban mansion behind a historic facade

By Michelle Cohen

If you're looking for a massive mansion with a West Village address, this five-story townhouse at 763 Greenwich Street, asking $20,500,000, has you covered. Behind a charming brick facade on a historic block, the home's interiors reflect pitch-perfect contemporary style courtesy of AD100 designer Stephen Gambrel, framed by coveted period details. A backyard and a rooftop terrace bring outdoor living to the table, and it's all accessible by a convenient elevator.
step into the elevator for a five-floor tour

Distinctive Homes

A grown-up townhouse with a Bushwick address–and a koi pond–asks $2M

Photos courtesy of Russ Ross for The Corcoran Group

November 4, 2024

A grown-up townhouse with a Bushwick address–and a koi pond–asks $2M

By Michelle Cohen

While Bushwick may be where the cool kids are, this three-story townhouse at 1163 Putnam Avenue is an adult-friendly two-family property with all the trimmings. With a picture-perfect renovation designed by the current owner, a former creative director at Elle Decor magazine, the turn-key home, asking $1,995,000, includes a separate garden apartment and a landscaped backyard, complete with a koi pond.
take the townhouse tour

Distinctive Homes

Kenny Scharf’s painted swings at Luna Luna in Los Angeles. Credit: Joshua White/Luna Luna, LLC

November 1, 2024

Resurrected avant-garde art carnival Luna Luna opens this month at The Shed at Hudson Yards

By Michelle Cohen

Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, the world’s first art amusement park, is coming to The Shed at Hudson Yards this month. Lost to time since its debut in Hamburg, Germany in 1987, the avant-garde art carnival is being recreated to dazzle, delight, and perplex 21st-century visitors in New York City after a spectacular resurrection in Los Angeles earlier this year. You'll be able to experience the original colorful, surreal riot of carnival rides and immersive attractions created by iconic 20th-century art stars like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, David Hockney, Salvador Dalí, Roy Lichtenstein, and more.
find out more

Events & Things To Do

For $700K, this parkside Brooklyn co-op adds dramatic design details to classic pre-war bones

Photo Credit: Manuel Pellón

October 30, 2024

For $700K, this parkside Brooklyn co-op adds dramatic design details to classic pre-war bones

By Michelle Cohen

This thoughtfully renovated 1,000-square-foot Prospect Lefferts Gardens home at 125 Ocean Avenue is a perfectly elegant blend of custom comforts, striking design, and gracious pre-war proportions. Asking $700,000, the one-bedroom (plus home office space) co-op is framed by Art Deco details, like a sunken living room and gracefully arched doorways, with modern additions, adding up to a sophisticated 21st-century home across from Prospect Park.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Behold the breathtaking views from this $18M home on the Montauk coastline

Photo credit: Dronehub for Douglas Elliman

October 29, 2024

Behold the breathtaking views from this $18M home on the Montauk coastline

By Michelle Cohen

High on the southernmost bluff of Long Island, the Stone House at 408 Old Montauk Highway embodies the mythical wildness and wonder of Montauk, long referred to by locals as "The End." This peerless private oceanfront estate, surrounded by panoramic views of Montauk Lighthouse and Block Island, occupies a front-row seat to watching the sun and moon rise over the water. Asking $18,000,000, the 3.2-acre estate's main residence sits on a vegetative 70-foot bluff protected by a rare rock revetment on the Atlantic Ocean.
get an eyeful of ocean view, this way

Distinctive Homes

Bill Murray’s former Snedens Landing home asks $3.7M

Photo credit: Andrea B. Swenson/Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty

October 25, 2024

Bill Murray’s former Snedens Landing home asks $3.7M

By Michelle Cohen

On nearly four acres off a private lane in the celebrity-studded enclave of Snedens Landing in the Rockland County hamlet of Palisades, New York, this charming property was built in 1986 by actor Bill Murray, who enjoyed it as a family home in the years that followed. Asking $3,695,000, the 5,177-square-foot main house at 19 Ludlow Lane comes with an additional buildable two acres.
see inside

$4.5M Central Park West duplex in Hotel des Artistes gets color just right

Photo credit: Real Estate Production Network for Sotheby’s International Realty

October 24, 2024

$4.5M Central Park West duplex in Hotel des Artistes gets color just right

By Michelle Cohen

With its Gothic-style facade and rich history of being home to notable New Yorkers, the Hotel des Artistes co-op at 1 West 67th Street is a Manhattan icon. This freshly renovated 1,800-square-foot duplex was converted to a one-bedroom home with gracious proportions and luxurious details, highlighted by a perfectly curated color palette. Asking $4,495,000, the decidedly not-beige pre-war home comes with a separate guest/staff room on the same floor.
a stylish rainbow, this way

Distinctive Homes

This $3.15M co-op embodies East Village cool, all grown up

Photo courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens

October 23, 2024

This $3.15M co-op embodies East Village cool, all grown up

By Michelle Cohen

In a pre-war co-op building on classically chic East 6th Street, this three-bedroom residence captures the enduring charm of the neighborhood with sophisticated style. Asking $3,150,000, the creatively designed home at 232 East 6th Street is filled with striking features like bespoke floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, decorative wallpaper, and a full spectrum of paint hues, adding up to a rock-star look that's more polished than punk. As an additional perk, a full-sized laundry room ups the storage game beyond what you'd expect to find in the neighborhood.
Take the tour

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For $1.45M, this barrel-fronted Bay Ridge home offers three floors for living and lots of outdoor space

Photo credit: Allyson Lubow for The Corcoran Group

October 22, 2024

For $1.45M, this barrel-fronted Bay Ridge home offers three floors for living and lots of outdoor space

By Michelle Cohen

In quiet Bay Ridge, surrounded by waterfront and parks, this classic townhouse at 172 Senator Street has plenty of curb appeal. A limestone-clad facade and gracefully rounded barrel front–like those of its neighbors–wrap a 20-foot-wide, 2,000-square-foot single-family home. Within are three floors of cozy rooms, highlighted by historic architectural details like pocket doors, high coffered and medallioned ceilings, and bay and stained-glass windows.
get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

SHOP THE LISTING: Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy’s $9.75M West Village townhouse is an all-season urban refuge

Photo courtesy of Alejandro Leon/DD Reps

October 17, 2024

SHOP THE LISTING: Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy’s $9.75M West Village townhouse is an all-season urban refuge

By Michelle Cohen

From the wine cellar to the terraces, roof deck, and outdoor kitchen, the West Village home of actors Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy is a dreamy four-story urban refuge with prize-winning interiors by the architecture firm of BKSK. Profiled in the New York Times, the celebrity pair wanted more space for their family; they put the 3,890-square-foot home at 19 Downing Street on the market for $9,750,000 in August. The pair quickly found a buyer for the Greek Revival-style townhouse, according to the Post, and the home is now in contract. If you love the interior design of this home, we’ve sourced a few key pieces that are identical or similar to the items in the listing photos, so you can get the look for your own space.
find out more

For $1.5M, get (way) off the grid in Gilded Age style on your own private island in Alexandria Bay

Photo credit: Lost Retainer BK

October 16, 2024

For $1.5M, get (way) off the grid in Gilded Age style on your own private island in Alexandria Bay

By Michelle Cohen

Between the upcoming election frenzy and the impending holiday hustle, it may seem like a good time to imagine really getting away from it all–like, private-island away. This unique property on Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands (birthplace of Waldorf Astoria's famous salad dressing with the same name) is about as upstate as you can get without being in Canada, and it's only accessible by boat or seaplane. Being surrounded by water comes with 360 degrees of pristine water views, with fixed and floating docks to park your vessel of choice. Asking $1,500,000, the island is surrounded by the Gilded Age homes of Vanderbilts, Wrigleys, and Trudeaus as well as the neighboring Boldt Castle, whose design inspired the modern, spacious three-bedroom home situated at the island's edge.
private island life, this way

Distinctive Homes

For $2.7M, this Crown Heights townhouse is a brilliant bohemian paradise designed for living

Photo credit: Fiore/Rise Media for The Corcoran Group

October 14, 2024

For $2.7M, this Crown Heights townhouse is a brilliant bohemian paradise designed for living

By Michelle Cohen

This one-of-a-kind two-family townhouse at 1459 Dean Street in landmarked Crown Heights, asking $2,695,000, consists of a spacious duplex atop a large garden flat. Both are spacious enough for family living, with a deck and a magical garden oasis. A recent renovation blessed the home with every possible comfort and modern detail; the interiors in both units elevate design to masterpiece level, adding up to a sophisticated bohemian paradise of the highest order.
take the tour

Distinctive Homes

This six-story $13.9M Upper West Side townhouse has all of life’s luxuries under one roof, with an elevator to get there

All photos courtesy of H5 Photography for The Corcoran Group

October 10, 2024

This six-story $13.9M Upper West Side townhouse has all of life’s luxuries under one roof, with an elevator to get there

By Michelle Cohen

On a historic Upper West Side townhouse block, this six-story home at 308 West 88th Street is truly a Manhattan mansion. From the rec-room-ready full basement to the indoor/outdoor retreat on the rooftop–and the elevator that hits every floor–the home, asking $13,850,000, provides a gracious, historic residence with every 21st-century convenience. A no-expense-spared renovation added modern amenities to the pre-war architecture of the 8,500-square-foot townhouse, including skylights, a sauna, a wine cellar and tasting room, a luxurious full-floor primary suite, and a state-of-the-art kitchen.
take the six-floor townhouse tour

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$11M historic West Village home offers the privacy, parking, and outdoor space you’d find in a suburban subdivision

Photo credit: Allyson Lubow for The Corcoran Group

October 7, 2024

$11M historic West Village home offers the privacy, parking, and outdoor space you’d find in a suburban subdivision

By Michelle Cohen

On a postcard-perfect West Village street, this 1830 Federal townhouse at 18 Commerce Street is at the center of one of Manhattan's favorite downtown neighborhoods; yet the charming brick home has the privacy, parking, and outdoor space–hot tub included–you'd find on a suburban cul-de-sac. At 25 feet wide, the historic home, asking $10,995,000, offers four floors for gracious living, with "secret" rooms, a tea porch, a patio, and gated off-street parking at the back.
take the tour

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All articles by Michelle Cohen

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