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.
July 18, 2023

A retreat reborn in Bridgehampton, this $6M home has every detail covered–including the furniture

While older Hamptons properties are often torn down to make way for new construction, this modern estate at 325 Mitchell Lane was reimagined with architectural finesse in a complete renovation. Now on the market for $5,995,000, the iconic Bridgehampton house, grounds, and pool were painstakingly redesigned with every detail considered, right down to the furniture, which is available to purchase as well.
Take the tour
July 14, 2023

For $2.8M, this two-family Red Hook home with endless outdoor space is a modern townhouse dream

The Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook is known for its architect-designed modern townhouses; if you've ever admired their sleek interiors and unique facades, 138 Coffey Street is just what you're looking for. Asking $2,800,000, this three-story home with several decks, a landscaped backyard, and a roof terrace includes a two-bedroom garden apartment. A carefully considered renovation transformed the 1899 townhouse into a 21st-century multi-family home with 2,000 square feet of outdoor space. You can use the apartment for rental income or as a guest suite–or use the entire space as a single-family home.
Take the modern townhouse tour
July 13, 2023

Stephen Sondheim’s Turtle Bay townhouse is on the market for $7M

The Turtle Bay townhouse at 246 East 49th Street that was home to late songwriter Stephen Sondheim is now on the market, asking $7,000,000. The celebrated songsmith, who received eight Tonys, eight Grammys, an Oscar, and a Pulitzer for the iconic words and melodies to Broadway hits like “West Side Story,” "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," and many more, bought the historic townhouse in 1960. Sondheim needed the privacy of a townhouse, according to Curbed, so he could finesse melodies on the piano without bothering the neighbors.
A home filled with Broadway history, this way
July 12, 2023

Spend summer in your rooftop garden with a wet bar and shower in this $12.95M Chelsea penthouse loft

The 4,800-square-foot full-floor penthouse atop the prewar co-op at 227 West 17th Street is a perfect summertime paradise, featuring a fully irrigated private rooftop garden space with a bar and outdoor shower. Asking $12,950,000, this renovated three-bedroom home is an all-season refuge as well; in addition to the warm-weather haven, there's a massive great room with a wood-burning fireplace for cozy winter nights.
Tour the loft
July 10, 2023

Live at the Plaza with hotel-style service and condo convenience for $9.5M; minimalists need not apply

This  two-bedroom condominium in the Plaza Private Residences at 1 Central Park South offers one of New York City's most iconic addresses and suitably lavish interiors by AD 100 designer Richard Keith Langham. Pristine and newly-renovated, this parkside home, asking $9,500,000, has 12-foot ceilings and all of the conveniences of modern living, along with the peerless hotel services available to Plaza residents.
Step inside for a tour
July 7, 2023

For $1.9M, this compact, renovated brick townhouse is a turn-key home in the heart of Stuyvesant Heights

This compact three-story townhouse at 703 Monroe Street in Bed-Stuy's historic Stuyvesant Heights district packs a lot of modern function and form into its 2,478 square feet. In addition to three stories above, the single-family property, asking $1,850,000, features a finished basement with a rec room and bath. There are four bedrooms within and a covetable freshly landscaped yard in the back.
More Bed-Stuy townhouse, this way
July 6, 2023

There’s a room for everyone in this $4.7M Museum Mile co-op

This elegant Upper East Side residence at 980 Fifth Avenue starts with the building's reputation for spectacular views; within are four bedrooms and an amount of living space most New Yorkers only dream of. Steps away you'll find Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and other destinations that have immortalized the iconic neighborhood in film and legend. Asking $4,650,000, this sprawling co-op currently offers a cozy media room, plus numerous closets, a laundry room, a large pantry, central A/C, and fabulous city and park views.
Explore this iconic uptown apartment
July 5, 2023

This $5M home is a rare early 20th-century hidden architectural gem on the Hudson River

This private architectural masterpiece at 99 Corbett Lane in the historic Palisades, NY enclave of Snedens Landing occupies a secluded spot overlooking the Hudson River. Known as Moon River, the historic house has a creative and modern sensibility along with its five bedrooms, a pool, and a garage. The 4,252-square-foot home is certainly a trophy property for anyone with an eye for modern architecture–and the $4,995,000 required to purchase it–but it's definitely no McMansion.
Stroll around the grounds, check out the pool and the view
July 3, 2023

Asking $2.25M, this modern townhouse is a two-floor home in a converted Bed-Stuy garage

This unique converted garage at 222 Madison Street Brooklyn's buzzing Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood has the open, industrial feel of a loft and the privacy and space of a 3,000-square-foot townhouse, with two separate outdoor spaces. Bonus perk: Drive into your own private garage, all for $2,250,000.
Tour this unique Brooklyn home
June 30, 2023

Manhattan Park’s annual Pop-Up Pool Party gets new art that imagines a bright and sustainable future

Roosevelt Island luxury rental community Manhattan Park has unveiled its ninth annual outdoor pool art transformation. Colorful, transformative art has graced the community’s Pop-Up Pool Party each summer, beginning on Memorial Day. This year's artist, James Gortner, was selected for his artistic and colorful vision; Gortner's themes for this year's art are the joy of existence and sustainability.
See more of the pool's colorful murals
June 29, 2023

With Deco details and dazzling interiors on the Upper East Side, The Harper launches sales

The Upper East Side residence The Harper at 310 East 86th Street has begun sales of its 63 two-, three-, and four-bedroom homes. The new condominium project was designed by the renowned architectural practice ODA, known internationally for innovative and skyline-changing designs. For the latest addition to the iconic Manhattan neighborhood, the firm used large format windows with stepped framing, creating a stunning Art Deco vibe inspired by classic New York City architecture. With occupancy expected this year–a furnished model is available now–the new building features interiors also designed by ODA and an impressive suite of state-of-the-art amenities.
See the interiors and amenities at the Harper
June 28, 2023

This $6.5M Montrose Morris-designed Clinton Hill corner mansion has a three-story round tower

Even among its historic, landmarked Clinton Hill neighbors, architectural distinctions like a three-story round tower set this $6,500,000 Montrose Morris-designed corner mansion at 289 Dekalb Avenue apart. Built in 1891, the brick home, with its conical-roof-topped castle tower, is one of a trio of American Romanesque Revival-style row houses. Inside the 6,342-square-foot property you'll find beautifully preserved elegant interiors and seven bedrooms across three floors. There's also a deck and a modern parking garage.
Explore this romantic mansion
June 28, 2023

An architect’s $3M Chelsea townhouse duplex gets every detail right, including a fantasy roof garden

This townhouse upper duplex at 332 West 19th Street is currently owned by one of New York City's most sought-after architects, James Corner, principal of James Corner Field Operations. The firm is known for high-profile projects like the High Line and Domino Park, among many others. An architectural eye is evident here, as the two-bedroom home's interiors are not only easy on the eyes, but configured so that every inch of space is just right for living. Asking $2,995,000, the perfectly-designed duplex is capped by a gardener's dream of a private roof deck; this idyllic outdoor space is on another level both literally and figuratively.
More Chelsea duplex perfection this way
June 26, 2023

This $3.6M Bed-Stuy townhouse has bay windows, a full-floor bedroom suite, and a basement speakeasy

Surrounded by the historic homes of Bedford-Stuyvesant, this 1893 limestone townhouse has been impeccably restored with loads of historic glamor intact. Filled with fabulous design flourishes, the 4,635-square-foot two-family house, asking $3,600,000, is fronted by carved octagonal bay windows. Within, chic, modern elements are right at home among classic architectural details. Configured as a one-bedroom garden apartment with a triplex above, the home has an unusual secret: A speakeasy room in the basement.
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June 23, 2023

$9.9M four-bedroom Upper West Side co-op makes a charming case for living large

Occupying over 3,500 square feet on the 6th floor of the Beaux Arts building at 285 Central Park West known as The St. Urban, this rare corner unit has (at least) four bedrooms and space to spare. Designed with a fabulous eye for style and color, this Upper West Side home has retained all of its pre-war charms, but it's anything but stuffy. Impressive Central Park vistas and open exposures add up to a $9,900,000 HQ for a big, busy family, grand-scale entertaining–or both.
Stylish sprawl at the St. Urban, this way
June 22, 2023

From firehouse to Spike Lee’s movie HQ, this $4.35M Fort Greene home has a century of stories to tell

This decommissioned firehouse at 124 Dekalb Avenue–currently asking $4,350,000–has a fascinating history that began in 1895, when it was built as a water tower. Converted into a neighborhood firehouse in 1903, the building's cellar was fortified as a bomb shelter at some point in the 20th century. After the firehouse was disbanded in 1974, the building became a live/work space for celebrated filmmaker Spike Lee, who headquartered his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks studio here. In the mid-1980s, the building was converted into two duplex loft apartments–and a multi-car garage.
The full eyeful, this way
June 20, 2023

A 110-acre woodland sanctuary surrounds this $6M Hudson Valley hilltop estate

Looking for all the world like the cover of a magazine filled with dream estates surrounded by woods and water, this singular property, asking $5,950,000, spans 110 acres high on a hill in the Hudson Highlands of Garrison, New York. The architecturally stunning main house at 236 Old Albany Post Road, known as La Formentera, is joined by a studio/guest house with a three-car garage and a circa 1800s caretakers' cottage (also with a garage), adding up to five structures in all. The surrounding property includes a private lake, waterfall, and brook, an outdoor fireplace, and a 60-foot pool served by a stone pool house pavilion, all just an hour from New York City.
Tour this idyllic country estate
June 19, 2023

This $2.4M Brooklyn Heights co-op is a turnkey classic six with a private balcony and skyline views

This spacious co-op at 75 Henry Street in one of the city's most sought-after neighborhoods is ready for whatever life brings. Asking $2,395,000, the three-bedroom home has three baths and a layout that provides privacy and plenty of work-from-home space, as well as closets to keep clutter out of the way. A private double balcony and bridge and city views are an inspiration in every season; an on-site parking garage adds rare convenience.
More details, this way
June 16, 2023

Asking $2.5M, this classic Tribeca loft was starchitect Rafael Viñoly’s studio and pied-à-terre

Now on the market asking $2,500,000, this full-floor loft co-op at 137 West Broadway in Tribeca recently served as the office, art studio, and pied-à-terre of renowned late architect Rafael Viñoly. Viñoly, who designed notable buildings like 432 Park Avenue, 277 Fifth Avenue, and Three Waterline Square, kept the space until his passing in March of this year, overseeing renovations and using the living room walls to create life-sized figure drawings on wall-sized sketch pads.
Get the details
June 14, 2023

Live in a former sculptors’ studio in a historic East Village carriage house for $8K/month

We've all envied those charming celebrity carriage houses in the Village–like Taylor Swift's Cornelia Street home–but we also know they cost millions to own. Built in 1892, this quaint brick building at 249 1/2 East 13th Street was once the studio of sculptors Karl Bitter and Giuseppe Moretti (Bitter created the East Doors for the Trinity Church and medallions on the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Moretti, the "Vulcan," the world's largest cast iron statue), and is often referred to as an important part of neighborhood history. You can now rent the entire home for $8,000 per month.
Carriage house tour, this way
June 13, 2023

Met Museum will open a 3,500-square-foot science and art play space for young visitors

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced it will open the 81st Street Studio, a free science and art play space for the museum's youngest visitors, on September 9. The newly-designed space will occupy a 3,500-square-foot area in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education at the Upper East Side museum; children aged 3 to 11 can enjoy interactive play to create new experiences and inspire exploration of the museum's vast collection.
More cool stuff for kids at the Met, this way
June 12, 2023

Former North Fork general store is now a sweet little $595K beach cottage with separate studio

Formerly known as the Park Store, this charming cottage was the sole community general store in the Reeves Park Beach neighborhood of Long Island's Baiting Hollow from the 1940s to the 1980s. The compact one-bedroom-plus-sleeping-loft home, asking $595,000, has been renovated with many of its original details preserved. Located in a highly desirable Long Island Sound beach community, the property includes an equally compact separate studio.
Get a closer look
June 9, 2023

This elegant $1.6M Upper East Side co-op has hand-painted murals and classic pre-war details

Live the timeless, classic Upper East Side life in this corner co-op at 901 Lexington Avenue. In addition to retaining the grandeur of its original 1907 design, interiors by renowned designer Suzanne Rheinstein render its elegance unique. Hand-painted hardwood floors and murals by Bob Christian are just a few of the timeless details that elevate this $1,600,000 home.
Take the tour
June 8, 2023

The Westchester Colonial home of late fashion icon André Leon Talley asks $1.25M

The longtime Westchester home of André Leon Talley, the larger-than-life former Vogue creative director and fashion-world influencer who died in 2022, has just been listed for $1,250,000. According to the New York Times, Talley, who was the first Black creative director at Vogue, considered the White Plains property his "sanctuary" from rough-and-tumble city life. The home is currently owned by an LLC created by the designer–and longtime friend–Diane von Furstenberg to assure that Talley wouldn't lose the property after an ownership dispute. At the end of a long private drive, the classic four-bedroom 1854 home on one-and-a-half acres reminded Talley of the estates in his native city of Durham, North Carolina.
Leopard print carpets and classic proportions, this way
June 7, 2023

For $1.8M, this design lover’s upstate dream house uses color and texture to update history

Situated on two verdant Columbia County acres, this circa-1789 Federal-style home's design takes a detour from the strict proportions that previously defined its Georgian rooms in an enchanting mix of curved walls and sophisticated color schemes. While keeping many of its architectural details intact, the current designer-owners of the Kinderhook, New York home, known as Orchard House, have in this way breathed colorful new life into this country retreat, asking $1,800,000.
More country dream house, this way