Townhouses

The many rooms of this $4.6M Prospect Heights brownstone are as colorful as they are historic

Photos by Elizabeth Dooley, courtesy of Compass

May 9, 2019

The many rooms of this $4.6M Prospect Heights brownstone are as colorful as they are historic

Renovated brownstones may be lovely, but once you've seen a few, they tend to blend together in a blur of pale walls and chandeliers. This Prospect Heights gem at 130 St. Marks Avenue is a very intact two-family home complete with restored wood trim and paneling that resembles neither a museum nor the usual house-tour staple. Color sets each room apart, and, as the listing points out, updates were done with an artist's eye to highlight old details while adding modern design. As configured, the home, asking $4.575 million, has a five-bedroom owner's triplex and a one-bedroom rental apartment on the garden floor. There's plenty of charm left over for private outdoor spaces as well, including the little-known neighborhood bonus of an extra-long back yard.
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There’s a rustic writer’s cabin hiding behind this $2.3M Park Slope house

Photos by Al Siedman of VHT, courtesy of Corcoran

April 30, 2019

There’s a rustic writer’s cabin hiding behind this $2.3M Park Slope house

By Michelle Cohen

On a quiet, tree-lined South Slope block, this whimsically color-blocked wood-sided house at 317 12th Street was built in 1871. The legal two-family dwelling is currently configured as a five-bedroom single family home, but there's potential for rental income. Comprised of three stories plus a sweet bedroom/playroom that spans the entire attic, the house, asking $2.299 million, has original details like marble mantles, tin ceilings, and parquet floors, plus a verdant back yard with a surprise addition.
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April 24, 2019

Built in 1842, this $9.8M Gramercy mansion is one of the neighborhood’s oldest homes

By Michelle Cohen

Located within the Gramercy Park Historic District, this classic four-story Greek Revival-style townhouse at 216 East 18th Street, asking $9.75 million, was one of the first in the district to be built. It was constructed–along with its neighbor at 214 East 18th Street–in 1842 for wealthy businessman, civic leader and Native American rights activist William E. Dodge. The townhouse is a rare 25 feet wide; within are 5,000 square feet of living space that includes 15 rooms and seven fireplaces with original mantles intact. Also intact is a stunning combination of plaster molding, high ceilings and tall windows.
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Photo by Al Siedman of VHT, courtesy of The Corcoran Group.

April 18, 2019

This cute slice of a Clinton Hill townhouse has rooms for everyone, a garden and a roof deck for $2.8M

By Michelle Cohen

This beautifully renovated single-family brick townhouse at 151 Willoughby Avenue among the elegant brownstone blocks of Clinton Hill may be narrow, but within its walls are five bedrooms, seven working wood burning fireplaces, a gracious parlor, a stylish and well-appointed eat-in kitchen, a family room, a back yard, and a roof deck. Though the home, asking $2.795 million, is ready for modern living, it's filled with unique details.
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April 17, 2019

Renovation Diary: A Clinton Hill townhouse makes room for layers of history and modernist design

By Michelle Cohen

Our Renovation Diary has been following 6sqft writer Michelle Cohen as she takes on the challenge of transforming a Brooklyn townhouse in the historic Clinton Hill neighborhood into a site-sensitive modern home. She previously shared plans for the 150-year-old building and the first big steps she and her husband, a public health lawyer and antique lighting dealer, have taken to make their dream home a reality, including two years of hunting, planning the renovation, and assembling the professionals needed to make it happen (and how the homeowners made the best of all the waiting time). With Landmarks' signoff and permits in hand, a year-long renovation began. Below, the results, with plenty of hindsight, advice, resources and construction photos on the way.
Hear from Michelle and see the transformation

Marc Jacobs lists Robert A.M. Stern-designed West Village townhouse for $16M

Interior listing images by Yoo Jean Han; exterior images by Francois Halard. Courtesy of Sotheby’s

April 17, 2019

Marc Jacobs lists Robert A.M. Stern-designed West Village townhouse for $16M

By Alexandra Alexa

Shortly after purchasing a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in the New York suburb of Rye, designer Marc Jacobs has put his West Village townhouse on the market for $15,996,000, as the Wall Street Journal first reported. Jacobs is looking to downsize in Manhattan as he prepares to split his time between New York City and Rye. The three-bedroom townhouse at 68 Bethune Street is part of the Superior Ink condominium project designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects in the late 2000s. Property records show that Jacobs bought the residence for $10.495 million in 2009.
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April 8, 2019

Aussie artist Jeremyville’s renovated Bed-Stuy brownstone asks $2.7M

By Michelle Cohen

This two-family townhouse at 408 Macon Street in Bed-Stuy's Stuyvesant Heights Historic District was renovated a few years ago by Australian expats Jeremy Andrew–the artist Jeremyville whose colorful feel-good graphics have a sizable following–and Megan Mair. The creative pair–she's a creative director, curator and brand strategist–bought the home for $1.5 million in 2013, when it was divided up into three units. They gave it a top-to-toe renovation, as featured in Brownstoner. The 3,400-square-foot four-story Neo-Grec brownstone was built around 1880 by local builder Charles Isbill.
Townhouse tour, this way

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April 1, 2019

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley’s West Village showroom-townhouse sells for over $14M

By Devin Gannon

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley has found a buyer for her three-story townhouse in the West Village. The buyer paid more than $14 million for the property at 16 Morton Street and plans to use the 25-foot-wide home to house a luxury car collection, the Wall Street Journal reported. The townhouse was first listed last April for $17.5 million; Rowley lowered the price to just under $16 million last fall.
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March 26, 2019

$3.2M Boerum Hill townhouse has location and space covered, with charm to spare

By Michelle Cohen

On a pretty Boerum Hill, Brooklyn block, near what seems like just about everything, this classic four-story brick townhouse, asking $3.195 million, offers plenty of space and a charming back yard, no renovation required. All the brownstone living boxes are checked: front and back garden, stoop, original details, fireplaces, lots of closets.
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For $1.4M, this Upper West Side two-bedroom blends old-world charm with sleek, modern lines

Listing photos by Travis Mark

March 22, 2019

For $1.4M, this Upper West Side two-bedroom blends old-world charm with sleek, modern lines

By Alexandra Alexa

This floor-through two-bedroom on the Upper West Side melds the old and the new in one of the city's most coveted neighborhoods. Located in a boutique townhouse at 121 West 80th Street, the $1,395,000 co-op was recently renovated and decked out with marble accents and top-of-the-line amenities to bring modern comforts into the home. But its old-world charm still comes through in the restored moldings and millwork.
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Live next to Sarah Jessica Parker in the West Village for $28.6M

By Devin Gannon

A mansion on an affluent block in the West Village hit the market this week for $28.6 million. Located at 271 West 11th Street, the property sits next to "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker and actor Matthew Broderick's two townhouses, which are currently being combined into a megamansion. Other A-list New Yorkers on the block, which stretches between West 4th and Bleecker, include Chipotle founder Steve Ells, Liv Tyler, and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, Curbed NY noted.
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March 14, 2019

Step back in time in this charming row house on Washington Heights’ Sylvan Terrace, asking $1.5M

By Alexandra Alexa

The quaint row houses of landmarked Sylvan Terrace are tucked away on one of the city’s “secret” streets in Washington Heights, which used to be the carriage drive to the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the oldest house in Manhattan where General George Washington held a temporary headquarters during the Revolutionary War. Residences on the charming street rarely become available, but the three-bedroom at 14 Sylvan Terrace just hit the market for $1,589,000. With plenty of original details, including two fireplaces, pocket doors, and period hardwood floors, here’s a chance to experience “romance from another era,” as the listing describes.
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February 22, 2019

$5M Park Slope mansion was built as a gift of love from an architect to his bride

By Michelle Cohen

Situated on a stately Park Slope street lined with Victorian-era row houses, this 25-foot-wide red brick Neo-Georgian mansion at 633 2nd Street was, according to its $4,995,000 listing, constructed in 1908 as a token of love by architect Thomas O'Connor for his bride. Between the historic home's grand center stair and rare double parlor, it would still be quite the fabulous romantic offering today. With its historic details beautifully preserved, the 4,127-square-foot, six-bedroom house is comprised of three stories over an English basement.
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Pair of East Village townhouses with Mary-Kate Olsen history list for a combined $16M

Photo of 123 East 10th Street by Nina Poon for Sotheby’s International Realty; Photo of Mary-Kate Olsen via Wiki Commons

February 13, 2019

Pair of East Village townhouses with Mary-Kate Olsen history list for a combined $16M

By Annie Doge

The Olsen twins love real estate almost as much as they love smokey eye shadow. Before Mary-Kate married French banker Olivier Sarkozy in 2015, the couple spent some time in the East Village. Sarkozy purchased the Anglo-Italianate townhome at 123 East 10th Street in 2012 for $6.25 million. However, the lovebirds never moved in; instead, they rented the similar house next door at 125 East 10th Street from 2012 until they purchased and moved into an equally grand townhouse in Turtle Bay in 2014. The Post now reports that the neighboring East Village homes have once again come onto the market, this time with the option to combine them for one $16 million mansion.
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February 12, 2019

Mariska Hargitay finds a buyer for her $9.75M Upper West Side brownstone

By Michelle Cohen

The "Law & Order: SVU" star and her husband, actor Peter Hermann, who bought the stunning Upper West Side brownstone for $10.7 million in 2012, had hoped to make it a $10.75 million brownstone when they put it on the market last fall. After a price cut to an unprofitable $9.75 million, the six-story, 6,000+ square-foot home at 45 West 84th Street is in contract, the New York Post reports. The couple reportedly decided to sell because their family needs have changed, though they've said they plan on staying in their beloved neighborhood.
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February 7, 2019

Eleanor Roosevelt’s historic Upper East Side townhouse is back for a reduced $13.5M

By Alexandra Alexa

Here’s a chance to own the former home of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the nation’s favorite First Ladies. She lived at 211 East 62nd Street in Lenox Hill from 1953 to 1958 following her husband’s death. In the opulent spaces, she entertained the likes of Indira Gandhi, Adlai Stevenson, and John Kennedy, pursued her social justice and political causes, and penned her popular column for “My Day.” Investor Charles Ueng purchased the townhouse for $9 million in 2011 and spent $2 million on renovations before putting it on the market for $18 million in 2015. The property has been on and off the market since then and was just relisted with a lower asking price of $13,500,000.
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After two years on the market, historic Brooklyn Heights home that inspired Truman Capote relists for $7.6M

Photo of Truman Capote via Wiki Commons

February 7, 2019

After two years on the market, historic Brooklyn Heights home that inspired Truman Capote relists for $7.6M

By Alexandra Alexa

In 1959, Truman lived in Brooklyn Heights around the corner from 13 Pineapple Street, a Federal-era home that inspired him to write the following lines: “Cheerfully austere, as elegant and other-era as formal calling cards, these houses bespeak an age of able servants and solid fireside ease; of horses in musical harness,” as 6sqft previously noted. The house, one of the oldest in Brooklyn, hit the market for the first time in 26 years in January of 2017 for $10.5 million and received a price chop the following year to $8.4 million. Now, after being on the market for two years, the owners have reduced the price again to a more conservative $7.6 million.
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January 29, 2019

$2M Gowanus home has curb appeal and amazing historic details

By Alexandra Alexa

A charming and full-of-potential home at 240 11th Street in Gowanus (near the Park Slope border) just hit the market for a cool $1,995,000. To match its historic rowhouse facade, the home offers loads of stunning original details, but it may benefit from some modern upgrades to really let those bones sing. It features four bedrooms and a flexible layout over three floors, with plenty of options for its future owner.
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January 25, 2019

Beautifully restored Victorian townhouse with views of Morris Jumel Mansion asks $2.8M

By Alexandra Alexa

Overlooking Highbridge Park and the historic Morris Jumel Mansion (Manhattan's oldest home), this impeccable High-Victorian townhouse at 427 West 162nd Street in Washington Heights is brimming with eye-catching details and artistry. Currently a two-family home with the potential for rental income, this is a one-of-a-kind property in a neighborhood that's been drawing a surge of new residents lately. Over four years ago, a townhouse sold on the same street for $2.4 million—a record-breaking sale for the neighborhood at that time. Now, offering six bedrooms and a combined total of 4,500 square feet, this fully restored stunner with a huge garden and amazing views is a catch for the asking price of $2,795,000.
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January 24, 2019

Asking $15M, one of the last Gramercy Park townhouses comes with keys to the park

By Alexandra Alexa

Here’s a rare opportunity to own one of only five remaining single-family townhouses with a Gramercy Park address and one of the city’s most coveted accessories: keys to the famous neighboring park. A former 19th-century boarding house with rooms “decorated with ferns, foliage, and Autumn flowers,” according to an 1895 article in The Times, 40 Gramercy Park North is one of the last survivors from the initial period of development around the park, now sandwiched between two large apartment buildings. For $14,950,000 the six-story home carries plenty of historic charm but has been updated for modern living, complete with an elevator.
Take a look inside

January 23, 2019

Sweet Hamilton Heights living at this historic $3.85M brownstone on Convent Avenue

By Alexandra Alexa

Homes along the coveted tree-lined Convent Avenue in Hamilton Heights rarely become available, but here's a chance to own a piece of NYC history. The five-bedroom brownstone at 325 Convent Avenue just hit the market with an asking price of $3,850,000. The last time this property sold was back in 2001 when it was snagged for a mere $585,000! This 4,500-square-foot brownstone is a fantastic investment filled with original details, a beautiful garden, and a manicured front lawn.
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January 22, 2019

Legendary designer Halston’s former UES house and famed party spot is off the market after four years

By Alexandra Alexa

After being on the market for four years, the iconic Halston House at 101 East 63rd Street finally sold to an anonymous buyer for an undisclosed amount last week. The modernist property, one of only three residences in Manhattan designed by famed architect and former Yale School of Architecture dean Paul Rudolph, is best known as the home of designer Halston in the 1970s where he hosted lavish parties attended by the likes of Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Truman Capote, and Jacqueline Onassis. It first hit the market in 2015 for $40 million when it was rumored that art dealer Jeffrey Deitch was interested in making a deal. One year later, the listing received a significant price chop to $28 million. According to a press release, the buyer was taken with the home's rich cultural history and is an admirer of Rudolph's architecture.
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January 18, 2019

Former Broadway design warehouse is now a soaring Chelsea home asking $18.5M

By Alexandra Alexa

A stunning converted warehouse in Chelsea hit the market this week for $18,500,000. A beautiful study of scale and proportion, the residence at 536 West 29th Street features a central atrium with 32-foot ceilings, a 700-square-foot private garden, and a Japanese white glass terrace. Exposed brick for days and custom woodwork throughout give the expansive, column-free space a distinctive character. And the original wood beams are from the building's early 20th-century days as a production and art studio for Broadway sets.
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January 18, 2019

After more than two years, Hudson Heights’ cliffside ‘Pumpkin House’ sells for $2M

By Alexandra Alexa

Back in 2016, 6sqft reported that the iconic “Pumpkin House,” a 1920s townhouse cantilevered from a cliff in Hudson Heights, had hit the market for the first time since 2011 for $5.25 million. Still without a buyer the following summer, the 17-foot-wide, six-bedroom brick home at 16 Chittenden Avenue received a price chop to $4.25 million. The unusual home—standing 250 feet above the Henry Hudson Parkway—finally found its new owner this Thursday, when it sold for a deeply discounted $2 million, as reported by the New York Post.
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January 16, 2019

Architectural styles combine in this historic Greenwich Village townhouse, now asking $13.5M

By Alexandra Alexa

This five bedroom townhouse at 37 West 11th Street is an impeccable property nestled within Greenwich Village’s “Gold Coast," the seven-block stretch of Fifth Avenue between 14th Street and Washington Square Park where you’ll find some of the most refined homes in the city. Originally built in 1848 in the Greek Revival style, it was given Italianate flourishes in the 1920s and now exemplifies both genres of New York City townhouse architecture. The home has only had five owners in its 170-year history, and it’s easy to see why nobody would want to let this gem go. Now on the market for $13.5 million, a chance to own this rare piece of New York architectural history in a prime location has opened up.
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