Townhouses

October 11, 2018

Troubled Upper East Side mansion tries again for $88M after record-breaking deal fell through

Fourth time's the charm? A 20,000-square-foot townhouse on the Upper East Side with its own movie theater and a panic room has hit the market again for $88 million. While the palatial home at 12 East 69th Street went into contract last December for $80 million, which at the time would have been the most expensive townhouse ever sold in New York City, the deal fell through this summer. The seven-bedroom home, built in 1884, was previously listed in 2013 for $114 million and then for $98 million in 2014. But if you're not ready to commit permanently to the mansion lifestyle, the home is also available to rent for $175,000.
See inside

Distinctive Homes

October 8, 2018

For $1.7M this designer-renovated Kensington townhouse is a gorgeous condo alternative

By Michelle Cohen

Located on a tree-lined block in Brooklyn's Kensington neighborhood at 214 East 9th Street, a short walk from Prospect Park and near the Beverley Road Q subway, this single-family townhouse is the picture of considered design. Framed by turn-of-the-century bones, the home's four floors–including the fully-finished basement–have been given a modern renovation that's as livable as it is pretty. The four-bedroom house is for sale by its owners–professional designer/developers who have lived in the home since purchasing it in 2015 for $780,000.
Take a look at what good design can do

Distinctive Homes

Bradley Cooper drops $13.5M on a Greenwich Village townhouse with a garden oasis

Photo of Bradley Cooper via Wikimedia

October 5, 2018

Bradley Cooper drops $13.5M on a Greenwich Village townhouse with a garden oasis

By Annie Doge

Bradley Cooper purchased a $13.5 million Greenwich Village townhouse in May, the Wall Street Journal just reported. The actor, who currently stars in the new movie "A Star is Born," registered the property under the "Cool Trust" to keep the sale hush-hush, city documents reveal. The home at 224 West 10th Street contains six bedrooms, a 1,100-square-foot garden oasis, and plenty of romantic, rustic details. And Bradley seems to be enjoying all the Village has to offer; a source tells us he dined last Friday at Fifty, a new American-South American restaurant on Commerce Street.
See Cooper's coop

October 1, 2018

$3.5M brownstone in Carroll Gardens shows off its architectural bones with eccentric decor

By Devin Gannon

In the picture-perfect Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, a charming four-bedroom townhouse at 207 President Street has hit the market for $3.475 million. Built in 1890, the home boasts stunning architectural details like arched doorways, raw ceiling beams, exposed ductwork, rustic brick walls, and tin ceilings, as well as coveted outdoor space and a deck that overlooks the garden.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

September 26, 2018

$5.5M West Village townhouse offers location, history, charm–and income potential

By Michelle Cohen

In an especially photogenic corner of the uber-desirable West Village where Hudson Street meets Jane Street, this classic townhouse at 613 Hudson Street boasts direct views of Abingdon Square Park. Asking $5.45 million, this 20-foot-wide four-and-a-half story home has elegant historic details befitting an 1842 townhouse and stylish modern updates to the kitchen and baths. It also has commercial zoning–something most townhomes don't offer–for added options.
More West Village townhouse goodness this way

Distinctive Homes

Bullet-proof Upper East Side townhouse designed by Rafael Viñoly lists for $50M

Photos by Aaron Thompson of Esto

September 25, 2018

Bullet-proof Upper East Side townhouse designed by Rafael Viñoly lists for $50M

By Dana Schulz

Uruguayan-born architect Rafael Viñoly is best known for designing 432 Park, the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, but apparently, he makes time for private homes, too--at least when they come with headline-making features like a bullet-proof glass facade. His firm was first tapped to design the townhouse at 162 East 64th Street back in 2015 by Argentinian business mogul and billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian. Originally, the seven-story (don't worry, there's an elevator) residence was to serve as both his home and U.S. headquarters, but it looks like he instead decided to list the finished product for $50 million (h/t CityRealty).
Check this out

September 25, 2018

$3M Victorian gem in Prospect Park South is blessed with gorgeous details and outdoor space

By Michelle Cohen

Just under $3 million may seem steep for a house in Prospect Park South, but–in addition to being three blocks from the park–this beautifully preserved 1901 townhouse at 214 Marlborough Road is likely someone's Victorian Flatbush dream come true. The rambling and colorful home was designed by Benjamin Dreisler, who was among the area's most prominent architects of the day. Nearly 4,000 square feet provides room for seven bedrooms and grand living spaces, and there's a finished basement in addition. The home's millwork and moldings are among the neighborhood's finest–and in this neighborhood that's saying a lot.
Get a closer look

Distinctive Homes

September 24, 2018

Hell’s Kitchen penthouse-in-a-mansion in former Christian Brothers HQ gets a price chop to $11M

By Michelle Cohen

If a massive, multi-storied townhouse is what you're looking for, you don't have to worry about penthouse FOMO with this listing. Spanning 7,000 square feet, with a two-story master bedroom that cantilevers out eight feet over the back garden, a back wall of glass and smart-everything, this single-family modern masterpiece at 416 West 51st Street, now asking just under $11 million, lets you keep your Billionaires' Row penthouse dreams–with the rest of the 25-foot-wide mansion just a quick elevator ride away. 6sqft featured the modern manse in 2016, when it was listed at $15 million. Built in 1910, this six-story building was the headquarters of the Christian Brothers, whose main role was to keep neighborhood youth out of trouble, from 1953 until 2011.
Still impressive

Distinctive Homes

September 21, 2018

Will 2018 be the year quirky and historic Hamilton Heights ‘Art House’ sells for $2.7M?

By Michelle Cohen

This unusual three-family townhouse at 532 West 148th Street in Hamilton Heights was purchased by Portuguese-born architect Luis Da Cruz in 2006 for $995,000 and thoroughly renovated as a canvas for the artist's personal creative vision. Cruz restored the 1920 home's carved wood stairways and railings, moldings, five fireplaces, beamed ceiling, and exposed brick walls, and added his signature art pieces to an eclectic, bohemian decor, calling the house Musée Maison (Museum House) and making it his studio and workshop. He also hosted art events during which all of the work was for sale and he would perform tricks on aerial silks suspended from the ceiling. The house itself has been on and off the market since 2007. In 2015 6sqft featured the artsy listing at $2.5 million and again after a broker change in 2017 asking $2.7M. Now, another broker switch and more conventional photos–but no change in price–herald the latest attempt to find a suitably visionary buyer.
Tour the toned-down version of this unusual townhouse

September 19, 2018

An architect’s historic UES townhouse with an elevator and a floating circular staircase asks $20M

By Michelle Cohen

This neo-Federal townhouse, less than a block from Central Park at 9 East 81st Street, received recent exterior and interior renovations from architect Peter Pennoyer–whose work epitomizes Upper East Side style–in partnership with the renowned landscape architect Madison Cox. Better yet, the home's owners since 2014 are Christopher Davis and Sharon Davis, who is herself a celebrated New York City-based architect (you can see her work featured on 6sqft here and here.). The listing says the house has been "fully and continually renovated by the current owner," so we can see why it's so stunning. It was last purchased for $22 million, and it's currently asking $19,950,000. But with features like an elevator, a grand floating spiral staircase, and 6,150 square feet of living space over five floors, we wouldn't rule out a bidding war.
Take the grand tour

Distinctive Homes

$13.5M UES mansion has a glass elevator, a 50-foot-wide garden, and two floors of the mansion next door

By Michelle Cohen

Manhattan's Upper East Side is filled with enormous private mansions with configurations that you'd never guess from looking at their tidy facades, and the five-story, 20-room bow-fronted house at 207 East 71st Street, asking $13.5 million, is no exception. This 10,550-square-foot brick manse, built in 1982, is one of three in a row erected by friends who happened to be prominent real estate professionals. In this particular case, the already massive house includes a long-term lease on the first two floors of the adjacent mansion, allowing for a 50-foot-wide garden–one of the widest in Manhattan.
Tour the mansion

Distinctive Homes

September 12, 2018

Live in a historic Williamsburg firehouse with a garage/studio and Japanese garden for $5.2M

By Michelle Cohen

Living in a historic firehouse is cool enough as it is, but this 4,652-square-foot carriage house at 11 Scholes Street in Williamsburg also comes with just about every other cool thing you could imagine finding in a Brooklyn pad. The three-story home, asking $5.2 million, starts with a garage and a sleek workspace/art studio and adds walls of glass and a private outdoor paradise, complete with a Japanese-style bamboo garden and luxurious outdoor shower.
Take a look, you won't want to leave

Distinctive Homes

September 6, 2018

Historic Bed-Stuy mansion smashes neighborhood record with $6.3M sale

By Michelle Cohen

Bedford-Stuyvesant's most expensive home has sold for $6.3 million, setting a record price for the neighborhood and sending a message that rising property prices are making their way further into Brooklyn, according to the Wall Street Journal. At nearly twice the previous record sale of $3.3 million in 2017, the Renaissance Revival-style John C. Kelley mansion at 247 Hancock Street is the most expensive single-family house ever sold in Bed-Stuy. The 8,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom townhouse was built in 1887 for water-meter magnate John Kelley, designed by noted architect Montrose Morris and modeled after a Gilded Age Vanderbilt mansion along Fifth Avenue.
Take a look inside this incredible mansion

September 5, 2018

This $2.4M Prospect Park South house is a Victorian fantasy of colonnades, turrets, and a veranda

By Michelle Cohen

In Brooklyn's Prospect Park South Historic District, a block from the park, this Victorian beauty built in 1908 is asking $2,395,000. Per the listing, the home at 85 Westminster Road is a "unique blend of Greek Revival temple style with the asymmetry and turrets of a Queen Anne." In addition to 3,578 square feet of historic detail-filled living space, it has tons of curb appeal with a grassy green paint job, two-story colonnade, and wrap-around veranda that follows the curve of the turrets.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

August 23, 2018

Rent a designer couple’s dream urban farmhouse in Ridgewood for $5,700/month

By Michelle Cohen

On a landmarked cobblestoned street near the border between Ridgewood and Bushwick, 1886 Stockholm Street is one of a row of quaint row houses. The duplex for rent, asking $5,700 a month, comprises the top two floors of the house, which belongs to a couple whose renovation turned the three-story house into a charming reminder of their favorite upstate farmhouse–and led to a career in interior design. The hand-built shiplap kitchen and dreamy garden are only a few highlights.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

August 15, 2018

George and Amal Clooney’s supposed illegal Soho rental hits the market for $16M

By Annie Doge

In April, sources said that George and Amal Clooney were renting a duplex apartment at 116 Sullivan Street. They also said that the owner of the 19th-century Soho townhouse, Richard Fertig, converted this apartment into an "illegal hotel" for "transient use." Likely in light of the city's new Airbnb law that requires the company to disclose the names and addresses of hosts, Fertig has listed the entire six-story home for $16 million.
Get a look inside

August 13, 2018

This $3.5M Crown Heights mansion gives you plenty of room to imagine its grand historic past

By Michelle Cohen

For the many house-hunters seeking a townhouse in Crown Heights, this $3.5 million Colonial Revival mansion at 190 New York Avenue is a fine example of the neighborhood's grand history. The area known as the St. Marks District was, at the turn of the 19th century, home to many of the borough's wealthiest residents, with streets lined with large free-standing or semi-detached homes like this one. This four-story townhouse measures an unusually large 30 feet by 59 feet on a 109-foot lot. Inside are 14 rooms including seven bedrooms, seven fireplaces and a master bedroom that's blessed with a terrace. And here's a fun fact--according to the listing, a one-time tenant was the prolific singer and actress Ethel Waters
Take the tour

August 8, 2018

News anchor Cynthia McFadden’s UES townhouse, once home to director Elia Kazan, asks $6M

By Michelle Cohen

Built in 1899, this Carnegie Hill townhouse at 174 East 95th Street has another history claim: It has been home to some serious and dedicated behind-the-camera luminaries. The four-story townhouse was for a time the address of controversial Oscar-winning stage and screen director Elia Kazan ("On the Waterfront," "East of Eden" and many more). The 4,240-square-foot, four-bedroom home is currently owned by veteran TV journalist Cynthia McFadden, who is now the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. A fine example of an Upper East Side townhouse, the home has been renovated with care using fine fixtures and finishes while preserving its 19th century grandeur.
Take the tour

August 1, 2018

$2.1M Park Slope townhouse has a backyard paradise and expansion options

By Michelle Cohen

This cheerful yellow brick townhouse at 235 8th Street in the heart of Park Slope looks like a pretty good deal for the neighborhood at $2.1 million. Interiors have been updated in a clean and contemporary style, with plenty of charm and original details remaining. Though it's currently being used as a single-family home, it's a legal two-family and can be expanded to more than double its size with remaining FAR on the 100-foot-deep lot. Currently on that same lot is a garden oasis that would make it hard to spend a moment indoors on warm-weather days.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

July 27, 2018

For $10K/month, this West Village duplex is a tranquil townhouse retreat

By Michelle Cohen

In the enviable Abingdon Square enclave, above a neighborhood shop and next door to iconic Rebel Coffee, this bright and cozy aerie at 21 8th Avenue is a certain kind of West Village dream. Asking $9,995 a month, the home is comprised of the top two floors in a charming brick townhouse. As the building's only residential unit, it's tucked above a quiet village boutique.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

July 26, 2018

Test out townhouse life at this newly restored Harlem mansion for $13,000/month

By Michelle Cohen

This renovated, turn-key townhouse at 133 West 122 Street in Harlem combines 4,745 square feet of gorgeous historic details with the space and convenience of a modern mansion in one low-commitment rental opportunity for $12,950 a month. This uptown stunner was built in the 1880s by architect Francis Kimball; a recent renovation by David Mann brings contemporary chic and 21st-century comfort to the home's five bedrooms and five stories of living space, all while highlighting historic details like stained glass transoms, inlaid floors, and a whopping seven decorative fireplaces.
Tour this stunning Harlem mansion

July 17, 2018

Formerly pink West Village townhouse returns for $7.8M with a period-perfect facade and sleek interiors

By Michelle Cohen

Built in 1826, the four-story townhouse at 39 Barrow Street resembles many of the neighborhood's historic gems with its brick facade and traditional black shutters. You'd never know that sometime between its construction and 2010 when it was purchased for $4.125 million by the son of a pharmacy mogul bent on renovation, the house was a quirky pale pink stucco standout with bright lemon-yellow trim. We don't know who bestowed the Lilly Pulitzer treatment, but in previous listings it bore a rather charming resemblance to a Palm Beach palazzo. With that era long over, the home's facade is now the picture of 19th century correctness; inside, however, Reed Morrison Architects have transformed the house into a showcase of contemporary sleekness and modern convenience. The turnkey home is once again on the market, this time for $7.775 million.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

July 10, 2018

$14M townhouse in exclusive Upper East Side historic district looks like a European villa

By Dana Schulz

This lavish townhouse could easily pass for a Parisian or Italian home, but it's, in fact, hiding behind a traditional brownstone facade on the Upper East Side. Located at 234 East 61st Street, the four-story residence is part of the ultra-exclusive Treadwell Farm Historic District, which encompasses only two blocks. Though it was built along with its neighbors in 1873, the house underwent a unique interior renovation in 1910 that added its 21-foot vaulted ceilings and rear, arched addition that opens to the magical south-facing garden. Other stylistically unique architectural elements that have made their way in include the wrought iron railings, ornately carved marble fireplace, and etched glass windows. After last selling in 2006 for $7.9 million, it's now asking $13.9 million.
You don't want to miss this one

July 3, 2018

Stars and stripes highlight new-old-fashioned style in this $10.5M Brooklyn Heights brownstone

By Michelle Cohen

This palatial five-story, 19th-century brownstone at 13 Monroe Place in Brooklyn Heights is a study in meticulously preserved historic detail integrated into a crisp, livable setting of all-American decor. After an 18-month renovation, the nearly 6,000-square-foot Yankee Doodle Dandy of a home appeared in Swedish Elle Decor, Paris Vogue, and MilK Magazine. Asking $10.5 million, the legal two-family dwelling is currently being used as a single-family home, complete with deck, backyard, gym, media room, and six bedrooms.
Tour this traditional tour-de-force

Distinctive Homes

June 29, 2018

von Dalwig Architects animates a Park Slope rowhouse with three skylights and chic cutouts

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

von Dalwig Architects, formerly known as Manifold Architecture Studio, changed their name as they changed their focus, from a broad architectural lens to a more concentrated vision on space, program and the relationship between them. The firm achieved their vision in the gut renovation and expansion of a 19.5’ wide x 42’ long three-story, single family Brooklyn townhouse, completed in 2016. This renovation both infused the traditionally dark rowhouse with light from the front, back and sky and also created a continuous connection from the house to the backyard.
See inside the bright space

Townhouses

Troubled Upper East Side mansion tries again for $88M after record-breaking deal fell through

For $1.7M this designer-renovated Kensington townhouse is a gorgeous condo alternative

Bradley Cooper drops $13.5M on a Greenwich Village townhouse with a garden oasis

$3.5M brownstone in Carroll Gardens shows off its architectural bones with eccentric decor

$5.5M West Village townhouse offers location, history, charm–and income potential

Bullet-proof Upper East Side townhouse designed by Rafael Viñoly lists for $50M

$3M Victorian gem in Prospect Park South is blessed with gorgeous details and outdoor space

Hell’s Kitchen penthouse-in-a-mansion in former Christian Brothers HQ gets a price chop to $11M

Will 2018 be the year quirky and historic Hamilton Heights ‘Art House’ sells for $2.7M?

An architect’s historic UES townhouse with an elevator and a floating circular staircase asks $20M

$13.5M UES mansion has a glass elevator, a 50-foot-wide garden, and two floors of the mansion next door

Live in a historic Williamsburg firehouse with a garage/studio and Japanese garden for $5.2M

Historic Bed-Stuy mansion smashes neighborhood record with $6.3M sale

This $2.4M Prospect Park South house is a Victorian fantasy of colonnades, turrets, and a veranda

Rent a designer couple’s dream urban farmhouse in Ridgewood for $5,700/month

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

George and Amal Clooney’s supposed illegal Soho rental hits the market for $16M

This $3.5M Crown Heights mansion gives you plenty of room to imagine its grand historic past

News anchor Cynthia McFadden’s UES townhouse, once home to director Elia Kazan, asks $6M

$2.1M Park Slope townhouse has a backyard paradise and expansion options

For $10K/month, this West Village duplex is a tranquil townhouse retreat

Test out townhouse life at this newly restored Harlem mansion for $13,000/month

Formerly pink West Village townhouse returns for $7.8M with a period-perfect facade and sleek interiors

$14M townhouse in exclusive Upper East Side historic district looks like a European villa

Stars and stripes highlight new-old-fashioned style in this $10.5M Brooklyn Heights brownstone

von Dalwig Architects animates a Park Slope rowhouse with three skylights and chic cutouts

9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn

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