‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ screenwriter lists Chelsea townhouse with a private yoga studio for $7.1M

Built in the 1830s when this quiet, tree-lined residential block was home to well-to-do families, the four-story, 3,600 square-foot Greek Revival townhouse at 240 West 21st Street has seen a lot of change through the years. From its beginnings as an impressive residence for a successful engraver (h/t Daytonian), the home has been a boarding house, apartments and, in more recent years, the well-designed and thoroughly updated home of screenwriter/directors Leora Barish and Henry Bean (Barish wrote the screenplay for the cult favorite Madonna film “Desperately Seeking Susan” and the more recent “Basic Instinct 2;” Bean wrote and directed the award-winning film “The Believer”). The Chelsea townhouse, on the market for $7.1 million, is once again a comfortable single-family home boasting several terraces and a big, bright garden-facing yoga studio.

The home was on the rental market last summer for $15,000/month; we can imagine what a great place it would be to spend a summer. Exposed brick walls lend an un-fussy loft-like vibe, and 11-foot ceilings convey boundless breathing room. You have five bedrooms at your disposal along with three-and-a-half baths. On the home’s parlor level, a casual open chef’s kitchen looks efficient but unobtrusive, and a dining area off to the side is ready for entertaining.

There’s a reading library toward the front of the house just off the foyer; walk outside from the skylit living room and head down the stairs to a landscaped, sun-dappled, 912-square-foot garden with water and electricity.

The bigger-than-most-apartments garden level has the very cool bonus of a yoga/dance/play studio. Also down here is an open family room area and a laundry room.

You’ll find the home’s bedrooms on the top two floors, along with bathrooms and big walk-in closets–there’s not a tiny bedroom among them. The current owners purchased the home in 2003 for $2.6 million, and they’ve clearly made it their home rather than an investment property or fix-and-flip opportunity.

[Listing: 240 West 21st Street by Christopher James for Citi Habitats]

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Images courtesy of Citi Habitats.