Overview

This Beekman Place house is one of only nine on the river side from 50-51st Street. According to historian Christopher Gray of the New York Times, 19-21 Beekman was built as a high stoop brownstone in the 19th century similar to other houses there. They were comfortable but not pretentious, and by the beginning of the 20th Century many had been turned into boarding houses. The first evidence of renewed interest in Beekman Place came in 1919, when Ellen Biddle Shipman purchased 19-21. Named as the Dean of Women Landscape Artists by House & Garden, Ms. Shipman designed hundreds of important American gardens from 1910-1940. With her well-honed design aesthetic, she engaged architects Butler & Corse to turn the brownstone into a sophisticated and delicate Georgian mansion, which it remains today. The house is extraordinarily well situated, with the front entrance on the Fiftieth Street cul de sac between Beekman Place and the East River and the side service entrance on Beekman Place. Unparalleled river views to the east complete the uncommon three full exposures. The current 6,330 sq. ft. 12 room layout includes the living room, formal dining room, library, five bedrooms each with its own bathroom, 2 powder rooms, 2 kitchens, 6 gas fireplaces and an elevator. There is also a basement. Plans for a 3-story addition on top of the existing 2-story extension have been approved by the city and would add another 1403 sq. ft. This is a piece of Manhattan history at its finest.

Additional features of this building include: Full Roof Terrace, Third Floor Terrace, East, South, West Exposures, and Full River Views.

Additional features of this building include: Full Roof Terrace, Third Floor Terrace, East, South, West Exposures, and Full River Views.