Murray Hill is a townhouse paradise — of 100 townhouses listed in the area in the 1892 Social Register, 60 are still standing. Yet those single-family Murray Hill homes, many of three and four stories and some renovated with elevators and gyms to match their double Dacor ovens, rub elbows with high-rise condo towers.In Murray Hill, the formerly business corridors of Madison and Fifth avenues are being converted into gorgeous new loft-like apartments.

More The area of Murray Hill is itself named after the Quaker merchant who built his farm here in the eighteenth century when the area was green countryside — Robert Murray’s land extended from 33rd Street to nearly 39th Street! The area of Kips Bay, which has many dining options and a movie theater, is either to the east of or the Easten section of Murray Hill, depending on who you talk to. Kips Bay Towers, two high-rise post-war condos which share a large common garden, is one of the first apartment complexes designed by noted architect I.M. Pei. Cultural attractions abound in Murray Hill; the recently renovated Morgan Library is a historic treat. The original building, showcase to a famous banker’s collection, is a breathtaking landmark Italian-style mansion — and the Morgan Library’s Murray Hill collection includes Mozart symphonies, Gutenberg bibles, and carved Babylonian seals and amulets. Less