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The New York Times

Big Ticket | Sold for $11.5 Million

By: Robin Finn
Published: 12/16/2012Source: The New York Times

A well-preserved brick town house in the West Village that was built for a sea captain in 1842 and had been owned since 1987 by the publishing magnate Timothy C. Forbes, a son of Malcolm S. Forbes, sold for $11.5 million and was the most expensive sale of the week, according to city records.

The four-story town house at 60 West 11th Street and its equally antique, though not identical, twin next door were built by Andrew Lockwood in the prevailing Federal style with piquant Greek Revival flourishes. It has five bedrooms, six fireplaces, three and a half bathrooms, and a serene south-facing garden with a fountain as a centerpiece.

There are roses indoors (old-fashioned plaster roses adorn the ceilings) and out (the real things bloom in the garden). The meticulously restored and impeccably maintained house has double parlors, pilastered windows and mahogany doors, spread over 4,680 square feet of space including the attic and a staff room. But not all of it is designated a 19th-century time capsule.

Mr. Forbes, the president and chief operating officer of the Forbes publishing empire, also added some modern touches, like a 1,200-bottle wine cellar, an entertainment room, sound and security systems, and expansive glass doors that open from the living room into the garden.

The house was listed at $12.5 million in June through Chris Infante, Paul Kolbusz and Sara Gelbard of the Corcoran Group. Deborah Grubman of Corcoran represented the buyer, who was shielded by a limited-liability company, 60 West 11th Street.

Running a close second to the Forbes sale at $11.3 million, but its opposite in décor, locale and length of time on the market, was the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath co-op at 995 Fifth Avenue, a k a the Stanhope, owned and outrageously decorated by Daphne Guinness, the brewing company heiress and style-setter. The unit, No. 11N, at the 1926 Rosario Candela-designed building enjoys sweeping views of Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, features a Smallbone chef’s kitchen, and has a heady monthly maintenance charge of $17,950.

Dan Neiditch, the president of River2River Realty, took on the languishing listing last spring and gradually reduced the price to $11.5 million from $14 million; the buyers, also represented by Mr. Neiditch, are Matthew McLennan, a portfolio manager at First Eagle Funds, and his wife, Monika. Ms. Guinness, whose chronically overflowing bathtub provoked a lawsuit from her downstairs neighbors in 2010 after the leaks damaged their bedroom, took a small loss on the co-op, which she had acquired in 2008 for $11.7 million to use as her New York pied-à-terre.

Big Ticket includes closed sales from the previous week, ending Wednesday.

Copyright © 2012 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission. 

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