Big Ticket: West Village Townhouse for $17 million
A 25-foot-wide, bow-fronted townhouse in the West Village, whose distinctive facade, commodious interior and outdoor garden have made it a sought-after locale for filmmakers, sold for $17,000,000, more than 20 percent above its asking price, and was the most expensive sale of the week, according to city records.
The annual taxes on the four-story house at 66 Morton Street, currently configured with two bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, are $31,298.60; the original list price from last October was $13,900,000.
“There was a bidding war,” said Eileen Robert of the Corcoran Group, the listing broker, along with Charlie Miller. “It’s the only one of its kind in the West Village, and 25-footers are the rarest of commodities of all townhouses.”
The house, built in 1852 for the trustees of Trinity Church, according to the listing, had been owned since December 1969 by Mary E. Kaplan, and is “in need of updating,” Ms. Robert said. “But they have the best bones to work with.” Many of the original details, including the decorative moldings and ornate fireplaces, remain.
Ms. Kaplan had rented out the 5,800-square-foot property several times for movie shoots. The house, for instance, served as Harrison Ford’s residence in “Working Girl,” Matthew Broderick’s in “The Night We Never Met” and Winona Ryder’s in “Autumn in New York.”
The buyer’s identity was shielded by a limited liability company, Triple Y Properties.
The runner-up, at $11,000,000, was an apartment on the 16th floor of Linden78, a 21-story beige-brick condominium built in 2008 on a prime Upper West Side block near the Hudson River and Central Park. Monthly carrying costs for the four-bedroom four-bathroom unit, No. 16A, situated at 230 West 78th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, are $6,513.
Lori Ben-Ari of CORE represented the sellers, Stephen P. Murray, the former chief executive of the private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, and his wife, Tami A. Murray; the couple bought the apartment in the spring of 2011 for $7,127,750. Ms. Ben-Ari said the Murrays had “loved the open layout and the outdoor space,” a 786-square-foot terrace that offers views of the river and park.
The 3,840-square-foot residence also features a private landing and a master-bedroom suite with a spacious walk-in closet and dressing area, as well as a mud room/laundry area.
Dylan Hildreth-Hoffman of Douglas Elliman Real Estate represented the buyers, Bruno Mejean and Martina Hund-Mejean. Mr. Mejean is the founder and principal of BJM International, a company involved in renewable energy, while Ms. Hund-Mejean is the chief financial officer of MasterCard.
Copyright © 2015 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission. Bryan R. Smith/The New York Times.
Please click here to read the article on nytimes.com