A little bit of London in New York City has become even more enticing now that two new townhouses, which can be converted into one monster home, are hitting the market today for a combined $33 million.
The townhouses are currently under construction at 22-24 Downing St. in the West Village, steps from Winston Churchill Square. A buyer would be able to customize and transform the two townhouses into one 12,127-square-foot, 50-foot-wide, six-story home. The six-bedroom, five-bathroom stunner would include its own garage, a 22-foot-high living room and a garden.
A third townhouse will be built at 26 Downing St. and is on the market for $16.95 million. That townhouse offers five bedrooms, five bathrooms and 6,534 square feet.
All these townhouses, which are slated for completion next March, will include elevators, rooftop terraces and at least one fireplace. Major landscaping will include adding large trees and plants to the block.
Prudential Douglas Elliman broker Leonard Steinberg has the exclusive listings and notes that it is unusual for anyone to be able to create a modern home from scratch in the middle of such a heavily landmarked district.
The developer is Urban Muse, also responsible for 200 11th Ave. The architects are David Piscuskas and Juergen Riehm, of 1100 Architect, which has done work for Harrison Ford and Diane Sawyer.
640 Park have
It’s not every day that a co-op in the ultra-exclusive — and so relatively small it’s almost cozy — 640 Park Ave. comes on the market. But retired financier Peter Smith, who once worked at Lazard Freres, has listed his full-floor unit for $26 million. Smith’s residence is on the third floor of the elegant 13-story building with a limestone façade, which has only 12 units. Exclusive listing broker Kathy Sloane of Brown Harris Stevens could not be reached for comment.
Last month, Dick Fuld, the disgraced former boss of Lehman Brothers, sold his apartment at 640 Park Ave., which closed for $25.87 million. The buyer was Glenn Fuhrman, an art collector and co-founder of MSD Capital, Michael Dell’s investment fund.
See you, Tuesday
Early 1960s Hollywood teen queen Tuesday Weld’s Montauk beach house has sold for nearly its latest asking price of $7.75 million. The home had been on the market for years. Perhaps the interest in Bernie Madoff’s nearby house (see item below) rubbed off on Weld’s property.
The buyers of Weld’s house are a finance family based in Manhattan. The five-bedroom, 4½-bath home on Surfside Avenue, once listed at $9.9 million, is on 1.41 acres high above the ocean dunes.
The house, with a fireplace in the living room and an open country kitchen, has stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and comes with a guest cottage, a pool, a pool house, a greenhouse and a two-car garage. Like Madoff’s Montauk home, it feels dated, but the setting makes up for everything else.
Broker Theresa Eurell of Town & Country Real Estate could not be reached for comment.
Bernie brouhaha
Even more controversy is starting to brew regarding Ponzi putz Bernie Madoff’s Montauk beach house, which has been sold to an unidentified buyer — in an all-cash deal — for more than its $8.75 million listing price.
Word on the street, or on the beach, is that the Corcoran Group listing brokers have pledged to donate their commissions to the victims of Madoff’s fraud. But the broker for the buyer — who works out east for a rival firm — has apparently made no such promise. We also hear that negotiations on Madoff’s Manhattan and Palm Beach homes are bubbling.