Famed Author Peter Straub’s UWS Townhouse on the Market for First Time in Thirty Years
With accolades like the Bram Stoker Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the International Horror Guild Award to his name, one might proceed with caution when entering the home of American author and poet Peter Straub. But we can assure you that his literary penchant for things dark and mysterious doesn’t extend to the distinguished Queen Anne-style townhouse that he’s lived in for thirty years.
The single-family residence at 53 West 85th Street on the Upper West Side is one of a series of three similar brick townhouses built in the late 1880s along 85th between Central Park West and Columbus, and it’s now available for $8.2 million.
The wonderfully asymmetrical façade features a pitched gable roof line, bay windows on the garden and parlor floors, and an alternating pattern of two and three windows on the upper floors. And the inside is just as beautiful, with five floors of rich architectural details like the stained glass skylight illuminating the grand central staircase, whose majestic display of stunning wood newels and balustrades transverse the home from top to bottom; an original butler’s pantry with china cabinet and marble basin; and the six decorative fireplaces, each unique in design.
The eat-in kitchen is open, airy and modern — a departure from the rest of the home’s more traditional nature, but a lovely complement to the verdant landscaped garden it overlooks from a wall comprised almost entirely of nearly floor-to-ceiling windows and a glass doorway.
On the parlor floor, the large formal dining room spans the full width of the house and has twelve-foot ceilings. The living room with its bay windows and original wood shutters faces south and gets sunlight all day long.
With ten generously sized rooms and four full bathrooms, this 4800-square-foot beauty offers the flexibility to create the home of your dreams as one or more of its six bedrooms can be easily transformed into a private library, home office, playroom, media room – even your own personal gym – while still providing sleeping quarters for the whole family.
Plus, its Upper West Side location means you’ll be living in one of the most beautiful parts of the city with Central Park, transportation, museums, shops, and restaurants all at your fingertips.
[Listing: 53 West 85th Street by JoAnne Kennedy and Nell Winslow of Corcoran Group]
Photos courtesy of Corcoran Group
