The 27-foot-wide, seven-story townhouse at 39 East 72nd Street is iconic even without the celebrity claim; a sandstone-clad facade and copper cornice cast an ethereal glow, yet blend with the stately homes on the Upper East Side block. Mansion Global reports that also-iconic socialite and businesswoman Gloria Vanderbilt lived in the home in her “Poor Little Rich Girl” childhood. The options for this pristine property are many. It’s currently set up as three separate condos, but a combo would make a Vanderbilt-worthy manse.

Take a look inside

Listing photos by Donna Dotan, courtesy of Compass

This 5,200-square-foot duplex at 1 Beekman Place, on the market for the first time in 50 years, is a rare piece of NYC history. The seller is socialite and one-time Warhol muse Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski. With 60 linear feet of windows overlooking the East River on each level, this palatial 12-room co-op offers five bedrooms, three fireplaces, a private balcony, two terraces overlooking the East River and a one-bedroom staff apartment on a separate floor.

More of the grand tour, this way

Photo © Joe Polowczuk (L) and © Annie Schlechter (R), Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

A must-see for modern design fans: The four-story Modulightor Building at 246 East 58th Street was designed by Paul Rudolph from 1989-1994 as a residential and commercial structure to house the lighting company by the same name which he founded with Ernst Wagner. The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation hosts monthly First Friday open house tours at the Rudolph-designed duplex apartment on floors three and four–NYC’s only Rudolph-designed residence regularly open to the public. Explore the space, furnished with unique furniture designed by Rudolph and items from his personal collections, on Friday, August 2 from 6-9 P.M.

More photos this way

If you’re an artist who needs space to create–or you’re just into having an artist-approved address–you’ll enjoy living and working in this 7,200-square-foot townhouse at 167 East 69th Street on the Upper East Side. The 25-foot-wide Neo-Georgian former carriage house–listed in April of 2018 for $18.95 million–is currently owned by Ann Brashares, author of the young adult series “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and her husband, painter Jacob Collins. Previously, the building was owned by the Sculpture Center. Neighbors have included Mark Rothko and art dealer Larry Gagosian. Now, after a broker change and a price cut, it’s asking $14.995 million, studio, garage, curb cut, and artistic pedigree included.

Explore the possibilities

Real Housewives of New York City star Ramona Singer has officially parted ways with her beloved Upper East Side apartment of 20 years. The empty-nester decided to list the four-bedroom Yorkville abode last year and downsize to a smaller space now that her 24-year-old daughter, Avery Singer, is no longer living at home. She initially listed the unit for $4.995 million and, as The Real Deal reports, just closed for a little over $4 million. Singer has already found a new home about 20 blocks south, where she’s been settling in with her old furniture. “It’s good when you move that you have your same furniture, ’cause it makes you feel familiar and not so strange,” she recently told Bravo. 

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Images courtesy of Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, and Pexels

Independence Day may have been last week, but if you haven’t had your fill of red, white, and blue festivities, Bastille Day is this Sunday. Whether you’re a history aficionado or just appreciate French culture and cuisine, there is plenty to do this weekend to celebrate the 230th storming of the Bastille.

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The 25-foot-wide carved limestone mansion at 35 East 68th Street on the Upper East Side is a standout even on a block lined with historic architecture. The 13,000-square-foot Beaux Arts mansion, known as the Dunham House, was built as a private residence for physician Dr. Edward Kellogg Dunham and grain fortune heiress Mary Dows by Carrere & Hastings, the architecture firm who designed the Frick Collection and the New York Public Library. 6sqft featured this historic home in 2016. The two-bedroom duplex co-op is back on the market for $4 million.

Take the grand tour

Previous rendering of the original project; Via NYCHA

The New York City Housing Authority has ditched plans to build a private 47-story apartment building on top of a playground on the Upper East Side, agency officials said Friday. The original plan called for a 300-unit tower to replace the playground at the Holmes Tower public housing complex with half of the units affordable and the other half at market-rate, the latter meant to raise funds for repairs at the tower. The new plan for the site will increase the number of market-rate apartments in order to collect more money, NYCHA officials told THE CITY.

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Photos courtesy of the LPC

Members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted Tuesday in favor of landmarking two historic sites in Yorkville–the First Hungarian Reformed Church of New York at 344 East 69th Street and the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York at 215 East 71st Street. As 6sqft previously reported, the Hungarian Reformed Church was designed in 1916 by esteemed architect Emery Roth as one of his few religious buildings and his only Christian structure. The Colonial Dames headquarters is housed in an intact Georgian Revival-style mansion built in 1929.

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Via Google Street View

New York City-based architectural salvage dealer The Demolition Depot has announced that numerous treasures that make up the historic interiors from two Upper East Side mansions–set to be demolished for a condo development– will be available for sale, by appointment on a first come first served basis. A trove of original architectural ornaments is being offered by the dealer, including “magnificent complete paneled rooms, finely carved marble mantels, elegant stair railings in iron or carved wood, leaded glass windows, parquet flooring, and so on.”

What will replace the mansions?