Clinton Hill’s famous Pfizer mansion sells for $9.05M, setting neighborhood record

After three years on the market, the grand Queen Anne townhouse at 280 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill has closed for $9,050,000, setting a sales record for the neighborhood. The previous record-holder was 315 Vanderbilt Avenue, which sold for $7,200,000 in 2015. The 10,000-square-foot mansion is known as the Pfizer mansion as it was built in 1887 for Charles Erhart, co-founder of the Pfizer pharmaceutical company and brother-in-law to Charles Pfizer. The opulent home features historic details like an original Otis elevator, moldings and woodwork galore, eight fireplaces, and stained glass. There’s also a sunken “speakeasy” party room, seven bedrooms, a wine cellar, and a beautifully landscaped backyard.

The home first hit the market in 2018 for $13.5 million. In September 2019, it lowered its ask to $10 million and then again to $9.2 million in December 2020.  As 6sqft previously reported:

The 1887 Queen Anne mansion was, after its first owner, purchased by an attorney. In 1925, The Brooklyn Public Library used the house as their offices. In 1930, it became home to the Catholic church for use as the Bishop’s residence and later the St. Angela Hall school library and convent. In 1991, Legion Davies, rock musician and member of the band Killing Joke, bought the house, which he shared for a time with bandmate Paul Raven, also of Prong and Ministry.

The current owners, who bought the mansion for just $3.2 million in 2007, are avid art collectors Douglas Warren and designer Jessica Warren of JP Warren Interiors. Ms. Warren is a mid-century modern furniture collector, and she and her team outfitted the home’s interiors, enlisting  Neuhaus Design Architecture and preservation consults Robert Silman Associates.

The couple spent about $5 million on the renovation. Ms. Warren previously told Douglas Elliman, “It’s like living in my own universe. The rooms are evocative. The light is magical. The house takes me to different time periods, countries, lives… all while remaining in the middle of a Brooklyn block.”

The gorgeous interiors are chock full of preserved details, including eight fireplaces, restored plaster moldings, paneling, pocket doors, reinstated stained-glass windows, and recreated and restored inlaid floors.

The parlor floor is 105 feet deep and includes a formal living room, sitting room, dining room, and eat-in chefs’ kitchen complete with a Subzero fridge, Asko dishwasher, Viking range with grill, and a dining nook located in a rear extension that has a custom copper roof and curved glass windows.

The rear garden was designed by Rees Roberts + Partners, full of mature locusts and crape myrtle trees, as well as a wisteria pergola and bluestone path. Because the home was built on a 200-foot full-block lot, both the interiors and outdoor space are expansive; in fact, there’s also a garage accessible from Waverly Avenue.

The second level is entirely devoted to the serene primary bedroom suite, which faces the street and features a bay window and a small balcony in the other bay. There’s a walk-in closet and a full bathroom that lead into another bathroom, which has been designed as a sanctuary with the soaking tub as the focal point. In the rear, there’s another room that could be used as a library, sitting room, or additional bedroom.

There are three bedrooms on the third floor, two of which have en-suite bathrooms, as well as a laundry room. There are two more bedrooms on the fourth floor. There’s also a finished basement, which has tons of storage space, a home office, a home theater, and a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

[Listing: 280 Washington Avenue by Douglas Bowen and Zia O’Hara at Douglas Elliman]

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Listing images courtesy of Douglas Elliman