Images courtesy of Douglas Elliman
This 1,500-square-foot classic loft co-op, asking $1.75 million, is in a neighborhood filled with lofts. What makes this Tribeca home at 160 Chambers Street a bit different is its former life as the Engine 29 firehouse. Loft lovers will be happy to note that though it has been recently renovated, 12-foot tin ceilings, exposed brick walls, hardwood floors and oversized windows remain. Currently a walk-up, the coop plans to install an elevator.
Williamsburg isn’t exactly the first place you’d think to find a historic townhouse, so the former firehouse at 411 Kent Avenue on the Williamsburg waterfront is unique from the start. Built around 1920, this cool commercial property was last listed in 2014 for $6.4 million. The 3,300-square-foot, two-story building features massive open spaces, high ceilings, huge windows, multiple skylights, original wood floors, exposed brick, and exposed wood ceiling joists–an ideal live/work loft in a neighborhood where they’re in short supply. It’s back on the market for $5.3 million.
A listing broker for this 1848 former local firehouse told the Wall Street Journal that its $5.5 million asking price was “aspirational,” but the neighborhood certainly has changed since its owner purchased the three-story, 3,500 square-foot converted townhouse in 1981 for $115,000. Long Island City turned fancy and this Federal-style firehouse got an architect-led overhaul that gave it three bedrooms, a 17-foot vaulted ceiling, a home office/library, a garden, a terrace, a garage, an elevator, and a sliding glass wall.
The Chelsea Firehouse at 323 West 21st Street would be an historic icon based on its origins alone, beginning in the late 19th century as an actual firehouse, built to accommodate a shiny new horse-drawn steam pumper engine (h/t Daytonian in Manhattan). The mid-Victorian era structure not only survived the ensuing decades, but in 1999, Architectural Digest featured the duplex shown here, by then one of three luxury apartments, calling it “indisputably one of a kind.” In the years between, the building was home to free-spirited performers and artists, including Andy Warhol and Philip Pearlstein who sought refuge here from seedy lodgings in the East Village. The designer-renovated, uniquely-configured 4,000 square-foot duplex in this storied building is now on the rental market for $33,000.
Nordstrom’s 7-level flagship opens at Central Park Tower next week 
9 tiny upstate houses you can rent this fall 
The best places in Central Park to see fall foliage 
The 7 best places to see fall foliage outside NYC 
Famous hot chocolate spot City Bakery may close its doors 
20 underground and secret NYC attractions you need to check out 
All the cool and spooky Halloween happenings in NYC this year 
This East Village co-op packs plenty of small-space ideas into a $640K one-bedroom 
