From high-profile design commissions to exciting listings, there is always something new happening in the world of real estate. In this roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.
On the Market
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas leave the Upper West Side
Hollywood power duo Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are putting their Central Park West apartment on the market for a cool $21.5 million.
The luxury New York co-op, listed with Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s, stretches between the north and south corners of the Kenilworth, a 1908 building at West 75th Street designed in the French Second Empire style by Townsend, Steinle and Haskell.
Their top-floor apartment, designed by Thierry Despont, was originally 15 rooms but was reconfigured into nine larger spaces. It offers high ceilings, mahogany pocket doors, twin wood-burning fireplaces, and, as you might expect, spectacular views of Central Park.
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The primary bedroom features two large dressing rooms and an en suite bathroom with a marble bathtub. There are three additional bedrooms, as well as a spacious living room, wood-paneled library, formal dining room, and an eat-in kitchen with a Wolf range and double Traulsen refrigerators.
In addition to Zeta-Jones and Douglas, the Kenilworth—named for the 12th-century English castle—was home for many years to famed Sherlock Holmes actor Basil Rathbone.
The couple also own a 13-acre estate in Irvington, New York; a large house in Zeta-Jones’s hometown of Swansea, Wales; and a 10-bedroom compound on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
A Hamptons architect lists his own home
There’s a special magic when an architect designs their own home—such is the case with Michael Haverland’s East Hampton getaway.
Haverland, who has designed spaces for Calvin Klein and Knoll CEO Andrew Cogan, completed the glass, steel, and stucco showpiece at 73 Cove Hollow Road a little more than 15 years ago, though it has a timeless quality that could make you think it’s from 1960.
He tells AD PRO that designing the 3,800-square-foot compound with his partner, New York Times columnist Philip Galanes, “has been the greatest pleasure of my career as an architect.”
Featured in countless publications and included on the MoMA’s tour of iconic East Hampton homes, it includes three bedrooms, a living room with 12-foot ceilings and glass walls, and a dining room set off with freestanding panels inspired by French design legend Jean Prouvé.
Galanes had ample input on the decor, which they dubbed “Survival Style”—exemplified by antique sinks, tubs, oak doors, and hardware. The house’s steel windows even mirror those in old industrial lofts. The floors are Turkish travertine in the public areas and wide, custom-milled mahogany in the bedrooms.
“We strove to balance the warmth of stucco, mahogany, and chenille draperies with the cool of steel, glass, and travertine,” Haverland says.
The property also enjoys a large manicured front lawn, what Haverland calls a “lush nature preserve in the back,” with a saltwater lap pool and pool house, and art and work sheds offering additional privacy.
“This compound has been our oasis,” Haverland says. He and Galanes rode out the pandemic in the house, but with the dark clouds starting to lift, they’re ready to sell: The compound is listed with Cee Scott Brown and Jack Pearson of Compass for $5.95 million.
Mark Twain’s final home is now available
A piece of literary history could be yours, as legendary author Mark Twain’s final home has gone on the market this month for $4.2 million.
Called Stormfield, the Redding, Connecticut, home was built in 1908 in the style of a Tuscan villa and named after Twain’s final short story, Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.
Sitting on more than 28 acres, the carnation yellow estate was substantially rebuilt after a 1923 fire but still retains the original terraces, stone walls and pillars, and formal gardens. The 6,300-square-foot home, with four bedrooms and five and a half baths, is adjoined by a heated pool and pool house, and a two-bedroom caretaker cottage.
Current owners Jake and Erika DeSantis paid $3.4 million for the house in 2003. “I love feeling like I’m in the middle of nowhere,” Jake told Mansion Global. “Yet we’re only about 60 miles to New York City. While the house is striking, I love walking down the stone steps to the sweeping lawn, the same steps that Mark Twain would have descended. It truly is a joy to live here.”
Laura Freed Ancona of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.
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Model Units
A first look at Philly’s rising star
A decorated model unit at Arthaus, the first residential tower in Philadelphia designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, has just debuted.
Priced at $2,255,800, Unit 1804 is located on the building’s southwest corner and was furnished by Builders Design. It includes 1,730 square feet of indoor space, including two bedrooms and full baths, a gas fireplace, and a kitchen with a SubZero fridge and Wolf oven.
The 47-story condo’s home on the Avenue of the Arts, formerly South Broad Street, has long been a cultural nexus—home to the Academy of Music, Kimmel Center, top-level theaters, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
The Arthaus site itself is the former home of Philadelphia International Records, the birthplace of the “Philly Soul” sound and home to acts like The O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, and Lou Rawls. KPF chair Gene Kohn actually grew up around the corner and “intimately understands the cultural significance of South Broad Street,” according to a press release.
The 108-unit building’s stepped, interlocking boxes also provide large outdoor terraces with sweeping views of the city from the Delaware River to the Schuylkill. A year-round rooftop greenhouse offers a tranquil respite with a reflecting pool, lawn, and sun deck.
In the News
Tribeca tops Manhattan sales
The week of July 12 saw 33 contracts for condos, co-ops, and town houses listing for $4 million or above, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report.
That’s a return to form after the week prior, when only 28 luxury properties went into contract—breaking a 22-week record of 30 or more high-end transactions that started in February.
“So, for all you keeping score, 23 of the last 24 weeks have registered 30 or more deals at $4 million and above,” Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty, said in the report.
The total weekly asking-price sales volume was just over $326 million, with an average asking price of $9.89 million and a median price of $6.15 million.
The most expensive deal of the week was also the priciest sale in Tribeca so far in 2021: a three-story penthouse at 67 Vestry that just went into contract at $45 million.
The home spans 6,207 square feet in the last historic loft conversion on the Tribeca waterfront—the former Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company warehouse from 1896 that was converted into artists lofts in the ’70s. (Marisol Escobar, John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, and Andy Warhol all worked and lived there.)
Now AD100 design firm Gachot Studios is restoring the Romanesque Revival landmark, converting it into 13 loft homes. The penthouse includes four bedrooms, a 36-foot living room with a fireplace, and expansive views of the Hudson River.
