The arrival of the High Line was very much the catalyst, kickstarting developments that have continued to redefine the residential landscape. Now, over 200 of the world’s most influential art galleries are interspersed with cutting-edge contemporary buildings designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects. Apartments here command twice the price as luxury residences along Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
High-profile new builds may grab the headlines, but property from the early 20th century is highly coveted by those with sophisticated taste. Take the historic brownstone at 462 West 23rd Street, for example. The residence borrows from the stark realism of American filmmaker David Lynch and the poetic eclecticism of Italian grand decorator Renzo Mongiardino. Earlier this year, Architectural Digest described it as “a six-story town house with moody and maximalist references.”
Inspired by Paris’ seminal steel-and-glass Maison de Verre, the house’s entrance gallery – a breathtaking entertaining space – features 20-ft ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, leading into a south-facing, bamboo-filled walled garden.
The parlor floor, partly looking over the gallery (and sometimes described as the mezzanine), offers a library and an office with a wood-burning fire. Both enjoy the dappled sunlight that floods in through the ground-floor gallery’s vast wall of glass.
The third floor features a media room, with a monolithic marble fireplace – inspired by the symmetry and paneling of Modernist architect Adolf Loos – opens onto a landscaped balcony and an eat-in chef’s kitchen (a secondary kitchen in the basement can provide more discreet catering for larger parties).
Truthfully, though, with restaurants like Basque-inspired Txikito and Hotel Chelsea’s El Quijote, and the always-fun Chelsea Market – Los Tacos No 1 is a must – all nearby, its likely you’ll have little need for those two kitchens.
The nearly 8,000-sq-ft residence has four bedrooms, five bathrooms and three half baths. The master suite occupies the entire fifth floor, evoking an old-world ambience with a dressing room, Arabescato Paonazzo marble-clad bathroom and a skylit walk-in shower.
Two roof terraces offer panoramic city views, and between them, a sunroom lounge (with a bar) is the perfect space to unwind.
This is very much a house for aesthetes, in a neighborhood built by aesthetes, for aesthetes. Matthew Slosar, a broker at Douglas Elliman describes West Chelsea as “a magnet for culture vultures.” And the pull is only getting stronger.
$19.95m. Listing Courtesy of Matthew Slosar at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, contact +1 212 350 2216, +1 917 326 1717, mslosar@elliman.com, elliman.com