243 W 139th St, New York, NY 10030

CONTRACT SIGNED Striver's Row Townhouse Rare opportunity to restore a landmarked Stanford White-designed Striver's Row townhouse. Situated mid-block on a tree-canopied street, this approximately 3,600 square foot home contains many original details, including seven original gas-burning fireplaces, ornate mouldings and cornices, and original carved staircase spindles. This legal single-family home, having been in the same family for three generations, is currently configured with eight bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, and a rear detached garage. Entertain in grandeur in the second-floor library which features a ceiling height of ten feet, gas-burning fireplace and Juliet balcony. Create the ultimate master suite by converting the top-floor kitchenette into a sunny bathroom-courtesy of a generous light shaft. The full-height basement measures approximately 850 square feet. And, in a real estate market obsessed with amenities, boast of what is perhaps the most elusive privilege in the entire city: a private back alley allows direct access to the rear of the house, with plenty of space for parking, a new garage and/or garden. In 1891 developer David H. King hired three architectural firms, each to add a different style to West 138th and 139th Streets, between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. The enclave is thus made up of three sets of buildings: red brick and brownstone buildings designed by James Brown Lord; yellow brick and white limestone buildings with terra cotta trim by Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce; and dark brick, brownstone, and terra cotta buildings designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style by Stanford White of the firm McKim, Mead & White. "Strivers' Row" earned its nickname during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance because of the ambitious residents the homes attracted, among them well-to-do doctors, entertainers and other pillars of society. Just as ambition has never gone out of vogue in this city, Striver's Row has maintained a coveted grace, vibrancy, and ease of life still apparent today. Showings by appointment only.