4 days ago
A downtrodden NYC rental may return to its Gilded Age glory
Plans to return this forlorn home to its Gilded Age glory were designed by a descendant of the original architect.
A rundown rental at 471 West End Ave. in Manhattan is on sale for $6.95 million, but this vacant building comes with a grandiose redesign plan — and an architectural legacy to match.
The 25-foot-wide townhouse was originally designed as a single-family townhome by influential New York architect Stanford White's firm, McKim, Mead & White, in the late 1880s. The once-grand mansion spent the past several decades on the decline as a multifamily rental, standing as a strange holdout among the prestigious avenue's massive, stately apartment buildings.
A fresh sale aims to change that.
8 A rendering of the proposed redesign.
Delatour Studio
8 The top floor is designed with a large skylight that floods the room with natural light.
Delatour Studio
The building is being represented by Jade Shenker of Serhant, co-exclusively with Newmark, as a single-family home conversion. The deal comes with an ambitious redesign plan crafted by Platt Byard Dovell White (PBDW) Architects — of which Samuel White, a great-grandson and scholar of Stanford White, is a founding partner.
The scheme would transform the dreary four-story residence into a luxurious single-family home, boasting five bedrooms and 20-foot ceilings. The 10,105-square-foot floor plan, which adds on a fifth story, includes a wine cellar, a wellness suite and a rooftop deck.
The home, sandwiched between two sizable apartment buildings, comes with a rare backyard space, as well.
The plans by PBDW Architects pay homage to the home's history, Shenker told The Post. They also have the advantage of being pre-approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of Buildings.
The property last sold in 2022 for $4.3 million, according to city records. The savvy investors who snapped it up saw the potential, Shenker said.
'It's a very rare townhouse shell,' Shenker said.
'They knew that they could make it into something really special.'
8 The current state of the vacant townhouse.
Google Maps
8 Stanford White.
Bettmann Archive
The home's proposed revival by White's great-grandson's firm is an elegant architectural bookend, but there's a whole lot of history in between.
According to the blog Dayton in Manhattan, in which local historian Tim Miller chronicles architectural history across the city, early-1900s court records document a dramatic food fight on the home's lower floor between a ladies' maid and a cook. The charges were dismissed, according to records, given that the maid 'had been sufficiently aggrieved by a shampoo of spinach to warrant her in propelling the butter.'
The property was owned for several decades by the Agudas Israel World Organization until the 1990s, Miller reported. The organization advertised newly renovated apartments at the property in 1967 'for Victims of Nazi Persecution.'
A fire in 2013 damaged the vintage interiors, Miller reported. The building went to market in 2016 and languished there for six years.
8 A bedroom features a fireplace and large windows.
Delatour Studio
8 A large bathroom with amble vanity space and a free-standing tub.
Delatour Studio
8 The design pays homage to the home's Gilded Age past, but with a fresh, luxury twist.
Delatour Studio
8 The back of the proposed townhouse, including balconies and a terrace.
Delatour Studio
Stanford White remains a controversial yet legendary figure in New York City history. His residential designs for his generation's robber barons defined the city's Gilded Age, and his design for the Washington Square Arch remains an iconic local symbol.
This sale of one of his designs conveniently comes alongside the buzzy third season of HBO's hit series 'The Gilded Age,' the lavish buildings and interiors of which were inspired by White.
