Listing of the Day
Location: New York City Price: $10.7 million
Now that the "whisper listing" of this East 64th Street postmodern townhouse has gone public, there’s a lot to be said.
It was designed in the mid-1980s by Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, one of New York’s most renowned teams of architects, who had quite a tall order to fill. First, the house is located on a landmarked block in a notoriously difficult neighborhood for renovations.
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Says listing agent Thomas DiDomenico of the designers’ undertaking: "They really had to jump through all sorts of hoops and hurdles. It’s difficult on the Upper East Side to get any postmodern architecture green-lighted—even today. But especially back in the ‘80s, it was an arduous process, and only really top architects would get their projects approved in a neighborhood committed to preserving its values and aesthetic style."
The second difficulty was due to the divergent styles of the two buildings on either side of the home. Postmodern architecture as a whole celebrated the collision of various aesthetics, but this townhouse had the additional duty of serving as a stylistic bridge between its two adjacent neighbors. The designers weren’t stuck between a rock and a hard place, exactly, but rather a Gothic church (Central Presbyterian) and a Philip Johnson glass structure (the modernist Asia House)—"almost opposing" in looks, as Ms. Agrest once said of the two buildings.
While on most landmarked blocks, townhouse façades are untouchable, Ms. Agrest and Mr. Gandelsonas were able to get the ordinance to do so, and the result is a beautifully bowed convex front made of limestone.
Also unique to the design is how the traditional townhouse interior, in this case, has been flipped on its head: Instead of the private living spaces occupying the highest floors of the home, here they are concentrated on the lower floors, while the upper stories have been transformed into entertaining spaces intended for large parties. But the private domains can be easily bypassed by visitors thanks to a high-speed elevator installed during the redesign.
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The postmodern blending of old and new is enacted on a smaller scale, too, in remaining details such as the four original fireplaces and mantles, which were all restored and reinstalled, as well as the many sconces throughout the home leftover from its former incarnation.
The success of Ms. Agrest and Mr. Gandelsonas’ vision has paid off, decades later. While the house itself has not been landmarked, there are dedicated postmodernist enthusiasts who might be working to change that. It was listed as one of the most important structures in New York on Metropolis Magazine’s November 2014 article entitled "Postmodern Watch-List," alongside some of the most famous constructions in the city—the Sony Tower, the Bergdorf Goodman Façade, the Frick Collection pavilion, just to name a few.
In the article, Ms. Agrest is quoted as saying that she and Mr. Gandelsonas "didn’t want to replicate a historic building." Instead, it appears they have successfully created their own.
As Mr. DiDomenico notes, the story of 110 East 64th Street is thus also the story "of how postmodern architecture came to be highly respected in its own right today."
The Stats
The six-story townhouse has four bedrooms (with an additional sitting room that could function as a bedroom), five full bathrooms, and three partial bathrooms. It spans 6,300 square feet.
Amenities
High-speed elevator; four wood-burning fireplaces.
Agents: Thomas DiDomenico, Mike Fabbri and Scott Francis of Corcoran Group
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