Destructoporn: West Village Landmark Ripped Apart

When the buyer of artist and designer Richard Tyler's insane 8,000-square-foot brick showroom/mansion at 727 Washington Street put the landmarked rowhouse back on the market for $15.9 million (after paying $14.4 million for it just nine months earlier), a Curbed commenter snarked, "Looks like some poor schmuck hedge fund manager who bought at the top and his broker forgot to tell him that its needs a $5M renovation." Well, the Renaissance Revival West Village beauty was pulled off the market in May without selling, and let's just say that slight renovation is underway.

Last week a Curbed tipster wrote, "Wondering what's going on with the townhouse at 727 Washington since there appears to be a gut renovation going on. Workmen all around and the top floor is completely ripped apart and open to the sky. Bottom floor looks like a construction project." A walk by the scene between West 11th and Bank reveals, indeed, the stripping of an intensely unique residence. A building permit issued in June is for the "removal and installation of interior non load bearing partitions and related finishes as per plans filed." Ah-ha, the plans!

Preserved on EveryBlock is the scope of work approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in December 2008, just before the house's current owner put it back on the market:

The proposed work, as approved, consists of the demolition of the modern interior structure and floor plates, and the construction of a new interior glass façade behind the historic facade, featuring aluminum windows, a stucco cladding on a portion of the ground floor, and a wood entrance door; the removal of masonry, and installation of a new tripartite window opening, featuring two casement windows at the rear of the third floor mezzanine at the secondary north elevation; and the removal of a steel sliding window, enlargement of the window opening, and the installation of a paired fixed window, featuring operable transom windows at the third floor of the secondary north elevation.

Sounds awfully intense, doesn't it? Perhaps the buyer decided to see the renovation through once the market derailed his hopes of a quick flip. Or maybe there's another plot at play. Any connected Far West Villagers (coughSchnabelcough) wish to chime in?
· BACK on the Market: The Curious Case of 727 Washington [Curbed]
· On the Market: 727 Washington, Transparent at Its Core [Curbed]