Upper East Side Townhouse Gets Fifth Owner in 130 Years

In a neighborhood awash with old money, the 23-foot-wide brownstone at 51 East 80th Street looks particularly antique. With good reason! Since being completed on April 2nd, 1884, and not a day later, the house?five full floors, a basement and a (more recently added) sculpture out front?has only been home to a handful of families. The listing is practically a history text book:

"There have only been four occupants in the over 130 year history of this home: The Fitzpatrick's, for whom it was built; the Outerbridge's were the 2nd family; the Halfman's the 3rd; and the present owners who bought the house in 1956. They paneled many rooms and completed a second small addition. This is the first time the house has been on the market in over 50 years. What does such a pure bloodline sell for these days?

That would be $9,425,000, down from an original asking price of $12.4 million, according to StreetEasy. The seller is the estate of Isabelle Ripley Golovin, who passed away in July 2009. Her husband, advertising executive Willard Golovin, died in the fall of 2001. The historic house is now in the possession of a family known only as 51 East 80th Street LLC. Is that of Greek provenance?

The house's traditional vibe carries through to the floorplan, where you'll notice the servants' quarters are located on the top floor. Maybe that's because hot air rises, making the top floor undesirable in the pre-air conditioning days. Or maybe it's because the people up there were the last ones out in a fire. Either way!