The townhouse at 177 Pacific Street has officially taken the title of the most expensive home ever sold in Brooklyn, with the deal hitting public records this week. That's interesting enough in itself, but what makes the sale even more interesting is the buyer. The Times reports that it is Jay Maisel, the famed photographer who recently sold 190 Bowery, the once mysterious and graffiti-covered mansion that awed and intrigued New Yorkers for decades. Maisel paid just $102,000 for the mansion in 1966, and had lived there with his family ever since, until he sold it to a developer last year for some $55 million. He paid $15.5 million for his new place.
Maisel's longtime home was originally a bank, and it measured 37,000 square feet. It held a gallery and work space, along with living quarters, and parts of the old bank, like the vault and original molded ceilings, remained. Recent photos show it to be in desperate need of TLC, but nothing compares to the building's layers of history.
His new house is pretty much the opposite of 190 Bowery. For starters, it's located in Cobble Hill. A renovation completely overhauled the space, so it's essentially new construction inside, where one will find a 20 person movie theater, a gym, children's play room, bar, wine cellar, and a roof garden with a stream and outdoor kitchen. It has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms (six full, two half), and at 10,000 square feet, it is less than a third the size of his Bowery digs.
Now, for the important question: what made this longtime East Villager move to brownstone Brooklyn?
· $15.5 Million, a Record for Brooklyn Real Estate [NYT]
· Cobble Hill Townhouse Gets $15.5M, Breaks Brooklyn Record [Curbed]
· All 190 Bowery coverage [Curbed]
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