Huge Murray Hill townhouse with light-filled atrium returns for $8.2M

We last covered this seven-story Murray Hill townhouse back in 2014, when the listing’s overzealous brokerbabble and mediocre photos vaulted it into a very special black hole of New York City real estate hyperbole. Not surprisingly, despite its history (built in 1901) and location (121 East 38^th Street, a tree-lined townhouse block just off Park Avenue), the residence languished for nearly two years with an ask of $10.9 million.

Now, it’s reappeared with a significant price cut by a different broker with the same taste for bad capitalization and flowery descriptions. The pictures are much better, though, and it appears even more much-needed work has been done on this home to justify the price.

Down from 9,000 square foot to 8,025, the two-family brownstone has a mix of original features and state-of-the-art upgrades: Light-filled rooms, coffered high ceilings, an oak spiral staircase, French doors, and an “abundance” of steel-lined gas fireplaces with original marble and wood mantles are among the highlights.

There are six bedrooms, six bathrooms, two powder rooms, and seven outdoor spaces (though most of these are terraces) including a 1,000-square-foot roof deck with a Jacuzzi and views of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. The sixth and seventh floors are designed as a duplex master suite with its own chef’s kitchen, two bathrooms, and an atrium.

The garden level is another separate apartment, and the English basement, with its own bathroom, is also outfitted with its own private outside entrance. There’s an elevator to zoom you all over the place, a grand ballroom, a patio (no photos of that), and a fourth floor library-office that would probably look a lot more cozy if it had actual books in it instead of empty glass cabinets.

• Listing: 121 East 38th Street [Leslie J. Garfield]
• $10.9M Townhouse a Case Study in Unfortunate Brokerbabble [Curbed]