‘Grand’ Upper West Side townhouse with museum vibes wants $9.45M

An enormous Upper West Side townhouse that seemingly doubles as an art gallery has just hit the market, asking $9.45 million. That’s quite a jump from when its owners, a couple known for having “one of this country’s major private collections of Spanish and Portuguese colonial paintings, sculpture, and silver,” purchased the place back in the early aughts, when it went for just $625,000.

But they’ve made many upgrades in the decade and change since, namely outfitting the space so that it could “accommodate large scale entertaining and optimize space, storage and natural light,” per the Corcoran listing. There are high ceilings, including a double-height living room with enormous windows—the better to highlight that art collection—along with dedicated storage space (and wine storage) in the basement.

Aside from the art-showcasing aspect of the place, it has plenty going for it: It was built at the turn of the 20th century, and has some of those vintage details—a wood-burning fireplace with a decorative mantle, for instance—remain, though it also has all mod cons: an elevator, central air, built-ins, and a security system were part of the upgrades made by the owners.

It also comes with an abundance of outdoor space—a large patio, and a terrace—along with an income-producing studio apartment on the garden level. (It was renting for as much as $2,600/month a few years back.)

• Listing: 139 West 78th Street [Corcoran]