Holy conversion!
A former East Village synagogue-turned-luxury townhouse is back on the market for $27,500 a month.
The four-bedroom, 2½-bathroom home, at 317 E. 8th St., is 4,217 square feet and comes fully furnished. It was last asking $39,500 a month in 2022 as a “short-term” rental.
The Gothic Revival synagogue, known as the 8th Street Shul, was built in the late 19th century when the East Village was a thriving Jewish immigrant community filled with tenements and synagogues. But in 1982, the synagogue was badly damaged in a devastating fire. It then became the subject of a passionate preservationist campaign that ultimately lost out to real estate interests in 2000, when a judge ruled the synagogue could be converted to residential housing.
Four years later, in 2004, Martin Davis bought the synagogue space for $1.31 million and launched a renovation by designer Tim Andreas. They gutted the building’s interior while preserving the exterior, including the stained glass and the Star of David.
Davis later discovered his grandfather grew up in a tenement behind the building, although he attended a different synagogue.
The four-story home comes with three outdoor spaces, including a landscaped roof deck with a hot tub, as well as a steam room and wine storage.
Design details include Brazilian hardwood cherry floors and radiant floor heating, along with custom windows — replicas of the synagogue’s originals — with the original 19th-century Star of David.
Inside, there are 22-foot cathedral ceilings, a cantilevered balcony with a built-in projector and a chef’s kitchen with a large island. Glass doors lead to a dining terrace. The living room features floor-to-ceiling walls of exposed brick.
The second level boasts a library with an Italian marble fireplace and a wet bar, two bedrooms with custom closets and sliding doors to create a larger guest suite. The main bedroom takes up the third floor. It features a custom fireplace, an ensuite bath and access to a terrace with a hot tub — while the fourth floor houses a penthouse office with a landscaped terrace, with ipe wood floors and custom sound.
The listing brokers are Jed Garfield, Matthew Lesser, Matthew Lipsky and Matthew Pravda of Leslie Garfield.