This just-sold Manhattan listing isn’t just a posh property — it also has an atypical hideaway out back.
In a tony corner of the West Village, a townhouse famous for its controversial treehouse addition — and for previously being the home of Talking Heads frontman David Byrne — has found a new owner to the tune of $14 million, slightly less than the $15.5 million it had asked, Curbed first reported.
The 170-year-old Anglo Italianate-style rowhouse at 50 W. 12th St. is a grand 21 feet wide and boasts five woodburning fireplaces, a private roof terrace and a total of 5,000 square feet of interior living space. But that footprint doesn’t include the round cedar treehouse suspended 10 feet off the ground in the backyard.
“It certainly was a unique feature that people were taken by,” Brown Harris Stevens’ Richard Orenstein, who held the listing, told Curbed of the backyard feature — adding that it was such a hit with children that, during showings, “Kids would go in and not want to leave. There were a lot of temper tantrums.”
The five-bedroom, five-story abode’s seller, artist Melinda Hackett, installed the treehouse for her kids after buying the residence from Byrne in 2005. And despite the home itself being gorgeous, the treehouse has its own allure, appearing in the listing images resembling a genie’s bottle with hanging sheets and pillows for seating.
(It’s unclear what the final price paid was, but the “Psycho Killer” singer sought $5.9 million at the time, Curbed noted.)
Despite its cuteness, not everyone was thrilled with the backyard addition.
The little carpenter-built yard house became a problem after a tattletale neighbor reported it. Though Hackett had lacked a building permit for it and did build it in a historic district, she ultimately was formally given the city’s blessing to keep it — significantly because it’s not visible from the street.
Unfortunately for fans of the delightful space, the anonymous new owner may not maintain it much longer.
“I don’t know if the treehouse will survive,” Brown Harris Stevens’ Louise Phillips Forbes, who represented the buyer, told Curbed, adding that her clients appreciate the house’s spirit, detail and charm — but do plan to make some renovations.