The West Village is one THE most desirable spots to live in a brownstone, if you can afford it. I live in the village myself, and once co-owned a brownstone in Brooklyn so, I can appreciate townhouse living. And I know the downside, as well. (Too much constant up and down for me.)
Owners Jos White, a Brit technology entrepreneur in his early forties and his wife Annabel,the former director of The Rug Company have put the place on the market for $22 million. Jos sold his tech company MessageLabs for over half a billion in ’08, so the couple bought their dream home. These pics are from a few years ago from House & Garden UK. The Whites’ neighbors, Anna and Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair and his wife, who live a couple of doors away, and Anna Wintour and her family who also live nearby are presumably staying put.
If you want 21st century living in a 19th century townhouse, to me this is pretty much perfection. Obviously, no expense was spared, and they have VERY nice rugs and art, but the style here is chic, casual English, and not show-off tech zillionaire.
It’s six-story layer cake and the cherry on the top of is Jos’s home office. Because of the building’s landmark status, no additions can show from the street, not a single brick. So the office had to be set back. On the garden side, it has an angled wall of glass windows, like an artist’s garret, which cantilever up to go outside using a hand crank.
Have a look around. As I said, it’s pretty perfect, if you like this sort of thing.
(Photos, Ngoc Minh Ngo; via House & Garden UK)
