This renovated Murray Hill townhouse is asking less than $5 million

By Virginia K. Smith | January 4, 2017 - 1:59PM

In New York's ever high-priced townhouse market, a buyer would be hard pressed to find a townhouse for less than $5 million (or even much less than $10 million) anywhere below 125th Street. Which is why we did a double take when we came across this Murray Hill listing for a freshly renovated three-bedroom townhouse at 132 East 38th Street, asking $4.695 million—and seemingly without any major catch that would explain the relatively low price.

For comparison's sake, StreetEasy shows the only two other townhouses currently for sale in the neighborhood as both asking more than $8 million apiece. (The house has historic cachet, having once been the home of Eleanor Roosevelt's uncle, according to the New York Times.) Then again, it's about 2100 square feet, smaller than the average brownstone.

The listing notes that the home is landmarked, but has also undergone recent renovations, and indeed, looks to have up-to-date finishes throughout, including marble countertops, a wine fridge, and a Viking stovetop in the kitchen on the ground level. (Though while we like the breakfast bar, the layout of this kitchen looks rather cramped, and difficult for more than one person to navigate at a time.) The bathrooms look to have similar finishes, with lots of new marble and glass-enclosed showers:

Head up one level and you'll find the home's main entertaining spaces, with a home office, home bar (not pictured), and sitting room featuring an ethanol-burning fireplace:

The upper floors are home to the living quarters, including a full-floor master suite that features walk-in California closets, as well as a master bath:

The basement (not pictured) is fully built out and includes a bathroom, "recreational space," and a washer and dryer; up way above, there's a 400 square-foot rooftop terrace, with views of no less than the Empire State building. The listing also notes storage on the main level as well as in a 200-square-foot storage space that's "included separate from the home under the sidewalk."

You'll definitely want to investigate in person—in part, to suss out that mysterious separate under-the-sidewalk storage space, but also, to see for yourself (and with the help of a savvy broker and real estate attorney) how it compares, size-wise, to a typical townhouse. Then again, you might just decide it's ample big enough for you—it certainly is compared to many apartments on the market in the neighborhood.

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