A renovated West Village townhouse with a literary pedigree, for $17,950,000
The townhouse was renovated by the previous owner and the current owner made improvements as well.
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If you’re fan of literature you may want to check out this townhouse at 196 West Houston St., in the West Village, which seems to have witnessed an unusual amount of literary drama. It is the former 15-year home of Barney Rosset, who bought Grove Press for $3,000 and turned it into a major publishing house that introduced American readers to Henry Miller, Eugene Ionesco, Tom Stoppard, Jean Genet, and others.
In the early 1960s, Miller’s sexually graphic “Tropic of Cancer” was challenged for being obscene, but eventually upheld by the United States Supreme Court in a landmark ruling for First Amendment rights. But that wasn’t the only drama this townhouse saw.
In 1989, publisher Peter Mayer, who held positions as chairman and chief executive of the Penguin Group from 1978 to 1997, bought the property. When his company published Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses," death threats sent the author into hiding. Mayer also received threatening letters and calls but did not hide.
Now this townhouse can become your own hideaway of sorts.
The three bedroom, four-plus bath just went on the market for $17,950,000 (and is also available as a rental for $49,000 a month). It was renovated by the previous owner before the current owner purchased the house in the fall of 2013, and the current owner made several improvements to the house inside and outside.
The 25-foot-wide house has triple-paned, soundproof windows, a commercial-grade elevator, two floors for entertaining, a virtual doorman, and an alarm system.
The master suite has 13-foot ceilings.
The townhouse has three outdoor spaces, including a bamboo garden and Japanese trees on the ground level, and flowering orange trees on the terrace on the parlor floor.
There is a two-car garage.
There’s a basement-level yoga room with a sauna and full bath.
The house is 25 by 96 feet on a 108-foot lot with 5,780 square feet above grade, a 1,640 square foot basement, and 1,944 square feet total outdoor space.
It is close to stores in Soho and a few blocks north of restaurants in the West Village.
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