By: Ellen Cans
A 19th-century Manhattan townhouse, featured on HBO’s show “The Undoing”, is on sale for $30 million, as per the NY Post. The five-story townhouse, at 8 East 63rd Street in the Upper East Side, had formerly been asking a whopping $35 million when it was first listed for sale in 2018. C.P.H. Gilbert built the mansion in 1878, to look like an 18th-century British townhouse in what is now known as Fifth Avenue’s Gold Coast. Aside from the celebrity publicity and famous builder the home is also ideally located just steps from Central Park, between Fifth and Madison Avenue in one of the most coveted blocks in New York City.
In “The Undoing”, actress Nicole Kidman plays the role of Grace Fraser, a successful therapist. In the hit limited series, she and her husband Dr. Jonathan Fraser, played by Hugh Grant, reside in the mansion with their son, sharing a rich, beautiful life until it is all shattered after she helps a woman who is later murdered. Written by David E. Kelley of ‘Big Little Lies’ and directed by Susanne Bier of ‘The Night Manager’, the psychological thriller does not actually feature shots from the inside of the townhouse.
As reported by the Post, the 10,000 square foot residence stands at 25 feet wide with neo- English classical brick and brownstone exterior. It boasts nine bedrooms, nine bathrooms, three partial bathrooms, six fireplaces, oversized rounded bay windows and two private terraces.
The home’s first owner was Joseph Hodges Choate, a lawyer who led the US delegation to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague in 1907, as per the listing which was first in Newsweek. Currently, the Townhouse has been converted into two duplex rental units, which are now vacant, and a ground-floor commercial space. Its stately design and origin still shine through, however. The home still has original details such as herringbone floors, historic moldings, a formal, square staircase and ceilings that reach a height of 11.7 feet. Property records show that the home was last been sold in 1983, for the much lower price of $2.4 million. Brokers for the townhouse say, the next buyer will need to have a big wallet, not only to afford the price tag, but also to spend millions more to rezone the residence back into a single-family mansion.
The listing is held by Louise Beit of Sotheby’s International Realty-East Side Manhattan Brokerage.