All photos courtesy of Anton Brookes of H5 Property
One of New York City’s first modernist residences is back on the market. The townhouse at 32 East 74th Street was designed by William Lescaze, a Swiss-born American architect credited with pioneering modernism in the United States. Known as the Raymond C. and Mildred Kramer House for the original owners, the Upper East Side property has an iconic white stucco and glass brick facade preserved to comply with landmarks law. Inside, however, several renovations over the years have left little traces of Lescaze’s interior design. Now asking $15,000,000, the home, which has been divided into three duplex apartments, has been on and off the market for nearly a decade.
As 6sqft previously reported, Raymond Kramer commissioned Lescaze in 1935 to build 32 East 74th Street after seeing the architect’s own home at 211 East 48th Street, the first building with a glass facade and the first modernist residence in New York City. The William Lescaze House was built just a year prior to the commission.
As Curbed reported in 2021, after the Kramers died, Mildred’s daughter from a previous marriage, Jo Parrish Maloney, didn’t want the house and sold it to the government of Madagascar, which used it as its permanent mission to the United Nations. Residential details and the custom furniture designed by Lescaze were likely lost during this period, as Curbed noted.
The home was sold for $12 million in 2008 and again in 2015 for $14.5 million. Since 2017, when it was listed for $20 million, the townhouse has been on and off the market, most recently with a listing price of $14.75 million in 2021. The New York Post was first to report the latest listing.
Currently the home is set up as three contemporary duplex apartments, each with private keyed elevator access. According to the listing, each apartment has high-end kitchens, private outdoor space, central air conditioning, and in-unit washer dryers.
The lower duplex has two bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a primary bedroom overlooking a landscaped patio. The middle duplex has three bedrooms, three baths, and a bonus office. The top duplex has three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a terrace off the living room and primary bedroom.
For the ultimate Upper East Side mansion, the next owners could convert the home back into a single-family home, with the possibility of eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, two powder rooms, and six outdoor spaces across 7,000 square feet.
The townhouse is just one of three homes designed by Lescaze in the city. In addition to the Lescaze House on East 48th Street, there’s a gray brick home at 124 East 70th Street that last listed for $13.5 million in 2022.
“To own 32 East 74th Street is to own a magnificent piece of New York City architectural history,” Jacky Teplitzky, the Douglas Elliman agent with the listing, said.
“In addition to the William Lescaze pedigree, its size, scope and location make this a prime opportunity for today’s discerning buyer.”
[Listing details: 32 East 74th Street at CityRealty] [At Douglas Elliman by Joseph Chaplin, Jaqueline (Jacky) Teplitzky, and Barak Dunayer]RELATED:
All photos courtesy of Anton Brookes of H5 Property
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