Art Dealer Barbara Gladstone’s N.Y.C. Townhouse Lists for $12 Million

Less than a year after Barbara Gladstone passed away at age 89, the influential art dealer’s longtime New York City home has popped up for sale, asking a brushstroke under $12 million. As first reported by The New York Times, she acquired the historic brick Greek-Revival row house in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in 2011 for $6.3 million and then spent the next couple of years revamping the place. Scott Hustis and Mark Jovanovic of Paradigm Advisory at Compass share the listing.

A visionary gallerist whose roster of contemporary artists through the years included Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring, Elizabeth Murray, and Jenny Holzer, the native New Yorker started her business in 1980 in a space on 57th Street that was “the size of a shoebox” and had a monthly rent of $700. Today, her eponymous dealership continues to operate out of three locations in New York, as well as branches in Los Angeles, Brussels, and Seoul.

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Originally built in 1841 and extensively renovated during her tenure in collaboration with her friend and architect, Annabelle Selldorf, the four-level structure clocks in at 21 feet wide. Five bedrooms and an equal number of baths are sprawled across nearly 4,400 square feet of modern and refined living space boasting white oak floors and Venetian plaster walls throughout, with all floors accessible via an elevator and a sculptural sky-lit staircase sporting blackened metal railings.

Touted in marketing materials as the “perfect city home,” the garden level is highlighted by a mudroom with a secondary outside entrance, an en suite bedroom, and a powder room. At the back, the sizable eat-in kitchen features Carrara marble countertops, a professional-grade Viking range, double Miele ovens, and separate Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer units. There’s also a butler’s pantry and a laundry room, while French doors spill out to a Piet Oudolf-designed garden.

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Holding court on the second floor is the main entry vestibule, which opens into an open-plan great room that stretches the full depth of the house. At the front, overlooking the street, is a sitting area. A formal dining area beyond connects to another sitting room brandishing a wood-burning fireplace and a balcony with access to the garden below. 

Occupying the entire third level is a primary suite boasting a second wood-burning fireplace, a balcony, a dressing room, and a stone-clad bath equipped with radiant-heated floors, a soaking tub, and a steam shower, plus an office and a wet bar. The top floor has another en suite bedroom and a gym, while the basement is currently used for storage.

Per the Times, the house was a showcase for Gladstone’s extensive personal collection of works by artists from Andy Warhol to Rudolf Stingel. A dozen pieces from her portfolio recently auctioned by Sotheby’s brought in a total of $18.5 million, with more art and furnishings expected to be sold privately or at a later auction. At the time of her death, she also owned a home on the east end of Long Island that is also on the market.

Click here for more photos of the Chelsea residence.