Famed composer Stephen Sondheim called the same Manhattan townhouse home for over 60 years, from 1960 until his death in 2021. Back in July, Architectural Digest reported that the 12-bedroom home in the exclusive community of Turtle Bay Gardens was going up for sale, with an asking price of $7 million. Now the townhouse has sold for roughly the asking price to an unnamed "fan" of Sondheim's work who plans to move into the home and keep it as their primary residence.
While it must be exciting for any Sondheim fan to move into the place he lived for so long, this is a pretty impressive piece of property even apart from Sondheim's legendary status. Here's a choice excerpt from some marketing materials for the home:
"The living room features chevron-patterned wood floors with mahogany inlay and back-lit built-ins. Beyond the living room is the formal dining room, a unique feature of the homes at the four corners of the Gardens. Floor-to-ceiling windows, period mouldings and French doors leading directly into the Garden grace this magnificent room. The renovated chef's kitchen, also on the first floor, features custom steel glass-fronted cabinetry, stainless steel counters and backsplash and a commercial-grade 8-burner range with vented hood."
And it should come as no surprise that there's a music studio inside as well, among other features:
"The music studio on the second floor features a music library, wood-burning fireplace and baby grand piano. A gorgeous solarium with a dramatic wood arch and stained-glass windows original to the house leads onto an expansive 30-foot terrace that overlooks the Gardens. Opposite the studio is an additional bedroom or office which also has custom-built cabinetry and wood-burning fireplace. A powder room completes the second floor."
You can see the former and longtime home of Stephen Sondheim in the video below from realtor Michael J. Franco on YouTube, but the sale isn't the only current piece of Sondheim real estate news going on now.
While Sondheim's primary residence was in New York City for basically his entire life, he did have places to escape the city when necessary. The main one being his expansive country estate in Connecticut, which Realtor.com reports he owned for almost 40 years (clearly, Sondheim was as good at choosing just the right piece of real estate as he was at choosing just the right lyric).
The manor dates back some 230 years and sits on 9 acres of lush and secluded land. The main house has three bedrooms and three and a half baths, plus, naturally, a music room. The Connecticut property is now on the market with an asking price of $3.25 million.
