As soon as he moved into his East Village duplex 12 years ago, theater director David Saint knew it would be his next home.
“I saw about 20 apartments while I was looking to buy and this was the last one,” he said. “The moment I walked in, I knew it.”
What sold Mr. Saint in the brand new penthouse, just off Union Square, at 123 Third Avenue and East 14th Street, was the wraparound porch and stunning city and river views. He would eventually turn the terrace into his “little garden of Eden” with fountains, obelisks and trees, plants and potted flowers – not to mention a place for parties.
Mr. Saint, who has worked in theater for decades and most recently was an associate producer on the 2021 film “West Side Story,” has entertained many celebrities there, including Marlo Thomas, Tyne Daly and Steven Spielberg, along with the cast of many shows. “When people come to visit the apartment, they don’t want to leave the terrace,” he said.
But Mr. Agios is now ready to do just that. After a break-up with his partner of several years, he said he had decided “it’s time to leave β it’s a new chapter”. He is selling the penthouse for $4.995 million, according to the broker, James Foreman of Brown Harris Stevens. monthly transfer fees total $8,633.
Mr. Cent bought the unit in the spring of 2012 for nearly $3.9 million and then spent about $750,000 more, in his memory, landscaping, designing and watering the patio, as well as building cabinets and adding bookshelves to the living room. .
“Arthur Lorenz was my mentor, and I inherited 75 first edition books from him,” Mr. Cent said, referring to the Broadway director, playwright and screenwriter who died in 2011. He serves as executor and literary executor of Mr. Lorenz’s estate. and the president of the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, which helps support new plays. Mr. Saint is also the longtime Artistic Director of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ
Mr. Saint’s home also has other items that once belonged to Mr. Laurents, including artwork, various theater memorabilia, elegant crystal chandeliers and a Baldwin grand piano that, he noted, “has a lot of history.”
“I opened the counter and inside were original scores from ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Gypsy,'” he said, adding that composers Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein both “played songs on this piano.”
Encompassing 2,049 square feet, the penthouse, one of several in the building, is located on the 15th and 16th floors of the condominium, which was completed in 2011. It has two bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, and a junk room. There are 11 foot ceilings and oak floors throughout.
The main entrance of the house is on the lower level. A foyer leads to a great room with floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors that open to the 960-square-foot terrace. The loft-like room, measuring 40 feet by 13 feet, has a living room, marble powder room and dining area. Nearby is an open kitchen equipped with high-tech appliances, along with Caesarstone countertops and Poliform lacquer cabinetry.
“It’s a good kitchen for cooking,” Mr. Foreman said, also noting that every area of ββthe great room, including the kitchen, has access to the terrace. “It flows so beautifully.”
Upstairs are the bedrooms and a laundry area. The master suite has a very large walk-in closet and a 13-by-7-foot balcony.
Mr. Agios says he will miss the outdoor space of the apartment, as well as the vibrancy of the neighborhood. “The view is breathtaking,” he said. “You see all the big landmarks” β including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler and Consolidated Edison Buildings and One World Trade Center.
And then there are the “pyramids”.
“I was sitting on the porch and I counted 27 pyramids on top of the buildings, all mostly designed by Freemasons in the early 1900s,” Mr St said. On the terrace, “I wanted to continue this theme, so I created three obelisks with pyramids on top,” he explained. “The pyramid shape is supposed to bring the sun’s energy into the city.”