26 Bank Street

Located on Bank Street in historic Greenwich Village, this extensive reconstruction of a 1840s townhouse "fuses past and present into a new, sophisticated 4,000 square foot home" according to the architect, Basil Walter, responsible for this superb creation. In a remarkable feat, the architect created a stunning rooftop glass atelier, inspired by The Maison de Verre in Paris. The entire glass wall opens to the light and air of the outdoors.

This Greek Revival townhouse benefits from some beautifully executed ideas. Floor to ceiling steel and glass windows open to the extraordinary garden and parlor floor terrace, drawing in natural light and air from the outdoors. Abundant daylight is also funneled through the house by means of an elegant skylight-capped 4-story open staircase. The industrial details of structural steel and exposed manually-geared hardware operate a pivoting glass and steel penthouse garret that are in itself a work of art.

Size: Situated on a 19.5 FT x 93 FT lot, with six levels, encompassing approximately 4,664 gross Interior square feet including the 703sf basement. Outdoor space on 4 levels is approximately 1,389 Exterior square feet.

LAYOUT

Garden Floor: Additional entrance from the street, enter below the Parlor Floor staircase into a gracious Foyer, living room/den with wine storage, dining room with ample seating, powder room, kitchen with banquette and showcase doors opening onto the 18 FT x 27.2 FT Spectacular Garden

Parlor Floor: Double-door entry foyer, hidden powder room, office, living room with a wood-burning fireplace and a 19.8 FT x 8.3 FT Terrace

Second Floor: Primary bedroom suite, 5-fixture bathroom with double-vanity, wood-burning fireplace, 19.3 FT x 10.5 FT Terrace

Third Floor: Three bedrooms, two full bathrooms both with double-vanity

Fourth Floor: Office/Library/Den/Bedroom, 19 FT x 8 FT Terrace with pivoting glass and steel penthouse garret in which the entire wall opens to the garden and superb views

Basement: Laundry, extensive storage and mechanicals

Historic Background

Greenwich Village in one of the oldest sections of Manhattan, which was laid out for development in the years following the American Revolution. The distinctive quality of this Historic District, in addition to the significance of its architecture and of its cultural life, may be attributed to several factors, including the fact that it retains much of its original, irregular street pattern, unlike the north south plan of the commissioners' grid plan of 1807-1811 adopted for the rest of the City. "It has,"as Henry James once said, "a kind of established repose a riper, richer, more honorable look the look of having had something of a history".

The principle architectural styles of Greenwich Village, represented by the largest number of buildings in the District are the Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Neo-Grec and Queen Anne.

Bank Street has always stood out as it enjoys a particularly handsome balance, both sides of the street being very similar in their configurations. Both have low apartment houses (at or near their ends), and attractive rows of three and four-story houses which fill the center of both blocks.

26 Bank Street has one of the most exquisite gardens surrounded by other low townhouses and their gardens. It is a sunlit haven in all seasons of the year. It is the type of Village house you always hoped for and may have imagined but never expected to actually find.