256 West 4th Street

Located on a quiet stretch of West Fourth Street between Perry and Charles Streets, this four-story brick townhouse was built in 1877. It was designed by Alexander M. McKean in a late French Second Empire style and is crowned by a Neo-Grec cornice. Inside, the original details of this 15’ wide house have been lovingly restored. The renovation maintains and respects the character of this remarkable home, while bringing it completely up-to-date, upgrading electricity, plumbing and gas service, but keeping and restoring original details including hardware, flooring, fixtures and historic plaster medallions and moldings throughout. Other upgrades include new windows, central HVAC, and Sonos full house audio (updated to the latest equipment in the last year). This jewel box of a townhouse has western and eastern exposures on every floor, offering copious natural light and charming garden views.

PARLOR LEVEL - ceiling height 10' 4"

A high stoop leads to the historic entry vestibule with original double doors and marble floors. The soaring ceiling heights and two original marble decorative fireplaces add grandeur to the front parlor and rear living areas. Large 7’ tall windows on this floor let in abundant light and offer lovely views over West Fourth Street to the east, and beautiful townhouse gardens to the west.

GROUND LEVEL - ceiling height 8’

Down the stairs is the spacious kitchen that evokes the feeling of an historic townhouse kitchen, but it has been completely modernized with a clean aesthetic. It features plentiful classic white cabinetry and millwork, Carrera marble slab counter and backsplash, vented 36” six-burner Wolf stove, Miele dishwasher, and stainless steel Subzero refrigerator. The original built-in china cupboard has been re-worked to keep the historic details, hardware etc., but incorporates new soft-close hardware.

The spacious dining room measures 13’ 9” X 13” and features a marble decorative fireplace. A door off the dining room leads to a planted front garden area which is surrounded by original cast iron spindles and has a gate to the street and storage under the stoop. There is a full bathroom on this level.

THIRD LEVEL - ceiling height 9’ 4”

There are two large bedrooms on this floor. The east facing bedroom has an original decorative marble fireplace and looks out over the treetops of West Fourth Street toward other historic houses. The west facing bedroom looks directly toward the verdant and serene townhouse gardens. The hallway that connects these rooms houses a linen closet and a bathroom with all Waterworks fixtures including rain shower, built-in medicine cabinet, subway tile, and Carrera marble baseboards.

FOURTH LEVEL - ceiling height 9’

The top floor is dedicated to the spacious floor-thru primary bedroom. The bed area faces west over the quiet gardens and features an entire wall of integrated closets. A spacious office faces east over West Fourth Street, as does the windowed primary bathroom with vintage clawfoot tub and pedestal sink.

There are Community Board approved plans for a rooftop terrace designed by acclaimed RKLA Studio and Framework Architecture . A full cellar offers abundant storage space and a vented full-size Whirlpool washer/dryer.