A rambling, meticulously renovated triplex atop 419-421 Broome Street, the 19th-century cast-iron building in SoHo where the actor Heath Ledger had been renting a loft when he died 10 years ago, is returning to the market.
The asking price for this penthouse, near Crosby Street in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
Extension, is $65 million, according to Shaun Osher, the chief executive of Core. He is listing the property with Emily Beare, also of Core, along with J. Eric Becker of the Corcoran Group. Monthly carrying charges total $36,337.
David Matlin, a distressed asset investor, and his wife, Lisa Matlin, who once owned a clothing and gift boutique with the actress Phoebe Cates, bought the apartment, which encompasses the fifth through seventh floors, for $17.8 million in April 2011.
They spent far more time on renovations, however, than actually living there. And now, as almost empty nesters with their daughter recently graduating from college, they are looking to downsize. Ms. Matlin, who is a Broadway producer and hoping to move elsewhere in SoHo, said the apartment was too big for just her and her husband.
For more than four years the couple had worked to transform the unit through gut renovations into a vertical mansion, with amenities and finishes resembling that of a five-star hotel (hot tub and dumbwaiters included).
The Matlins painstakingly selected wood, stone and other adornments. They chose Dinesen oak for floors and paneling, Statuary marble from Italy’s Carrara region for the bathrooms, and honed black granite and tiles from Franz Mayer of Germany for the kitchen, among the many finishes. Industrial elements were also incorporated, in a nod to the building’s manufacturing past, with the use of metals like steel in the doors and skylights and La Forge de Style bronze in the railing along the cantilevered black marble staircase from Chesneys.
The apartment was also configured to have an open, loft-like flow with lots of light from the oversize windows and skylights and ready access to the six irrigated and landscaped terraces. Ms. Matlin, who had spearheaded the renovations and even made trips to Italy for the marble, said the apartment was a great place for entertaining.
The home is about 8,000 square feet, with three bedrooms and five full and two half baths, though there are several rooms that could be converted into additional bedrooms. There is outdoor space on all levels, totaling 3,800 square, including an unfinished roof, where there is an additional en suite bedroom with a built-in bed designated as staff quarters. The apartment also comes with cedar-lined storage in the basement, two parking spots, and other modern conveniences like a Crestron home automation system.
Each of the three floors has a private elevator landing with a connecting dumbwaiter, allowing the Matlin family and their guests to easily transport food, towels and other items between floors. And every room has a window.
On the main level, at the fifth floor, is a long, central gallery that leads to a 31-by-46-foot great room at the apartment’s north end. This open space — with 15-foot ceilings, six arched windows, two skylights and two wood-burning fireplaces — has several functions. There are areas for dining, lounging, office work, and recreation (thanks to an antique cast-iron Collender pool table).
From the great room, steel and glass pocket doors open to a large main kitchen, which is outfitted like a professional kitchen with three pantries, two of which incorporate wine storage; a fireplace; breakfast bar; and high-end stainless-steel appliances (two of everything); and a built-in TV. The kitchen holds a multitude of storage, including a silver closet and walls of cabinets that extend to the top of the 20-foot ceiling, reachable via rolling ladder.
Off the kitchen is a paneled office with a skylight; it could be converted into another bedroom. There is a guest bedroom with a marble bathroom across the hall and one of two master bedrooms, with an en suite marble bath, a walk-in closet and a 10-by-16-foot terrace with granite pavers and plantings like boxwood and a Japanese maple tree.
The main floor also contains a laundry room and a half bath, and the hallway leading to the bedrooms is lined with built-in storage.
The master suite, embellished with silk velvet upholstery wall coverings, encompasses the sixth floor. It features another skylight; dual marble bathrooms, one with a marble soaking tub and another with a steam shower; a wood-burning fireplace with a carved marble mantle; several closets; and a coffee bar. There are two private terraces, one of which is reached through an enormous dressing room.
The third level has another dining room and laundry area, a half bath, a galley kitchen, and a gym, which also could be converted into another bedroom. Ms. Matlin said she wanted each floor to be selfsustaining.
This floor also holds a media room with barrel-vault ceilings, another fireplace and a built-in 100-inch TV.
The media room opens to two large wraparound terraces. The larger of the two is lined with ivy and gaslights, and features an outdoor fireplace with a 75-inch TV above the mantle, a heated canopy, hot tub with an awning and barbecue area. The garden terrace on the north end has a limestone fountain.
If this apartment sells for its $65-million asking price, it would break the record for most expensive single residential sale in downtown Manhattan. (That record was set just last month with a $59.06 million penthouse saleat the Getty condominium in West Chelsea.)
“Something this special and unique is going to sell,” said Ms. Beare, one of the listing brokers. “This is completely bespoke.”
The building at 419-421 Broome Street has four residences and an art gallery on the ground floor. It was built in 1873 and designed by the architect Griffith Thomas, whose work included the New York Life Insurance Building.
Over the last century, the building has been home to a number of occupants, among them, the New York City Board of Education, which took over the space in 1897; a covered wire manufacturer; a typewriter company; and a dust-removal company.
Mr. Ledger, the actor, had rented a 4,400-square-foot loft on the fourth floor, paying about $25,000 a month. It was in his bedroom there that he was found dead in January 2008 of an accidental drug overdose.