Author Norman Mailer was one of the many literary lions who called Brooklyn Heights home. For decades, he lived in a fourth-floor apartment on Columbia Heights, a six-block stretch near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, that was renovated over time to resemble a ship.
Now, the Wall Street Journal reports, that home is on the market for $2.4 million, with Patrick Lilly of Core. This is the second time that Mailer’s heirs (he died in 2007) have tried to sell the place; it was last listed in 2011, for around the same price, but “a contract of sale fell through when the buyers realized the atrium wasn’t up to code,” according to the WSJ.
In addition to getting that atrium up to code, Mailer’s son Michael, who previously lived in the apartment, made some other changes to the two-bedroom space. It was once outfitted like a ship-themed jungle gym, in order to help Mailer overcome his fear of heights; but the hammocks and gangplanks have since been removed, with the light-filled atrium now taking up the bulk of the space.
Some vintage details, including stained glass windows, remain. There are also “multiple” terraces that take advantage of the block’s proximity to the Brooklyn waterfront, and the sale also includes a one-bedroom apartment on the floor below.
“I love this place but it will always be my Dad’s place,” the younger Mailer told the WSJ. “I’ve enjoyed the vibrations of living there but it’s time to move on.”
The property has quite the history: Mailer reportedly wrote The Executioner’s Song, among other works, here; it also hosted parties with some of the author’s famed friends, though not the infamous event where Mailer stabbed his ex-wife, Adele Morales, with a pen knife. (That happened on the Upper West Side.)