Why the ‘Versailles in Manhattan’ townhouse has been on the market for 21 years

For 21 years, the grand townhouse at 163 E. 64th St. has been on and off the market, bouncing among nearly every brokerage in town.

The property first listed in 2003, and at its peak asked $35 million. The four-story house — sometimes called “ Versailles in Manhattan ,” with ornate, belle epoque- and Louis XIV-style interiors — is again for sale , now asking a much lower $15.99 million. (Should they suit a potential buyer, the home’s fixtures and furnishings are negotiable, and could come with the sale.)

The residence appears to hold a record for the New York City townhouse that has spent the longest stretch of time being tossed on and off the market — most likely because the house has never not been overpriced, real-estate insiders say. They also suggest that the seller — retired commercial real-estate broker Kenneth D. Laub — doesn’t really want to sell it.

For a property that has languished on the market for so long, “you wonder what’s wrong, and the first thing you look at is the price,” said one industry insider. “The pricing has always been above the current value. Listings are like milk. They don’t get better with age.”

In the past, Laub wasn’t particularly interested in selling, “but I am a serious seller now,” he told The Post, in a message conveyed by the current listing agent, John Antretter of The Agency. “This is a large house. It’s an even larger house when you are 85 years old than when you were 55. So it’s time to slim down.”

Laub bought the residence in 1986 for $4 million, or $11.48 million when adjusted for inflation. As time marches on, “life decisions change,” Antretter said. “It comes down to downsizing at this stage of life.”

Antretter has rebranded the property as “Symphony House,” in honor of Laub’s love of music. “I’ve hosted many concerts and musical evenings with friends,” Laub added.

“We hosted Liza Minnelli’s engagement party. The list of performances is extensive. The whole second floor is professionally wired for sound and recording. Music has played a major role in my life and in the creation and use of my home. If you are interested, you can listen to [my] music on YouTube and enjoy some of my music about New York City.”

Now, the pressure to sell is mounting.

After a seven-year slog in court, with several lenders suing Laub for allegedly failing to pay, the house is in foreclosure. Last month, a New York court ordered that the house be auctioned off within 180 days.

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According to court papers filed by a creditor in a different litigation, last year Laub based a valuation of $18 million on “the opinions of three realtors,” an approach known in the field as BOV, or “broker opinion of value.” But an appraisal report prepared for the creditor’s law firm gave a lower value, $14.1 million. Monthly taxes are something under $11,000.

Several potential sales have fallen through over the past few years, according to Y. David Scharf, Laub’s lawyer. “Some have been because of non-cooperation of the lenders,” Scharf told The Post.

Before the pandemic, “there was a firm offer for about $17.5 million,” but it required the cooperation of two mortgage lenders, one of which was “wildly difficult,” Scharf said. “We couldn’t get all the parties together quickly enough and lost an excellent sale.”

Pandemic issues “drastically curtailed Mr. Laub’s extensive efforts to sell his property,” with the elimination of in-person showings and “the travel ban against European visitors who make up the largest pool of potential purchasers,” according to court papers filed by another of Laub’s lawyers.

In the spring, a marketing report by Nest Seekers International, filed by one of Laub’s lawyers in a different litigation, said the house had been brightened by more than $50,000 in improvements that included fresh landscaping, paint and mechanical repairs. At that point, Nest Seekers held the listing, asking $15.99 million.

Without such action, the property “otherwise may fall into a dilapidated and despaired condition and as a result depreciate significantly,” the marketing report said. “Everyone involved should be grateful and optimistic.”

Additionally, Nest Seekers spent no less than that sum, $50,000, on marketing and events.

The marketing report mentions two potential buyers, one being “a resident of the neighborhood of a prominent ultra-high net worth New York family” who is “likely our end user buyer. We are proceeding eloquently and patiently, but with requisite alacrity given the nature of the proceedings … We have never been more confident in our activities and state of the market and strongly believe we are headed to a deal with one of the current prospects over the next months. The property is priced exactly where it should be, and the worst of market conditions have bottomed out and are now behind us.”

Neither optimism nor confidence, however, translated into a sale. This month, according to an update on StreetEasy, the listing went to The Agency.

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In the first half of 2024, the Upper East Side — where Laub’s dwelling stands — saw 26 townhouse transactions, according to a report by Leslie Garfield, a brokerage specializing in townhouses.

Townhouses represent just 2% of annual home sales in Manhattan.

“Think of the townhouse market as a subset of luxury, at the top tier of the market,” said Jonathan Miller, president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

The townhouse, in all its neo-Georgian glory, is 20 feet wide.

“The average townhouse is 18 feet wide, so 20 is wider than normal,” though still not uncommon, Miller said. The greater the width, the more flexible the floor plan. “I remember being in the house,” he added. “I remember it being beautiful.”

Laub’s house — with its current $15.99 million ask — is listed as having 8,000 square feet. Some insiders call the figure misleading, however, since that includes the basement space. City records say the “gross living area” is 6,716 square feet.

Though the appraisal report characterizes the house’s Lenox Hill neighborhood near Lexington Avenue as “one of style and affluence,” it says that a location closer to Central Park would be “superior.”

That’s ridiculous, Miller says: “It’s a beautiful block.”

The backyard is small, but so are many townhouse backyards. “It’s almost better to have a roof terrace, to have more light,” Miller said.

Zoning allows the addition of a floor on top.

“But you have to build it, and roof rights don’t have the same value as finished indoor space,” Miller said.

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The elevator is a real plus. Last year, just 10% of East Side townhouses sold had one. The lift in this home, originally installed in 1923, was redone inside by Laub’s designer, Ronald Bricke.

“The elevator is well-done and well-located,” said one real-estate insider. “For a lot of buyers, an elevator is a make-or-break amenity because it is hard to carve out a space for an elevator without really breaking up the floor plan.”

The house even has radiant heat beneath the sidewalk — no shoveling necessary.

“Properties like this are unique,” Scharf said. “They have individual features and it is difficult to compare. Like all unique properties, it is subject to many vagaries. All it takes is one person who really wants it to pay $18 million, and all you need are two people to have it suddenly be a $19-million or $20-million sale.”

Now, as the house hits the market yet again, will it actually sell?

The museum-like interior, Antretter acknowledged, is not for everybody. “But the bones are excellent,” he said. “If the wallpaper isn’t to your style, you can bring your designer and do an update. If you go to the guest suites, you will feel like you are in Claridge’s.”

“If somebody doesn’t have an appreciation for a 19th century chandelier, we can exclude certain fixtures,” he said. That 19th century chandelier, made of bronze, is adorned with sea nymphs.

Laub currently lives in the house with his housekeeper, Winnie.

“I owned a yacht in the South of France called Exocet,” he told The Post. “My chef, Franck, and first mate, Andre, used to work at the house full time when we were not at sea. Then, when they were ready to move on, they found me my majordomo, Winnie, whom I’ve had for the last 18 years.”

Should Laub actually move, he says, he won’t stray far at all.

“I’m a true blue New Yorker and have lived in Manhattan since college,” he said. “That’s 63 years. New York, to me, is the cultural center of the world. I’m no snowbird. I will remain in the neighborhood and probably just rent a three-bedroom apartment.”

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