A Frank Lloyd Wright Farmhouse Gets a Price Cut, James Gandolfini’s Former Home Is for Sale, and More Real Estate News

From Frank Lloyd Wright farmhouses to waterfront condos in Miami, there is always something new happening in the world of real estate. In this roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

On the Market

André Leon Talley’s White Plains sanctuary is for sale

The 10-room colonial where André Leon Talley spent the last two decades is on the market for $1.25 million. Before he died last year, the iconic fashion editor held court out of 75 Worthington Road in White Plains, New York. Completed in 1854, the four-bedroom house still retains its 19th-century charm, with beamed ceilings, multiple fireplaces, and quaint Dutch doors. In 2018, Talley described the house as “my sanctuary.” 

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He would often station himself on the porch, longtime friend Alexis E. Thomas told The New York Times, or in the study off the seldom-used kitchen. The room’s focal point—a couch that once belonged to Truman Capote—was auctioned off by Christie’s in February, along with a four-poster bed made for him by Oscar de la Renta and most of the rest of the house’s furnishings and artwork. 

The leopard-print carpeting he favored, though, remains on the stairs and second floor. “Leopard—he loved that print, so the stairwell and part of the second floor are covered in leopard carpeting,” Thomas, the trustee of his estate, told the Times. “He was attracted to that print, but I couldn’t tell you exactly why.”

Bonnie Stein of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

James Gandolfini’s West Village apartment building lists for $16.5 million

A landmark 1835 townhouse where late Sopranos star James Gandolfini lived is for sale for $16.495 million. Previously a four-story mansion owned by railroad magnate Jay Gould, the 25-foot-wide Greek Revival structure at 179 Sullivan Street was later divided into luxury apartments. Gandolfini rented the floor-through unit on the second floor in 2009, while starring in God of Carnage on Broadway. (Mischa Barton of O.C. fame also lived in the building at one point, the New York Post reported.)

There’s more than 9,000 square feet of living area across four floors, as well as an additional 2,300 square feet of private outdoor space, a garden-level medical office, and an unused rooftop that’s ripe for a transformation. The building still retains its original decorative fireplaces and other 19th-century flourishes, according to the listing shared by Jessica Bryant of Concrete Real Estate and Valerie Zingaro of Ardent Property Group. And, thanks to the structure’s cleverly designed floor plans, the new owner could convert the property in a duplex, triplex, or even back into a grand single-family manor.

Rare Frank Lloyd Wright farmhouse on the market—for less

Outside the sleepy town of Los Banos in California’s San Joaquin Valley is one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s final residential commissions—and the only house he designed on a working farm. The Fawcett Farm was listed last summer for $4.25 million, but now it can be yours for just $3.825 million.

Randall “Buck” Fawcett became aware of Wright while studying architecture at Stanford University. After World War II, Fawcett moved back to his family farm in Los Banos to help his ailing father. By the time he approached the architect in 1955, Fawcett was married and had four young children. 

He and his wife wanted to embody “the agrarian ideal of the independent farmer living on his land in harmony with nature,” Kathryn Smith, an architectural scholar, wrote in an essay for Crosby Doe Associates. Wright shared that ideal, having grown up in a farming family himself.

The architect delivered a seven-bedroom, six-bathroom design in his iconic Usonian style, blending an efficient use of space with a strong connection to the surroundings—in this case, 76 acres of fertile farmland. (Though Wright died in 1959, architects from Taliesin completed the project in 1961.) The house’s layout is K-shaped, with two wings fanning out from the mahogany-clad living room, which has a huge fireplace and built-in seating. The interior is mostly unfettered open space, with no 90-degree angles.

“Wright had come to believe that right angles were a hard stop, and space flowed more smoothly and generously using obtuse and acute angles,” Smith wrote.

Outside, an entrance gate opens onto landscaped palm gardens and a koi pond. There’s also a swimming pool and a standalone workshop. 

After Fawcett died in 2006, the house was sold to only its second owners. A yearlong restoration in 2019 was overseen by Wright apprentice Arthur Dyson with consultation from Frank’s grandson, Eric Lloyd Wright. There were some obstacles: The concrete block walls, originally sandy beige, had been painted pink by Fawcett’s second wife. “We found a few spots behind cabinets with that [original] paint,” Dyson was quoted as saying, “and after extensive research and countless color samples, we found the right match.” 

An Otto Kolb gem ripe for the picking in Princeton, New Jersey

Alongside Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Charles Eames, Swiss-born architect Otto Kolb was a pioneer of the American New Bauhaus movement. Kolb-designed residences are something of a rarity, but one has just gone on the market: a five-bedroom midcentury-modern abode on the outskirts of Princeton listed for $1.195 million. 

Completed in 1959, this single-story house with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and two courtyards blends seamlessly with its sylvan environs. Designed for Rutgers professor Morris Solotrovsky, the home expresses Kolb’s innovative nature, with recycled brick, a floating fireplace, and distinctive checkerboard flooring.

The Princeton area is home to some of the best-known examples of Bauhaus design in the US, according to Kolb’s daughter, architect Michele Kolb. “Princeton became a hub for academics and intellectuals who also emigrated to the United States after the war,” she wrote in Princeton Magazine. “Their taste in design and desire to embrace new technology were their links to émigré Bauhaus architects.”

Model Residence

FrenchCalifornia delivers subtle sophistication in Tribeca

Guillaume Coutheillas, the Parisian multihyphenate behind FrenchCalifornia, has unveiled his design for a four-bedroom model residence at 450 Washington in Tribeca. For Residence 909, the designer has devised a multisensory interior, with textured wall treatments that beg to be touched and a relaxing soundscape courtesy of Apple’s HomePod mini speakers. The designer also incorporated Philips Hue lighting, including the brand’s gradient Signe floor lamp, which bathes the walls in changing colors to elicit different moods throughout the day.

All of the paints in the unit are from Color Atelier’s Memories En Couleur line, created in collaboration with FrenchCalifornia to mimic surfaces found in the natural world. Furnishings lean toward natural materials like oak and walnut, and include vintage pieces from Coutheillas’s own collection. 

Related developed 450 Washington from a former rental on the waterfront between Watts and Desbrosses streets. Roger Ferris + Partners transformed the full-block property from top to bottom, with complete interior remodeling of the 176 residences and an exterior refinished in a cream-colored limestone plaster. Beyond the gated entranceway is an 8,000-square-foot garden courtyard by AD PRO Directory listee Hollander Design.

Residences range from studios to four-bedroom layouts, with prices running from $1 million to $10 million.

Announcements

Bugatti brands its first residential skyscraper

Porsche, Aston Martin, and Bentley all have branded residences in Miami, but Bugatti is going a little further afield for its debut property: Dubai’s bustling Business Bay, which will be home to Bugatti Residences.

A release described the curvy tower as “a meticulously designed structure featuring a distinctive facade complemented by intricately designed interiors,” and promises the property will “[bring] the breeze and feel of the French Riviera into this private oasis.”

Each level of the 42-story building will be wrapped in balconies offering enviable views of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai skyline. There will be 171 two- and three-bedroom apartments—described as Riviera Mansions in the announcement—all with bespoke layouts. 

In addition, residents of 11 penthouses, or Sky Mansions, will be able to drive up to their sky-high doorstep, thanks to a pair of garage-to-penthouse car elevators. Other over-the-top amenities at the development, a partnership with Emirati developer Binghatti, include a “Riviera-insipred” artificial beach, an oceanic infinity pool, and an auto lounge that CEO Muhammad Binghatti describes as “a VIP spa for your car.”

Sales have reportedly commenced but pricing and an opening date have yet to be announced.

SB Development announces Cove Miami in Edgewater 

New York City–based SB Development has just launched sales on its first Miami project: Cove Miami, designed by Kobi Karp and Dieguez Fridman. Rising 40 stories above the Biscayne Bay waterfront in Edgewater, the property will feature 116 two- to four-bedroom residences, with prices starting at $1.3 million. In addition to the expected luxury amenities, owners will have access to a floating dock and waterfront restaurant, and direct access to the Biscayne Bay boardwalk. 

“We aim to build a sanctuary that not only attracts our buyers but also enhances the allure of this lively and highly desirable location, ultimately contributing to the area’s transformation into a hub of luxury living,” says Joseph Stern, SB Development’s cofounder. The firm, which partnered with Hazelton Capital Group on Cove, is slated to develop a billion dollars’ worth of projects in South Florida over the next five years.

Hotel Wales checks out of the Upper East Side

In New York City, construction has wrapped on The Wales, a 10-story luxury condominium breathing new life into Carnegie Hill—a structure that dates back to 1899. The building’s 87 hotel rooms have been converted into just 21 two- to four-bedroom residences with interiors reimagined by Parisian design studio Pinto. 

Topping the tower is a newly constructed penthouse listed for $23 million: a five-bedroom, 4,179-square-foot paradise with a wraparound terrace and a roof deck with kitchen, wet bar, and service pantry. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission gave developer Adellco permission to build the penthouse, but it had to be in keeping with the original Renaissance Revival design. Even the detailed cornice, which had been taken down 80 years ago, was carefully reproduced. 

Historic preservation consultants Higgins Quasebarth & Partners advised on the project. “We didn’t want to make a big design statement, but also not create a copy of what was already there,” Bill Higgins, a principal at the firm, told Forbes. “This is a simplified version.”

Elsewhere at the condo, two-, three-, and four-bedroom residences priced from $3.85 million feature herringbone oak floors, white-lacquer kitchen cabinets, and bathrooms in Bianco Carrara and Grigio Nicole marble. 

News

Bruce Goff birthday celebration

This weekend, Tulsa, Oklahoma, celebrates the birthday of celebrated architect Bruce Goff, a native son and protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright. Goff designed more than 50 buildings in his home state—24 in Tulsa alone, including the Tulsa Club Building and the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.

Running through June 11, the Bruce Goff birthday weekend includes tours of Goff-designed homes, as well as public art displays, the unveiling of a new mural, and a party at the Spotlight Theatre, which Goff completed in 1928. The four-day celebration also features a tour of Bartlesville’s Price Tower, the only skyscraper Wright ever designed, where Goff kept an office for nearly 20 years.