Townhouse Charm in the Heart of Greenwich Village
Celebrity residents at 112 Waverly Place have included the playwright Lorraine Hansberry and 1990s couple Johnny Depp and Kate Moss.
With a rich history that goes back to 1826, this Greenwich Village gem at 112 Waverly Place offers five levels of pure charm and a surprising amount of private outdoor space. The Federal-style townhouse was reimagined in the early 1900s with an elegant brick façade. By the numbers, this is a big place — 22 feet wide and 97 feet deep, with over 6,300 square feet of interior space and nearly 1,200 square feet of outside space.
The townhouse was home to playwright Lorraine Hansberry during the 1960s. Her most famous work, “A Raisin in the Sun,” was the first play written by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway, where it opened in March 1959. A revival of her last play, “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” is currently running on Broadway. Other celebrity residents have included supermodel Kate Moss and actor Johnny Depp in the 1990s, the painter Everett Shinn, and actors James Spader and Fisher Stevens.
The townhouse is now configured as four income-producing rentals, each with private outdoor space, exceptionally large windows, and wood-burning fireplaces. Other original details include hardwood floors, soaring ceilings, mahogany moldings, and lots of exposed brick. Under the floors and behind the walls, the building has been impeccably maintained, with new foundations, updated plumbing and electrical systems, and reinforced steel.
Let’s take a look at the individual units, from the ground up. The ground-floor garden-level duplex features an expansive living area with a fireplace, a lower-level bedroom that faces out to a private terrace, and two full bathrooms. The second-floor apartment boasts two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a living room. Upstairs, on the top two floors, the penthouse features a show-stopper of a rooftop deck with open and iconic city views, including the Empire State Building.
Oh, but wait — it gets even better. The crown jewel here is the triplex carriage house, with 1,800 square feet of interior space, two bedrooms, and its own private entrance, along with an outdoor terrace. Along with the exposed brick and the wood-burning fireplace, details include 17-foot beamed ceilings, a skylight, and a copper ceiling in the kitchen. The carriage house was once known as The Little Theatre, home to the Waverly Place Players in the early 1900s.
The tree-lined block that’s the essence of charming Old New York is low-key and incredibly convenient. It’s just half a block from Washington Square Park, with easy access to several subway lines as well as great restaurants and bars like Babbo, Claudette, Joseph Leonard, Loring Place, and Bar Pisellino.
As great as the individual apartments are now, just imagine what the townhouse would look and feel like as a truly grand and stately single-family home in the heart of the Village.