The Post has learned that one of the privately owned townhouses fronting New York City’s Washington Square Park has been listed for $29.95 million.
Known as the William Dare Morgan Residence at 26 Washington Square North, the Greek Revival-style townhouse was built in 1839.
Located on the north side of Washington Square Park at the bottom of Fifth Avenue, the property is what remains of a group of homes called “The Row” built in the 1830s for the village’s social elite.
It was first bought by a ship owner named William Dare Morgan, who was vice-president of the Produce Exchange; partner in Grinnell, Tinker & Morgan; a governor of the Knickerbocker Club; Founder of New York Hospital and graduate of Yale University.
Descendants of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Morgan and his wife, Angelica Livingston Hoyt, raised four children in the household.
Occupying five floors, not including the basement and terrace, the property spans 7,350 sq ft, with an additional 1,400 sq ft in the basement.
The house was originally built as a four-story house with a gated forecourt, ornate fences, an elevated stoop, a formal columned entrance portico, and paneled door with sidelights.
Morgan and his wife added a fifth floor in 1880, where their family lived for more than half a century.
Subsequent owners have included former silent film executive Richard West Saunders, noted attorney John Pinkerton East, painter Everett Shinn, and financier Charles V. Bobb.
Fully renovated in 2018, the property is configured as a five-floor luxury rental apartment, which the listing notes can be easily converted to a single-family residence.
The building, block, park, and surrounding neighborhood, rated as a “unique” 26-foot-wide landmark, are protected and protected as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District.
The homes were first anchored by the William C. Rhinelander mansion at the corner of Fifth Avenue—which had previously been considered “a speculative investment”, meant to convey an image of stature and privilege, and housed New York’s most successful entrepreneurs and public figures. Had to draw,” the listing explains.
Today, the homes are recognized as the most sought-after and luxurious series of Greek Revival homes in the country.
Washington Square Park was named after the first American president and recognized worldwide for its iconic Triumphal Arch designed by renowned Gilded Age architect Stanford White.
During the 1900s, the Washington Square Park area, which also serves as an anchor for New York University, was home to notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, and Ida Tarbell.
Torsten Krines and Fred Williams of Sotheby’s International Realty have the listing.