A newspaper article reported that a bid was accepted for Langston Hughes' old Harlem home on 20 East 127th Street about a year ago but that deal appears to have fallen through. We had assumed the historic brownstone finally sold when the listing was pulled by Sotheby's site in early November 2012 but checking on records, it is now clear that no sale was at hand in the past year. The 20-foot-wide home just east of 5th Avenue had been on the market for the asking of $1 million but its SRO status and overall condition might have complicated things for interested buyers. Anyone with additional information on what happened?
1 mil for an historic 20 footer? If I had $ going spare I'd snap it up in a minute, SRO or not. It even has a coffin turning! I've not seen many up here.
ReplyDeleteThe owner passed away some years ago (maybe 5) and the person inheriting it (I think his son) was a troublesome young fellow and he only added to the legal problems already outstanding with the buildings dept. and other city agencies. He should have hired a real estate attorney to work out the details but he was a "know it all". So, I assume no-one wants to buy all of the pending problems and eventually the courts will decide who gets control of it and sells it to the highest bidder.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a paper on Langston for Anro-American Studies at Brown. His secretary was a professor at Brown for many years but passed-away a few years ago also.
I would have loved to buy the town-house. It should become a historic site. I tried to buy #31-33, across the street but the city couldn't even get a clear title.
Robert "Bob" M. "Mickey" Pollock, micpollock@aol.com, 212-862-7173