Interior Designer Lists Julian Schnabel’s Gigantic Former Gramercy Park Loft

A suburban mansion-sized duplex loft in New York City’s tony Gramercy Park, with an A-list artist pedigree and an interior designer’s flair, is back on the market at a wee dab under $10 million after it was initially listed last summer at nearly $13 million.

The palatially proportioned 7,100-square-foot spread sprawls over two floors of Gramercy House, a handsome, pilaster accented early 20^th-century warehouse building converted in 1977, according to listings held by Sotheby’s Realty International agents Nikki Field and Mara Flash Blum, to a live-work lofts by influential artists Gordon Matta-Clark and Les Levine. John Currin has maintained a painting studio in the building since he bought a high-floor unit in 2009 for $1.75 million, and the three-unit combination loft on offer, which comprises a full floor and a half floor below, was once home and studio to Anselm Kiefer and, later, Julian Schnabel who sold up in 2009 for about $3.07 million to its current owner, Michelle Andrews, an interior decorator with a high-brow clientele of contemporary art collectors.

Converted from a painting studio to a three-bedroom and three-and-a-half-bath residence by the award-winning architecture firm Architecture Research Office, the vast space is plenty big enough to roller skate around in and sports preserved original narrow-strip wood floors, beamed ceilings that soar from 11.5 feet to more than 26 feet, and 32 gigantic oak-trimmed sash windows. Generous amounts of wall space are perfect for hanging large-scale artworks, and the free-flowing open-plan layout allows for numerous sitting and dining areas, including a cozy TV lounge defined by two floating walls that stop just short of the ceiling.

Closed off from the rest of the public living spaces, the eat-in kitchen is a high-end if somewhat compact affair with black-and-white checkerboard marble floor and backsplashes designed by Schnabel, while a mezzanine level library leads down to the lower level where there’s a casually appointed lounge and a spacious work studio complete with a conference room and wet bar.

There are two guest bedrooms, one upstairs and one down, plus a primary suite far larger than the entire apartments of most Manhattanites. A huge dressing room orbited by three walk-in closets connects the 28-foot-long bedroom to the art-filled bathroom that showcases a carved marble soaking tub and a separate shower.

Though Gramercy House has long been attractive to artists and the otherwise creatively inclined, the high-cost of buying in the boutique building means any future residents will need the income of a financier: A minimum of 35% down payment is required — that’s almost $3.5 million in the case of the old Schnabel loft, and common charges rack up to nearly $6,000 per month, according to marketing materials.