This $7.5 Million Manhattan Penthouse Combines Pre-War Proportions With Minimalist Flair

London Terrace, one of New York’s most iconic apartment complexes, takes up an entire city block in the Chelsea neighborhood with 14 adjoining buildings and almost 1,700 apartments. The full-block complex was completed in the early 1930s as a rental building and is anchored by a quartet of identical towers at its four corners, which were spun off from the original complex in the 1980s and converted to cooperative apartments. The four monumental red-brick and limestone towers comprise approximately 700 co-op units in total, ranging from pint-sized efficiency studios to sprawling penthouses and combination units, such as one stylishly updated and generously terraced duplex in the building that stands at the corner of West 23rd Street and 9^th Avenue that’s just been listed for $7.5 million.

A combination of two apartments, one on the 16^th floor and the other on the 17^th floor, the three-bedroom and three-and-a-half-bath home is flooded with light thanks to its high perch and three exposures—to the north, south and west. The main floor, the upper level, spills out to a landscaped terrace that wraps around three sides of the apartment with open views of the city skyline. Jonathan Hettinger of Sotheby’s International Realty-Downtown Manhattan Brokerage holds the listing.

More from Robb Report

• Red Hot Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis's Former Beverly Hills Home Lists for $11.25 Million

• A Bonkers L.A. Mansion With a Kobe Bryant-Themed Basketball Court Is Up for Rent at $250,000 a Month

• This $4 Million Midcentury Modern Time Capsule in Dallas Was Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright

RELATED: This Technicolor Condo in Lower Manhattan Comes With a Private Elevator—for Your Car

Updated with honey-toned chevron-patterned wood floors and clean-lined built-ins, the home retains its elegant prewar proportions and high, beamed ceilings. An entrance hall as long and narrow as a bowling lane opens to a spacious great room that stretches more than 35 feet long with a gleaming black marble fireplace in the living room. Steel-trimmed windows and doors on three sides connect the room to the terrace.

Evoking the work of artist Richard Serra, a jet-black abstract sculptural form forged of steel sits between the living and dining areas. It houses a staircase that makes a tight curl down to the lower level. And, rendered entirely in black but for the wood floor, the adjoining kitchen makes an equally bold and minimalist sculptural statement even as it is equipped with all the culinary bells and whistles an amateur or professional chef might need.

Out on the terrace, a high wall draped in greenery provides privacy from neighboring apartments. A pergola shades an al fresco dining spot; a long, slender section on the north side looks down into the complex’s vast internal courtyard; and the sun-drenched southern leg offers a glimmering glimpse of the Hudson River.

RELATED: This Sprawling 4-Story N.Y.C. Penthouse Has More Space Than Your Country Home

There are two north-facing bedrooms on the upper floor, both with marble bathrooms and terrace access; one of them has half a dozen closets and a luxe bathroom that make it suitable for use as a primary suite. Downstairs, however, is the designated main bedroom, comprising a south-facing en suite bedroom with a gleaming marble bath, a walk-in closet and a separate home office/dressing room.

Residents of London Terrace, who have included Debbie Harry, Chelsea Clinton, Annie Leibovitz and several Saturday Night Live cast members, are catered to with a round-the-clock staffed lobby, concierge and porter services, an on-site parking garage, bicycle storage rooms, a landscaped roof terrace (currently closed for compliance law updates), an on-site health club, and probably the complex’s most prized amenity, a heated indoor swimming pool with locker rooms and steam showers.

Click here for more photos of 405 West 23^rd Street, #17D.

Best of Robb Report

• The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way)

• In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties

Sign up for RobbReports's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.