Upper East Side’s ‘Versailles in Manhattan’ townhouse gets another price cut

Guess who's back, back again

If at first you don't succeed, try, try … and try … and try … and—well, you get the idea. That seems to be the motto for commercial broker Kenneth Laub, who's been trying to sell his Neo-Georgian townhouse at 163 East 64th Street for nigh on a decade now, though a buyer has yet to make an offer on the over-the-top property.

As of today, the house is back with its ninth brokerage—Matthew Lesser of Leslie J. Garfield is the agent on the property—and with a very modest price cut from the last time it appeared on the market. That was in February, when the flamboyant spread was going for $25 million; now, it's asking a mere $23.9 million.

That's quite a change from 2008, when Laub listed the home for a whopping $35 million, and from when he told the Observer that "If someone feels that the house is worth what I think it is worth, then they'll buy it. And if not, then they won't. And it's not the end of the world one way or another."

Clearly, Laub has changed his tune since then. But his palatial townhouse was already on the market for the same price back in 2015, so it remains to be seen if anyone will bite this time around.

"Yes, the house has been on and off the market for longer than most," Lesser notes. "But behind the stately facade is 7,000 square feet of dramatic rooms and unique outdoor spaces. Someone will see this beauty and move forward with a purchase."

Little has changed about the home itself; it still has five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, eight fireplaces, a temperature-controlled wine cellar, a gym, a roof deck, the home's original 19th-century library, lots of gilded details, and a formal living room "with 10 canvas panels inspired by the Fragonard Room of the Frick Collection."

The floorplan also remains the same, though new listings photos are much nicer than the ones we've seen previously.

• Listing: 163 East 64th Street [Leslie J. Garfield]
• Upper East Side 'Versailles In Manhattan' returns with $25M price tag [Curbed]