A Manhattan townhouse that was once home to celebrities including Bob Dylan, Mary Tyler Moore, and Mike Nichols recently went on the market for $7.25 million – in what might be only the fourth instance of the property’s deed changing hands in decades.
Dylan first lived in the Turtle Bay Gardens townhouse as a renter, in the 1980s, before acquiring the property under his manager’s name in the 1990s. The Nobel Prize winner owned the house for over a decade, before selling it to a property group in 2005.
“It was a time when Bob was being very private and the kids were young,” Michael Leshner, a neighborhood handyman, told Curbed. “He didn’t want anyone messing with his kids, and he lived a little bit like a hermit for a number of years. He wasn’t performing.”
Dylan has stepped back into the spotlight in recent years – he concluded his most recent tour on November 14, at the Royal Albert Hall, in London. The legendary folk musician is also the subject of the upcoming Timothee Chalamet film, “A Complete Unknown.”
Prior to Dylan purchasing the home, at 242 East 49th, it was a frequent rental for actors and others in the entertainment industry, particularly due to its close proximity to Broadway. Legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim lived just two doors down, in a house that sold for $7 million earlier this year. Turtle Bay Gardens is a historic neighborhood, with other former residents including Katharine Hepburn, E.B. White, and Mary-Kate Olsen.
Dylan’s former townhouse was first constructed in 1899, but has undergone several renovations, including the addition of an elevator. The five bedroom, six bathroom property is 5,395 square feet, according to a Zillow listing. The property’s features include a two-level patio, a library with floor-to-ceiling built-in bookcases, a sauna, and multiple fireplaces.
Click through to see pictures of Dylan’s former home at 242 East 49th Street, in Manhattan.
