An Upper East Side home steeped in history — and where martinis are always shaken, never stirred — is back on the market for $9.5 million.
The seller is renowned plastic surgeon Mr. Paul Lorenc, whose parents were recognized by Israel’s Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for their role in rescuing 12 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.
The former owners of the six-story townhouse at 161 E. 74th St. include the late A&P heiress Josephine “Jo” Hartford Bryce – a pilot, pianist, linguist, legendary lady and horsewoman whose collection of husbands included a spy, a prince, a White Russian and a wealthy American.
In her youth, Jo was photographed by Cecil Beaton and painted by Salvador Dali.
Her fourth and last husband of 35 years was John Felix Charles Bryce, an Eton-educated British intelligence officer during the Second World War. Bryce was a close friend of James Bond master spy novelist Ian Fleming, who also worked as a British spy and officer in the intelligence department of the Royal Navy during World War II. In fact, Fleming created and named Bond’s fictional best friend Felix, according to reports.
The former two-family home—configured as a 20-foot-wide single-family residence—boasts a double-height ceiling and views of St. Conservatory and private rooftop gardens of Jean Baptiste Church.
The stylish brownstone also comes with seven bedrooms – and 1,200 square meters of outdoor space, including a garden, terrace and a roof deck.
Lorenc bought the mansion for about $1.6 million in 1995. It has been on and off the market since 2009, when it first asked $17 million.
Built around 1910, the property also boasts six original wood-burning fireplaces and a lift. There is also a glass atrium with an 18-foot-6-inch ceiling height.
The listing notes that a brewer built the house for his four children, and there are niches on each side of the main living room where a passageway between the houses once stood.
It is now an “architectural detail” used to display art and sculpture, the listing notes.
The listing broker is Victoria Vinokur of Brown Harris Stevens.
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