Famed ‘Jack Reacher’ author Lee Child splashes out $17M for a fabulous NYC townhouse
The plot thickens!
Lee Child — the famed British mystery/thriller author of the popular “Jack Reacher” novels and series — has just plunked down $17 million for an eco-chic townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Gimme Shelter has learned.
The seven-story, late-19th century, gut-renovated property on West 88th Street, coolest of all, comes with its own seasonal koi pond.
Child, real name Jim Grant, bought the townhouse despite the fact that he still has his Central Park West co-op on the market. Child first listed that 11th-floor spread at 257 Central Park West for an even $11 million last November. In March, he lowered the ask by $1 million to its current $10 million price.
Child has been on the Upper West Side for around a decade. He bought his current home — a four-bedroom, three-bath unit in the Orwell Building — for $9.1 million in 2014, according to property records.
In an interview with Gimme Shelter, Child said he loves the Upper West Side and so does his family — and that they didn’t want to leave.
“We love the neighborhood. It’s relaxed, civilized and filled with interesting people,” said Child, who added that he also enjoys all the Upper West Side restaurants that “are great but not fancy.”
Buying the townhouse before selling the co-op also gives the family “time to move in in a leisurely fashion,” he added.
The West 88th Street townhouse, designed by architects Thom & Wilson in 1889, is one of the first in the city to receive Platinum Certified LEED Home and Passive Energy Certification designations. The 8,000-square-foot, smart-wired residence comes with six bedrooms plus a gym, meditation and crafts rooms — and a high-speed elevator.
Baxt/Ingui Architects and Robert Taffera Inc., the builders, worked on the gut renovation, which includes solar paneling and smoke free “EcoSmart” fireplaces.
There’s also a large eat-in chef’s kitchen, a 500-bottle wine cellar, a top-floor penthouse with a gas fireplace on the terrace and an outdoor kitchen in the backyard. In addition, the home comes with its own generator, hospital grade filters, plasma ionizers, a humidification system and water filtration.
The listing brokers of the townhouse are Richard Pretsfelder, Thomas Wexler, Sophie Smadbeck and Morgan Garofalo, of Leslie J. Garfield.
Child’s other residence — the four bedroom Central Park West co-op — comes with more than 70 feet of Central Park frontage.
There, a large foyer opens to a spacious great room with large windows and hardwood floors. There’s also a chef’s kitchen, a pantry and a formal dining room with built-in shelving.
The main bedroom suite takes up its own wing — and features a sitting room, walk-in closets, an ensuite bath, plus stunning park and reservoir views. Of course, the home also boasts a library that could function as a fifth bedroom. Child even once shared some of his favorite books with The Post.
The Orwell House dates to 1906 and comes with a bike room, a package room, a garage — with a waitlist, the listing notes — and a new gym and a landscaped roof deck coming soon.
