Chance To Live At Paul Robeson Residence In New York City

Paul Robeson was one of the first African-
American entertainers to live in the
apartment building on Edgecombe Avenue.

If you're hunting for a new spacious apartment in New York City, look no further than the National Historic Landmark building at 555 Edgecombe Avenue in Washington Heights. Former tenants include some of music's most famous African-American performers like Paul Robeson (for whom the building is now named) and Count Basie. The "ginormous" apartment has two bedrooms in addition to a full-size dining room measuring 13.5' by 10.5'! Apartment #6 is listed for $2,600. Call your broker and check out the listing here. "The Paul Robeson Residence, also known by its street address of 555 Edgecombe Avenue, is a National Historic Landmarked apartment building, located at 555 Edgecombe Avenue at the corner of West 160th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was originally known as the Roger Morris when it was built in 1914-16 – after the retired British Army officer who built the nearby Morris-Jumel Mansion – and was designed by Schwartz & Gross, who specialized in apartment buildings. For the first 25 years of its existence, the building was restricted to white

Count Basie was another star in the
Washington Heights building.

tenants. Around 1940, as the racial characteristics of the neighborhood changed, this policy was dropped. Subsequently, the building became known for the noted African-American residents, including musician and composer Count Basie, boxer Joe Louis, musician and bandleader Andy Kirk, actor and producer Canada Lee, the psychologist Kenneth Clark, and the actor and singer Paul Robeson, who lived in the building from 1939 to 1941. After Robeson's death in 1976, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark in his honor. In 1993, it was designated a New York City landmark. Edgecombe Avenue has also been co-named Paul Robeson Boulevard." [Source] See photos rooms in the apartment up for rent, after the jump.

Lauren Flanigan Will Lease $3.6 Million Harlem Mansion For Music

Headmistress: Soprano Lauren Flanigan

"It's a throwback to a time when Harlem was still a rural village and not yet legally part of the city. An old clapboard house, widely considered to be the oldest single-family home still occupied in Harlem, has been sold for $3.6 million to a new owner who plans to turn it into a home and practice facility for struggling young musicians, the Daily News has learned. The famed wooden property, at 17 E. 128th St., dates back to 1864 and is one of the few surviving frame houses in the neighborhood. It was landmarked by the city in 1982. The new owner, San Francisco-based e-commerce executive Jack Stephenson, told the Daily News that he plans to lease the property to his friend, famed opera singer Lauren Flanagan [sic]. Flanagan will turn the house into a new location for Music & Mentoring House, a not-for-profit organization providing upscale affordable housing and mentoring to students studying in the arts.'She takes music students in a gives them room and board, feeds them, makes their beds and

The new Harlem location for Music & Mentoring House
 is in the center with the green stairs.

gives them instruction in music,' Stephenson said. 'There are boot camps and classes on how to get by in the business and she invites many famous friends like Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the musical Wicked to come talk to them.'....The stunning French Second Empire-style home has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, six working marble fireplaces and a country kitchen that leads outside into a garden. The house has remained the same, even as the neighborhood has grown and evolved around it and still has its original veranda, a pair of doudle-leaf Itlaianate doors, wood-framed windows and a sloping mansard roof." [Source] For an in-depth study of the past property owners, including Carol Adams who was once a famous member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, click here. More photos of the house can be found after the jump.

Buy Kiri Te Kanawa Former Twin Ponds Lane Home For $2.2 Million

Gate Not Included: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira
 in Joseph Losey's film of Mozart's Don Giovanni

"Soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has performed in the world's best known opera houses, and she called an Oyster Bay Cove Colonial home in the 1980s, when performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The house with six bedrooms, five bathrooms and a half bath is now on the market for $2.2 million. Seller Judith Tytel, who bought the house from the New Zealand opera singer more than 25 years ago, says she remembers viewing it during an open house and seeing opera posters in the kids' rooms. 'She bought the house when she came to sing for long periods of time for the Met and in the United States in general,' Tytel says."...."A rare and gracious 3 story Colonial set on almost 4 acres in a quiet cul-de-sac. Once owned by the soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. This magnificent home boasts formal rooms filled with many original details, including 6 fireplaces, french doors, and wide plank floors. Other features include bluestone patio & pool. New roof, windows, and doors." [Source, Source] See a photo of the home, after the jump.

When Rosa Ponselle Was A Wedding Singer At Paterno Castle

Society Gal: Rosa Ponselle had friends in high places

"Rosa was rethinking her own life. Early in 1936 she ended her relationship with Russo because they argued, because he did not repay the $13,000 or more than she had lent him, and because Carmela and their father distrusted him. When the Metropolitan Opera tour took her to Baltimore in Carmen that spring, she met Carle A. Jackson, the mayor's son. Their romance, covered in articles in the Baltimore papers that survive in the clipping files of the public libraries in Baltimore and New York, quite naturally attracted the attention of the press. 'Opera star' meets 'prominent socialite' at 'Bori's farewell performance at the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore,' as the papers described it. But they tell only part of the story, for Jackson was the headstrong thirty-year old divorced father of a child, while Ponselle, who had turned thirty-nine the previous January, was facing personal and career challenges that were no less daunting than those of her earliest years at the Metropolitan. Whatever else it was, this was not 'love's young dream' but rather the free association of sophisticated adults. According to all accounts the two fell in love almost on sight and, after a courtship that lasted through that summer, were married on December 13, 1936,

Rosa Ponselle with sister Carmela (left)

in Ponselle's penthouse at 90 Riverside Drive. The man who officiated was New York State Supreme Court Justice Salvatore A. Cotillo, who knew both Rosa and Carmela well, for in November 1934 they had sung at the wedding of his daughter Helen to Carlo Paterno, another of the Ponselle sisters' circle. That ceremony, at 'The Castle,' the Cotillo mansion overlooking the Hudson River in Westchester County, had been amply covered by reporters. Now they were back in force for Ponselle's wedding. She wore 'a gray crushed velvet gown with a cowl and carried a muff of lavender orchids' because lavender was 'her favorite color,' she said. The soprano was giving away by 'her father, Benjamin Ponzillo of Meriden, Connecticut.' Carmela was the maid of honor, while Riall Jackson, the groom's brother, served as best man. The Metropolitan Opera tenor Richard Crooks sang 'Oh, Promsie Me.'" [Source] See more glamorous and rare photos of Rosa Ponselle, as well as some audio samples from 1934, after the jump. 

The castle of real-estate developer Charles V. Paterno, where the wedding was held in 1934,
with the George Washington Bridge in the background.

Pavarotti Slept Here: Purchase Luciano's New York Luxury Apartment

The late tenor seen here in 1996 leaving Hampshire House

"A spacious two-bedroom co-op at the Hampshire House that captivated the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti some 30 years ago with its treehouse vistas of the entirety of Central Park is poised to enter the market at $13.7 million. The monthly maintenance fees for the 2,000-square-foot apartment, No. 2301, at 150 Central Park South between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, are $4,785. Considering that the white-brick, white-glove Hampshire House, which opened in 1937 with eye-popping interiors by the iconic Dorothy Draper, has scores of staff members looking after the needs of its residents, the monthly charge seems comparatively equitable. The 37-story apartment building, with its distinctive copper roof and twin chimneys, converted to a co-op in 1949; although its board does not frown on international buyers in search of choice pieds-à-terre, it does insist on a cash-only policy.....Mr. Pavarotti, who died at age 71 in 2007 at his main residence near Modena in northern Italy, considered the Hampshire House the favorite

A Room with a View: Pavarotti's singing spot when learning a role in NYC.

of his several pieds-à-terre, according to Ms. Mantovani, who lives in Italy, where she established a foundation after his death. The Luciano Pavarotti Foundation supports aspiring singers and musicians; the Modena residence has already been donated to the foundation, as will a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the New York apartment. (Two smaller units at the Hampshire House that Mr. Pavarotti had used to house his staff and his bodyguard have already been sold.) In an email, Ms.

Palatial Panoramic: A Central Park view fit for the king of the high C's

Mantovani, who married the singer in 2003, said he told her he had first been drawn to the apartment by its views, roomy layout and the fact that it was within walking distance — and eyesight — of the Met. “His favorite room was the living room with its big piano where he could rehearse and get inspired by the magnificent views of Manhattan,” she said. “He adored New York City, which he thought of as a beautiful woman.” [Source] To contact the real estate agent for purchase, click here. Serious inquiries only. More photos and the apartment floor plan are after the jump.

Nedda Casei Ready To Leave Sutton Place Home For $5.5 Million

"This seven-room apartment on the top floor of 16 Sutton Place is a little jarring at first glance, but begins to make sense, somehow, once you consider that it belongs to famous mezzo-soprano Nedda Casei. The 17th-floor co-op is pretty much the definition of customized, with wood plank ceilings, pink walls, working gas fireplace, and 18th century furniture, as well as two lush,

planted terraces with full irrigation systems, garden lights, and fountains. The whole place, of course, is soundproofed and wired with a stereo system throughout, with controls in every room. It's asking $5.5 million." [Source] "This is an extraordinary unique sun filled classic 7 with set back terraces that have spectacular views of the city and east river, both day and night. From the moment you step out of the elevator onto your semiprivate landing you will escape into a special world. This dramatic home was designed in a timeless European style by a former star of the Metropolitan Opera. The gardens, stained glass windows, wood paneling and built-ins, represent a warm, gracious, and elegant bygone era. There are closets galore and a formal library has been made out of one of the bedrooms. The eat-in kitchen has a huge walk-in pantry, sub-zero refrigerator, and professional Thermador stove vented to the outside with barbecue." View the complete listing on the Halstead Property by clicking here.

Baltimore-born Nedda Casei made her 1964 Metropolitan Opera debut as Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto alongside Roberta Peters (Gilda) and Carlo Bergonzi (Duke of Mantua), under the baton of conductor Nello Santi. She went on to sing 284 performances with the company in such roles as Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Bersi (Andrea Chénier), Third Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Dangeville (Adriana Lecouvreur), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Preziosilla (La Forza del Destino), Leonora (La Favorita), Zulma (L'Italiana in Algeri), Flora (La Traviata) and the title role of Carmen. Her last performance with the MET was 1984 as Larina in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. More biographical information about the mezzo-soprano after the jump.

Opera Manager Andrea Anson Opens The Doors To His Townhouse

"A New York townhouse filled with family heirlooms and antique treasures. In his 1830s Manhattan home, music-world consultant Andrea Anson lives amid colorful rooms layered with African artifacts, European accents, and fond memories. Most people prefer clarity over confusion: crisp thoughts, unequivocal conversations, and perfectly precise rooms where just enough is quite enough. Manhattanite Andrea Anson is not one of those people. Stepping inside the transitional Federal/Greek Revival townhouse of this classical-music power broker—he is a consultant to Columbia Artists Management, where he has guided the careers of superstars such as Deborah Voigt and Angela Gheorghiu—is like walking into another place and time. The front door closes, muffling the touristy clamor of SoHo just outside, and a virtual English country house suddenly comes into view. Gilt-framed portraits and landscapes punctuate the colorful walls, portly delft vessels march across the top of a doorway, and every floor is spread with a Turkish carpet or two. 'Believe it or not, this place started out very clean and spartan,' Anson says. Some 30 years ago, though, his mother and father—a widowed Italian duchess and a British Army officer who crashed into each other on a ski slope during World War II and fell in love—gave up their enormous apartment in Rome, along with the king’s ransom of antiques and art it contained. Anson flew over to see what he could take back to the U.S. Accompanying him was his partner, Gordon McCollum, a commercial real-estate executive with an encyclopedic knowledge of New York City architecture. (McCollum died in 2000.)....Decorative exuberance wasn’t McCollum’s

plan in 1970, when he acquired the then-derelict property. One of the city’s grand merchant’s houses, the 1834 structure had been ill-served by the passage of time. At some point it had been divided into apartments, and in the 1920s a speakeasy took over the parlor floor. (Repairs to the basement boiler uncovered evidence of a secret corridor through which tipsy flappers fled during police raids.) A fire escape had been added to the redbrick façade, and the home’s stone mantels had vanished. Enough charm remained, though, to entice McCollum to purchase the building, for about $17,000, settle into one of the cramped flats, and begin a restoration that expanded into the other spaces as tenants gradually departed. McCollum retrieved period architectural details from demolition sites in New York and transplanted an 1830s staircase from a condemned house in Connecticut. Off came the fire escape, and beige and white paints were brushed onto the plaster walls—a neutral background for a few sinewy American Colonial antiques. Then, in 1978, along came Anson. The couple’s meeting was as much a thunderbolt as the ski-slope collision that brought together Anson’s parents. As he recounts, 'A friend invited me to a dinner party here, and when Gordon opened the door, I was done for.' The alliance changed not only their lives but also their surroundings, as the pared-down decor swiftly evolved into an Anglophilic layer cake of styles and eras. As Anson explains, 'Gordon allowed himself to become much more playful after we met.'" [Source] More photos of the interior after the jump.

1890 North Dakota Opera House On Sale For $1.2 Million

"The historic Metropolitan Opera House in downtown Grand Forks might soon have a new owner. The Grand Forks Herald reports that building owner Oriental Avenue LLP is negotiating a sale to Rhombus House of Pizza, the company behind Rhombus Guys pizzerias in Grand Forks, Fargo, and Mentor, Minn. It's not known why the company is interested in the building. The opera house was built in 1890 and is on the National Register of Historic places. It was severely damaged in the 1997 Red River flood and under threat of being demolished before Oriental Avenue bought it and completed renovations. It has 21 apartments on its upper two levels but the 5,000-square-foot first floor has remained vacant. County records show that the building and lot are valued at $1.2 million." [Source] Read more about the history of the opera house here and some information about the current opera lofts here.

Perry Street Was Flourishing Romantic Mecca For Love & Art

Far and Away: Harold Eliot Leeds and
Wheaton Galentine NOT on Perry Street.
(Photo: Harold Leeds Estate)

"The house where Carrie Bradshaw lived, supposedly on the Upper East Side but actually at 66 Perry Street in the West Village, still draws a steady stream of Sex and the City fans. They snap photos of the row house, which was built in 1866, as if to partake in the fictional life of a New York writer and the foibles of her quest for lasting romance. But a real New York romance played out at the house next door, No. 64, whose plainer facade served as Carrie’s building for the first three seasons of the show, said Tim Gunn, the fashion executive who lived in an apartment there for 16 years. It lasted almost six decades, linking two men from their first meeting at the Rockefeller Center skating rink during World War II until one of them, Harold Eliot Leeds, an architect and professor of interior design at

Sirens of Perry Street: Carrie Bradshaw on left (played by
Sarah Jessica Parker) and Tim Gunn on right.

Pratt, died in 2002. Inasmuch as Sex and the City opened a window on a certain kind of life in New York, so too does that town house, now on the market for $8.5 million, with its connection to a Village that persists only in memory and imagination, a place that was a magnet and haven for people living outside the mainstream at a time when the idea of two men, or women, marrying was inconceivable....Mr. Leeds, who designed the Paris Theater, the Caribe Hilton in San Juan and Martha Graham’s dance studio, and Mr. Galentine, who made documentary films, many focused on architecture, turned their visual sensibilities toward the house, restoring its architectural features but adding distinctive modernist furnishings. Over the years, Mr. Leeds, who is remembered as a big man with a big,

The most famous exterior on
Perry Street today: Number 66 .

broad personality, taught interior design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he helped establish the graduate school of interior design. Mr. Galentine was quieter, but possessed what the couple's longtime neighbor described as a puckish sense of humor. Endlessly hospitable, the two liked to entertain, playing host to neighbors stopping by for tea or a cocktail, and having dinner parties with the artists, writers and poets who populated their neighborhood, talking about opera or ballet or the theater. They also liked to travel, Mr. Skovgaard said, to Martha’s Vineyard, all over Europe and eventually Southeast Asia." [Source]

Own Adelina Patti's Former Home at a $2.4 Million Price Tag

"Craig-y-Nos Castle, the imposing 40-bedroom hotel and former Welsh home of legendary opera star, Adelina Patti, has been put up for sale - on the proviso that the new owner keeps it trading as an ongoing business. The neo-Gothic complex in the Swansea Valley is currently run as a country house hotel, and has in excess of £1 million of forward bookings. The castle has a price tag of £1.5 million and has been described as a 'hidden gem,' coming

complete with its own Grade I-listed theatre - a creation added by Patti herself after she bought it in 1878, offering world-class operatic acoustics. The building - which dates back to 1843 - has had substantial structural and renovation work carried out on it since the current owner, businessman Martin Gover, purchased it ten years ago and began running it as a hotel." [Source]

Check out a picture of the diva's home theater after the jump!