257 W 86th St Unit 7-8B New York, NY 10024

Offered for the first time in half a century, Residence 7/8B is one of the rare B-line southwest-corner duplexes at 257 West 86th Street. Spanning nearly 2,800 square feet, this legacy home combines dramatic scale, preserved craftsmanship, and three luminous exposures—a unique opportunity for a discerning buyer to create a landmark-quality residence on the Upper West Side.

The centerpiece is a double-height living room crowned by a 20-foot ceiling and anchored by a 14-foot window that bathes the interior in even north light. The window’s nine etched-glass panes are currently being replaced with new ultra-clear low-lead glass. Overlooking the living room are a pair of original galleries with wood balustrades, carved in the cross-braced lattice motif that recurs throughout the building.

The formal dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms face West 86th Street to the south and the neighboring church to the west. The home is currently configured as three to four bedrooms with a formal dining room and two full bathrooms; the building’s duplexes typically support three-bathroom layouts. Private laundry is located off the kitchen, and new washer/dryer installations are permitted. Adding further versatility, the sale includes a private, windowed room on the building’s ground floor—originally a staff room located just off the lobby—now perfectly suited as a secure personal archive or family collection space.

257 West 86th Street is a boutique cooperative, designed in 1906–07 by Pollard & Steinam, architects of the Hotel des Artistes and other landmark studio residences. At 257, they blended Beaux-Arts scale with Arts & Crafts detailing: soaring double-height living rooms framed by classical entablature and simplified, geometric ornament—a fusion unique to the pre-WWI era in New York architecture. The building offers a 24/7 lobby attendant/elevator operator, new gym, landscaped roof deck, basement laundry, deeded storage for every unit, bike storage, and a full-time resident manager.

This is a rare chance to create a lasting pre-war home with scale, light, and architectural character, at an attractively compelling value.