David and Sarah Edelstein (alas, this is not film critic David Edelstein, although excuse us for a moment while we fantasize about journalists living in $20 million townhouses) are asking a rather brazen $24.2 million for their elevatored townhouse, which they bought for just $12 million in 2010.Where do they think they live? 15 CPW?

Who knows? With the way properties have been selling lately, the Edelsteins may just get it. Still, it's unclear what exactly justifies the big price jump. Maybe they Edelsteins are just trying to keep the neighbors happy? After all, the former owners outraged the block's snooty denizens in 2010 when they dropped the $20 million ask to $14.9 million before finally handing it off to the Edelsteins for a mere $12 million.

Apparently, the sale did nothing to drive down values in the area. And we can almost hear the neighbors collective sigh of relief at this audacious ask. The townhouse is, after all, on a block that is often considered the best in New York, as the Prudential Douglas Elliman listing, held by brokers Michael Kafka and Theresa Thompson boasts. The original builders of the block decided that all development on the north side would be set back 10 feet, leaving the extra space "forever free and unoccupied." And how could you let a house with that kind of advantage go for under $20 million? Especially one "wired for security and entertainment" as this one is? (As much as that sounds like a description from a dystopic future).

The buyer, if one ever emerges willing to pay $24 million, will have the privilege of enjoying six wood-burning fireplaces and a roof deck with a kitchenette. Drifting through the rooms of "gracious proportions," the buyer can gaze out one of the many windows, or lounge on one of the four terraces, trying to forget that the home might have been had for half the price just two years ago.

kvelsey@observer.com