No close-ups, please! DeNiro's house requires a full renovation.

Celebrity connections may draw some buyers like moths to the flame, but it seems that Robert DeNiro's townhouse at 14 St. Luke's Place lacks that kind of magnetism.

The five-story house has sold for $9.5 million, Curbed reports, a good deal less than the $14 million that Mr. DeNiro was asking when it hit the market a year ago. The buyer, 14 St. Luke's LLC., is clearly not a fan of the spotlight, so we doubt that was a selling point. But the star seems to be having a streak of bad housing luck lately—taking a big hit on his asking price, setting fire to his Central Park West apartment building.

But we doubt it has all that much to do with luck. Fourteen million was an ambitious ask given that the house requires a full renovation, according to the listing, held by Mr. DeNiro's son, Prudential Douglas Elliman broker Raphael DeNiro. 

The listing included no interior shots of the three-bedroom property, which Mr. DeNiro has owned for more than 30 years. Perhaps he didn't want the public snickering over his outdated wallpaper, but really, could it have been that bad? Then again, maintenance, as evinced by the lint trap fire fiasco, may not be Mr. DeNiro's strong point.

In any event, the home has 12-foot ceilings on the parlor floor, "incredible sunlight" and a private terrace off the master suite. And it's located "on New York City's most beautiful, storied townhouse block." No Mean Streets are these.

kvelsey@observer.com