Manhattan's most famous stoops

Old-fashioned interiors

After less than a month on the market, a potential buyer has already stepped forward to claim 64 Perry Street, the West Village townhouse that played a leading role in the first three seasons of Sex and the City.

Maybe the new buyer is of the broken-hearted bidders who lost the historic 5-bedroom, 3-bath home when it sold for $9 million in Nov. 2011—6 percent more than the list price—after only 27 days on the market?

The home, which was listed for $9.65 million in early March by Sotheby's brokers Joshua Wesoky and Steve Dawson, has already entered into contract, according to a listing on Streeteasy.

What's the secret to 64 Perry's appeal? Well, beauty always helps: the home's carefully preserved interiors feature ornate crown and ceiling moldings,  herringbone wood floors and the six fireplaces with carved marble mantels. The home was lovely enough to attract the likes of fashion guru Tim Gunn, who lived in an upstairs apartment for 16 years. And Sex and the City wasn't the townhouse's first time in front of the camera: Woody Allen used part of the home to film the interiors of Alice.

But unlike some stunners, 64 Perry also has personality. The home has been inhabited by only two families since it was built in 1866, and as The Times wrote when the house went on the market last year, it was the setting of the six-decade romance between documentary filmmaker Wheaton Galentine and Harold Eliot Leeds, who designed the Paris Theater, the Caribe Hilton in San Juan and Martha Graham’s dance studio.

We're not sure what prompted the current owner, whose identity is hidden behind an LLC, to put the house on the market so soon after purchase. Alas, not all love affairs are long lasting.

At least the new buyer appears to be smitten with the property. And fortunately, the next residents will have a little distance from the cupcake-loving hordes: neighboring 66 Perry Street, used in later seasons, is the more famous Carrie Bradshaw stoop.

kvelsey@observer.com