Before his legendary Factory came into existence, Andy Warhol’s original New York studio was located at 159 East 87th Street. The building hit the real estate market in March of this year, and, according to The Observer, just sold for $9.98 million.
According to The Real Deal, the seller was billionaire art dealer Guy Wildenstein. The unnamed buyer purchased the property under the company name “Warhol Hook and Ladder 13 LLC.”
Housed in an old firehouse, “Hook and Ladder 13″—which totals 5,000 square feet—is the studio where Warhol created his famous Death and Disaster painting series, among other works made during the 1960s.
Warhol heard about the Hook and Ladder building in 1962, and was able to secure the vacant space at the rate of $150 per month in an agreement with the city of New York.
159 East 87th Street. Image via Google Maps.
“The fire house only cost $150 a month, but it was a wreck, with leaks in the roof and holes in the floors, but it was better than trying to make serious paintings in the wood-paneled living-room of his Victorian townhouse, as he’d done for the previous couple of years,” said artnet News contributor Blake Gopnik, who is working on a biography of the artist, due out in 2018. “Andy moved into the firehouse on January 1, 1963, and his lease on it was terminated the following May—leaving a gap of more than half a year before he moves into the famous Silver Factory.”
The real estate firm marketed the space as “a blank canvas to create boutique condominiums, mixed use rental, luxury townhouse, or community facility/medical use.” Only time will tell what will be the next chapter in the building’s rich history.