The famous You’ve Got Mail townhouse on the Upper West Side is on the market for $3.95 million, according to a report by Robb Report. The five-storey townhouse at 328 West 89th Street is best known as the exterior of Meg Ryan’s home in the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail. Richard Pretsfelder and Morgan Garofalo of Leslie Garfield are handling the sale.
A house built in 1894
Pic credit: Leslie Garfield
The building dates to 1894. In the early 1980s, the house was converted into a multi-family home with seven units, and it is still configured that way. The famous townhouse offers buyers a flexible opportunity. They can maintain it as a turnkey investment or reimagine it as a grand single-family home, the agents told the outlet. Pretsfelder described the arrangement as a “flexible layout”.
Pic credit: Leslie Garfield
A famous house
Pic credit: Leslie Garfield
The house was used as the home of Meg Ryan’s character, Kathleen Kelly. Only the exterior was used. The interior scenes were shot on a soundstage in New Jersey. The exterior, though, is the reason many fans still recognise the block.Listing agent Pretsfelder told PEOPLE that the producers likely chose the building because of its “quintessential Upper West Side townhouse” appeal. He pointed to its “handsome brick and limestone façade” and its row of bay windows as the features that stand out on the street.
Inside the New York townhouse
Pic credit: Leslie Garfield
Spanning five floors plus a basement, the approximately 5,885-square-foot townhouse sits on a lot 20 feet wide and 101 feet deep. It has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms spread across five floors and a basement. The listing describes an owner’s duplex with central air conditioning, several wood-burning fireplaces and a private garden. Original details remain throughout, and the ceilings are generous for a townhouse of this age.
Pic credit: Leslie Garfield
The annual taxes are listed at $79,664.04. The house sits on a tree-lined block close to Riverside Park, between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive.Interestingly, the listing comes as Warner Bros. Pictures develops a new version of the film. Jason Orley will direct, while Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont have crafted the screenplay on which the current draft is based. Orley is also writing that draft. Plot details have not been released.
Pic credit: Leslie Garfield
The original film, written and directed by Nora Ephron, cast Tom Hanks as Joe Fox, an executive at a large bookstore chain, and Ryan as Kelly, who owns a small children’s bookstore. The two characters fall for each other through anonymous emails without knowing who is on the other end. The film is a remake of The Shop Around the Corner and grossed more than $250 million worldwide.Much of its appeal rests on its New York City setting, with its autumn and holiday scenes. Nearly three decades on, the house remains one of the film’s most recognisable locations, and that is likely to be what buyers pay for as much as the square footage.As the listing on Leslie Garfield’s website states, the townhouse offers a piece of history: “With its generous width, substantial scale, original details, and flexible layout, 328 West 89th Street offers a unique opportunity to own a piece of Upper West Side history.”
