Historic 1864 West Village Firehouse Townhouse Sells for $19 Million in Manhattan

NEW YORK — A landmark 1864 West Village fire station transformed into a bespoke residential palace has traded hands for $19 million.

Public deed filings finalized on February 5, 2026, confirmed the transfer of 78 Morton Street to an anonymous limited liability company. The closing caps a four-month escrow following an October contract agreement. It settled below expectations. The seller had originally floated the five-level, 7,281-square-foot brick fortress onto the open market for $21 million in April 2025—and took a modest loss against the $19.92 million they poured into acquiring the address back in 2020.

The building carries over a century of civic sweat. Erected during the American Civil War for Howard Engine Company No. 34—a volunteer brigade later folded into the municipal department as Engine Company No. 24—the red-brick bastion anchored West Village emergency responses until officials decommissioned the firehouse in 1975. It sat largely dormant for decades. Then came the architects. In 2012, builders gutted and retrofitted the industrial structure into a single-family compound, preserving its imposing carriage doors, original timber beams, and exposed masonry while carving out luxury interiors.

Subterranean Stages and Soaring Timber

Beneath the polished hardwood floors lies the property's most eccentric asset: a private subterranean jazz club. Equipped with a dedicated performance platform, hand-painted murals, and bespoke acoustic staging, the basement operates as a turnkey speakeasy shielded from the Manhattan streetscape. Above it, a four-car ground-level garage doubles as an expansive gallery and workshop—an exceedingly rare footprint in Lower Manhattan, where private curb cuts command astronomical premiums.

A central elevator connects the five levels. The great room commands 26-foot-high vertical spans, framed by daylight flooding through floor-to-ceiling iron-casement glass. Up top, three bedroom suites yield to multiple exterior terraces, creating more than 2,000 square feet of private outdoor space spanning garden courtyards and an open-sky roof deck.

City real estate records indicate the deed transfer has completed final municipal registration, with the buyer taking immediate possession under private corporate management.