A piece of New York’s artistic and architectural history has recently entered the real estate market thanks to Sotheby’s International Realty. The property is a 140-year-old carriage house on Manhattan’s “stable row”, at 155 East 69th Street in Lenox Hill—an imposing Neo-Romanesque building now valued at 9.5 million dollars. Here, Elvis Presley recorded part of the Love Me Tender soundtrack. But the building is best known to have served as the artist Mark Rothko’s studio, where he conceived what is considered his most complex and meaningful work: the Rothko Chapel in Houston.
Mark Rothko’s former studio is for sale in New York: now a luxury residential complex
The studio where the American artist created the paintings for the Rothko Chapel — one of the most important works of the 20th century — is on the market for $9.5 million. The building also has a connection to Elvis Presley.
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- Ilaria Bonvicini
- 29 August 2025
On the upper floor of the apartment, in a large room lit by a central skylight, Rothko painted all 14 panels of the chapel founded by John and Dominique de Menil. He carefully planned their proportions and arrangement, using the very architecture of the studio as a model for the project. As his son Christopher Rothko stated in 2015, the Rothko Chapel is, in many ways, a spiritual replica of that New York space.
Today, the red-brick building designed by architect William Schickel—converted in the 1950s into a recording studio—appears as a luxury residential complex, divided into two entities: a non-profit foundation dedicated to the Japanese art of the tea ceremony, and a two-level private residence. Accessible through its own entrance at street level, the second and third floors feature a large living room with fireplace, a glass-covered terrace, a dining room and eat-in kitchen, along with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The upper level houses the primary suite with fireplace and access to the rooftop terrace, complemented by a study, a tea room, and generous storage spaces.
The property was already put up for sale twice in 2023, without success. Yet despite the challenges of New York’s real estate market—which has seen a steady decline in property values in the area—the East 69th Street residence retains an undeniable historical and cultural allure that transcends market logic, and which may ultimately secure its future sale.
Opening image: Photo Yale Wagner for Sotheby's International Realty