The Untouched Townhome Beloved by a Gothic Collector

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11 A TRULY TERRIFIC NEW YORK LISTING [The Untouched Townhome Beloved by a Gothic Collector]( Lee Anderson was an antiquarian who hosted soirées amid his spindly furnishings. Photo: Allyson Lubow for Corcoran Lee B. Anderson claimed he found his first American Gothic revival chair left on the street in New York City. It was the mid-’70s, and antiquarians cared more about pieces tied to America’s sturdy colonial roots. Gothic was dark and macabre, and its popularity had peaked during the Civil War. One hundred years later, Gothic armoires and library chairs were stuffed in attics and basements, there for the taking, and Anderson could smell it. “He had radar like no one on this planet. Not just an eye, an antenna,” said Hunt Slonem, an artist and collector who met Anderson in the 1980s, when his townhome in the East Village was already teeming with high-backed chairs, spindly birdcages, [ormolu coffins](, Catholic reliquaries, porcelain inkstands, brass jardinieres, chaises, and a child’s bed. “He really got in early and he had it all,” Slonem said. By the 1990s, as Americans pulled on black lace gloves and bought tickets to Edward Scissorhands, prices went skyward, and Anderson earned the nickname “the Godfather of Gothic.” His home appeared in World of Interiors and House and Garden. Cher leaned on his advice to furnish [a beach house](. (“She had better taste than the curators at the Met,” Anderson said of her once, to the [New York Observer](.) [Continue reading »]( Want more on city life, real estate, and design? [Subscribe now]( to save over 60% on unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [Small-Building Owners Will Soon Join New York City’s War on Trash Most of the city’s residential buildings will be covered by DSNY’s newest containerization rule.]( By Clio Chang [This Year’s Unwelcome Guests, According to the East Hampton Police Logs Pantsless men, seagull murders, and Ed Sheeran making too much noise.]( By Gabrielle Bluestone [Michael Henry Adams’s Candlelit Harlem Apartment The author and architectural preservationist has filled his home with the history of Harlem. He found some of it on the street.]( By Wendy Goodman [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. [Sign up to get it every Thursday](. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved