The seven-time Emmy-winning writer and producer David Chase has picked up a penthouse once owned by the late author and activist Susan Sontag in West Chelsea’s London Terrace Gardens for $9.65 million, according to the Real Estalker. The celebrity-heavy building has housed at different times such notables as Debbie Harry, Tim Gunn, Rufus Wainwright, Katherine Helmond, Nicole Kidman and “Saturday Night Live” cast members Chris Kattan and Bill Hade.
The 20th floor, 2,700-square-foot penthouse was sold by Sontag’s estate in 2006 for $3.95 million to interior designer William Diamond. Diamond had gutted the unit, but was unable to complete his renovation after losing his money in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and eventually sold the apartment in 2009 for $4.4 million.
In 2011, Chase picked up another Chelsea home for $6.95 million, a five-bedroom, four-story townhouse on West 22nd Street, which sold last June. And according to the New York Post, Chase was spotted this week touring morning-show host Kelly Ripa’s 76 Crosby Street penthouse, listed for $24.5 million. [RES, NYP] —Christopher Cameron