A single-family townhouse once home to American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa has hit the market for $31.5 million, according to Streeteasy.com.
William Rainero, owner of the property at 80 Washington Place and head of Metropolitan Realty & Development Group, listed the property with Lisa Simonsen and Laura Mondrick of Prudential Douglas Elliman. The listing follows the restoration and conversion of the property by Rainero, who grew up in the home and whose family has owned the property since the 1970s.
The home is the most expensive single-family townhouse currently on the market in Greenwich Village, Streeteasy.com’s data shows. The second and third most expensive are homes at 23 Washington Square North and 196 West Houston Street, asking $19.5 million and $14.95 million respectively.
Neither Reinero nor his brokers were immediately available for comment.
Built in 1839 in classical Georgian style, the 8,700-square-foot house is 22.5-feet wide. It features a glass and white oak stairwell, a Zen garden and a water feature that runs down the property’s former coal chute, according to the listing. It also has a billiard room, wine cellar and media room.
Sousa was a composer of the late Romantic era, known particularly for his American military and patriotic marches such as “Semper Fidelis,” the official march of the United States Marine Corps, and “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which is the national march of the United States of America. Sousa bought the home in 1919.
Rainero’s family acquired the building in 1970, according to public records. His grandfather, a restaurateur who owned the property previously, died in Florida in 1990.