Author Kathryn Stockett has done quite well for herself since publishing her best-selling 2009 novel, “The Help.” The author recently paid $1.25 million for a one-bedroom, one-bath co-op in the East Village, the New York Observer reported.
Located on 119 East 10th Street, the pre-war unit features two wood-burning fireplaces, original wide-plank floors and, rare for New York City, a garbage disposal.
At 1,000-square-feet, the unit is no sprawling Southern home, like the one featured in the novel-turned-blockbuster-movie, but it does have a convertible second bedroom/study.
The co-op was originally listed as a $6,000-per-month rental by Corcoran Group brokers and family members Meris, Kenny and Sydney Blumstein, but Stockett managed to convince owner James Iha to sell her the property.
Iha shares the same name as the lead guitarist from the band Smashing Pumpkins. It was unclear immediately whether the two were the same person, but both the seller and the rocker share the middle initial, Y, public records show. Sydney Blumstein would not confirm or deny the seller’s identity.
The new apartment signals Stockett’s return to New York. She had previously spent time in the city while working in magazine publishing. Her primary residence is in Jackson, Mississippi. [NYO]–Jaywon Choe