Left, Stephen Yalof. (Patrick McMullan)
Two years ago, Corcoran broker Liora Yalof appeared in these pages for her role in facilitating the sale of a high-ranking Ralph Lauren executive’s light-washed Tribeca two-bedroom. We can only guess that Ms. Yalof appreciated the publicity; after all, she managed to sell the place for $1.1 million more than her client paid for it, and for a good deal more than the asking price besides. This time around, Ms. Yalof and her husband Stephen, who himself worked for many years at Ralph Lauren and is now also in real estate, are closer to the action. The Yalofs have just closed for $5.3 million on a charming three bedroom at 285 Central Park West, according to city records.
From the listings photos, arrayed with the oversight of Stribling’s Cathy Taub, the place appears to have been outfitted as a kind of realized idealization of an Upper West Side intellectual’s home base. The motif makes a certain amount of sense if, as we suspect, the place until recently belonged to the same Suzanne Levine who is a feminist author and was the first editor of Ms. magazine and the first female editor of the Columbia Journalism Review. (That, of course, would make the other seller, Robert Levine, the author’s husband, an attorney.)
A fine place to curl up.
Hung with earthy tapestries and punctuated with small statuary, the co-op has bay windows, beamed ceilings and tons of built-ins. Parquet floors in rich oak cover much of the layout, and an oversize living room flows into the dining area to create a warm and informal entertaining space—perfect for fiery, wine-fueled debates on the merits of the deconstructionists. But the wall hangings and ethnically-themed tchotchkes, of course, will vanish, and we’re sure that the new hosts will have no trouble decorating in such a way as to suit discussions nearer and dearer to their hearts. Like, say, the pros and cons of co-ops and condos? Although for the time being, anyway, they seem to have voted with their checkbook on that account.
City views.
