The extravagance of Baz Luhrmann films — from Elvis to The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge! — is visible in the Gilded Age townhouse he shares with his Oscar-winning wife, costumes and production designer Catherine Martin. It’s now back on the market for $17.99 million — down from $20 million last year, when it was also listed as a $75,000-a-month rental.
The 38-foot-wide residence, at 243 E. 17th St., was built in 1852. It has been featured in multiple shelter publications, including Elle Decor. At 8,500 square feet, it boasts six bedrooms, five baths, two powder rooms and five fireplaces. It’s the only Anglo-Italianate home in the area that wasn’t originally part of a row of narrow, uniform properties, according to listing broker and reality television star Steve Gold, of Corcoran.
Lurhmann and Martin bought the home for $13.5 million in 2017 and renovated it in 2019. The sellers were soap star Noelle Beck Taslitz and her then-husband, Ford model turned restaurateur Eric Petterson, who owned the beloved former Union Square hotspots the Coffee Shop and Live Bait.
The couple is looking to sell because, well, life brings its changes. “Since the pandemic and making the movie ‘Elvis’ in Australia, our work has kept us mostly away from our New York City base,” Luhrmann told Gimme Shelter. “We shot Elvis entirely on the Gold Coast in Queensland and will continue to develop shows to be shot there.” The couple will also soon be empty nesters. With their daughter choosing to study in Australia, they’ll be spending more time there and embracing a more “nomadic” lifestyle that will include downsizing in New York. “It’s bittersweet to be leaving this house where we hosted so many memorable parties, Thanksgivings and Christmases,” he added. “Our 17th Street house deserves to be filled with celebrations. It’s been a wonderful home in which we have made so many wonderful memories.” “Sadly, we are becoming empty nesters, so our enormous, beautiful family house seems very quiet without our children.”
Appropriately, there’s a media screening room inside.
The residence opens via the gated street entrance and front garden to an entry hall. That leads to a large eat-in chef’s kitchen with a butler’s pantry and access to the back ivy-clad walled garden with bistro lights and space for al-fresco dining. There’s also a formal dining room with a woodburning fireplace.
Next up is the parlor floor, which boasts 16-foot ceilings and a floating curved staircase. Full-length arched windows showcase a centerline view overlooking Stuyvesant Square Park. The main bedroom suite is nestled in the back of the parlor floor, with an ensuite bath, a walk-in closet and a private terrace.
More bedrooms take up the third floor, along with laundry and a sitting room/additional bedroom. The fourth floor now serves as a living room with a bar, a gym, a bedroom and a bathroom. It’s been known as Luhrmann’s writing sanctuary, and where he wrote part of “Elvis.”
The abode sports a large, eat-in chef’s kitchen.
There’s an ample 8,500 square feet of luxurious living space within its walls.
Design details include a foliate-patterned, a cast-iron Juliet wrap balcony, along with high ceilings, hardwood floors, arched doorways, skylights and original moldings throughout. Meanwhile, the finished basement can work as a home office, a media screening room or a bedroom — and comes with its own entrance under the stoop.
If that’s not enough, the future owner has the option to build an additional 2,242 square feet — perhaps another “level or two,” or roof terraces with grand views.
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