Thirteen years after founder Jim Henson died unexpectedly at age 53, the TV and motion picture company he founded -- famous for puppets like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy -- is selling the Manhattan building that houses its offices.

Jim Henson Co. is asking $13.9 million for the 40-foot wide, five-story 1929 Neo-Georgian townhouse, built for a banker, and brokers say it could easily be reconverted into a residence. The company has decided to move most operations to California, says counsel Albert Gottesman.

The Jim Henson Family Trusts acquired the red-brick townhouse with its pillared entrance on East 69th Street for $600,000 in 1977, from the New York State Pharmaceutical Association, records indicate.

Gottesman says the late puppeteer and producer was taken with the light in the 12,000-square-foot house -- important for a creative company -- as well as the 1920s feel, which he wanted to keep. Local brokers say the price is reasonable for the 40-foot-wide building. (Penthouse founder Bob Guccione's nearby mansion of the same width is currently asking $27 million.)

Paul Massey Jr. and Cory S. Rosenthal of Massey Knakal Realty Services and James DeLuca of Cushman & Wakefield have the listing.

Boston uncommon

Who paid the highest price ever for a single-family home in Boston? It appears to have been Amos Hostetter, founder of Continental Cablevision (the company was sold to US West and then AT&T), for a trophy house on Beacon Hill.

The sales price was not recorded publicly (this can be done through complex legal maneuvering), and Hostetter couldn't be reached for comment, but local agents estimate the price in the $12 million range. (Boston's single-family record was $7.5 million in 2000, for a Back Bay townhouse.)

The seller of the Beacon Hill property was investor Lawrence Coolidge, whose November 2000 purchase price was recorded at $3 million.

The early 1800s Federal Style brick house was one of three built by merchant Harrison Gray Otis. The original "Thomas Crown Affair," with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, was partly filmed at the property.

Ansonia history

An apartment that once belonged to the original architect of the Ansonia, a famous Beaux Arts building in Manhattan, is for sale, with an asking price of $3.295 million.

W.E.D. Stokes designed the Upper West Side residence, which was built in 1904 as a luxury residential hotel. At the turn of the century, the building offered a huge indoor swimming pool, a grand ballroom and live seals in the courtyard fountain. (Stokes himself kept farm animals on the roof.)

Residents have included Babe Ruth, Theodore Dreiser and Igor Stravinsky.

Stokes's former apartment has three bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, two fireplaces and seven balconies.

The current owner, television producer Daniel Arndt, discovered a stash of half-burned letters belonging to Stokes in a fireplace, uncovered in the study during Arndt's extensive restoration. In 2000, the producer paid $1.3 million for two units, which had originally been one apartment, and rejoined them. The apartment has a washer and dryer, and a double steam shower in the master bath.

Douglas Heddings of Douglas Elliman has the listing.

Naples Daily News
Naples Sun Times
The Banner

Collier Citizen
Vista Semanal
PrepZone

Coastalbeat
Set Anchor
SWFLMoms