This Rare NYC Rooftop Cottage Is For Sale

A tiny cottage to escape to might be on your wish list, but this one is a bit out of the ordinary. The cedar shingled dwelling is actually on a rooftop in the East Village, and it can be yours—if you have the funds to buy the penthouse below for $3.5 million.

Curbed NY was the first to report the story, and while rooftop cottages are a rare New York feature, this isn’t the first one we’ve seen. There’s a cabin on top of a Greenwich Street building (complete with a front porch), and a separate penthouse in the East Village came with its own cottage when it was for sale back in 2015.

Back to this one, though: It might be our favorite, probably because it looks like it should be on Nantucket rather than on a Manhattan roof. The cottage could function as a guest room for the penthouse below, but has been occupied by a tenant for the past 15 years. The space has its own full bathroom and kitchenette, as well as a cupola and wraparound terrace. It is currently accessed by the building’s main staircase and not through the penthouse.

The penthouse itself is nothing to sneeze at either. The 2,736 square foot duplex occupies the entire fourth and fifth floors of the corner building, and has three bedrooms and two and a half baths. The space is currently divided into living quarters and studio space, with a double height atrium that showcases the view through 9 x 9 double hung windows.

According to the New York Post, the property is being sold by Gale Barrett Shrady, whose late husband, the sculptor, artist and neighborhood improvement activist Henry Merwin Shrady III, bought the then vacant and derelict building in 1980. He renovated the property, kept the top two floors, and built the “fairytale” cottage.

The penthouse and cottage are currently listed for $3.5 million.