![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/29ebce4c847a07e8e36255528e7dd53536-153899932.rhorizontal.w700.jpg)
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n A listing image attempts to show the massive scale of 208 Vanderbilt, where a double-height great room has 23-foot high ceilings and a view of a private courtyard. Minimalist storage, right, lines the entire room.
\n Photo: Corcoran\n <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/28cd43ee5635497e2778f68d3a5dcdbb24-153899951.rvertical.w570.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n The listing shot shows an exterior clad in industrial polypropylene panels and a roofline Adjaye designed with a subtle, triangular shape that mirrors the fa\u00e7ade of a church on the block.
\n Photo: Corcoran\n <\/p>\n
A postcard of Fort Greene might show row after row of tightly packed brownstones, dating back to the 1850s, with views over leafy avenues. On Vanderbilt, No. 208 is only four blocks off the park, near the corner at Willoughby \u2014 a closed street that\u2019s a summer paradise for cycling. But the house doesn\u2019t fit the neighborhood stereotype. Covered in silvery industrial panels, with a door that closes flush against the fa\u00e7ade, the four-story building stands out for its museumlike minimalism. Built in 2006 as a live-work studio for two artists \u2014 James Casebere<\/a> and Lorna Simpson<\/a> \u2014 it was listed at $6.5 million last July<\/a>. This week, the price was reduced to $5 million,\u00a0a 23 percent cut. That\u2019s closer to the $4 million median for a single-family townhouse in Fort Greene, per John Walkup of the real-estate data-analytics company UrbanDigs. He says the pricing likely accounted for \u201ca significant premium for a product with niche appeal.\u201d Niche because the pool of buyers going after modern, minimalist spaces here might be smaller, and even those buyers may be wary of No. 208. It was the first project in the U.S. by David Adjaye<\/a>, the starchitect who went on to design the National Museum of African American History but was accused<\/a> in 2023 of sexual assault, harassment, and a \u201ctoxic work culture.\u201d Adjaye has denied the allegations, but there\u2019s been a drop in interest<\/a> in his work. (The listing says the home is an \u201carchitectural gem\u201d but leaves out his name.)<\/p>\n \n A listing shot shows the third and fourth floors, designed to serve as an art studio. And at a price point where buyers have room to be discerning, the floor plan and location may be tough sells, too. There\u2019s the \u201cpotential for multiple bedrooms,\u201d per the listing<\/a>, but right now, this is a four-story, $5 million townhouse with only one real bedroom. Then there\u2019s the issue of the next-door neighbor: a 43,000-square-foot sports center<\/a> with a 270-seat basketball arena, which opened in 2014 as part of the St. Joseph\u2019s University campus. It hosts alumni events and volleyball tournaments, with space for 90 cars accessed via a ramp between the two buildings.<\/p>\n \n A Google Maps view shows a parking ramp separating the sports center (left) and the private home (right). The brokers for the listing declined to comment, and Simpson didn\u2019t respond to an inquiry through her gallerist, Hauser & Wirth. But she didn\u2019t seem to be using the house much in recent years \u2014 instead renting<\/a> a studio at the Navy Yard, living<\/a> elsewhere, and using the home for offices, meetings, and \u201cthinking about what the pieces are going to be,\u201d as she told Antwaun Sargent in 2017<\/a>. Still, if it\u2019s not the right space for Lorna Simpson, it might be for her collectors. As her broker Leslie Marshall told<\/a> the New York Times last year, the 23-foot high ceilings mean \u201cthe exhibition potential is great.\u201d<\/p>\n \n A listing shot shows the only room initially designed as a bedroom, on the second floor, furnished with art books. The window alcove looks over Vanderbilt Avenue. Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter<\/p>\n A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/b7d3a4925d5e1eb5da795b5f86d946c360-153899945.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Corcoran\n <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/e57fddc9c50c098caf726be3bbd599f609-lorna-simpson-apt-2.rhorizontal.w700.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Google Maps\n <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/792948f0870d585e8eafbfe7076ad765a3-153899939.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Corcoran\n <\/p>\n