![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6f71482cc298ed0408138762e5d990dfb5-272-Greene-Ave--lede.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
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\n This modernist home, as seen in this listing photo, with its highlighter-orange doors and white stucco fa\u00e7ade, has found a buyer after more than a year on the market.
\n Photo: Compass\n <\/p>\n
A modernist townhouse on a Clinton Hill corner that attracted a guerrilla plaque installation<\/a> and sparked discussions about the city\u2019s housing crisis<\/a> has sold after more than a year on the market<\/a>. Lucy Perry, a Compass broker who had the listing, tells me a buyer closed on 272 Greene Avenue on Tuesday, paying $3.85 million, a hefty chop down from the $5.2 million asking price. \u201cIt was a tough one,\u201d Perry says of the sale. \u201cIf this had been in California, it would\u2019ve been a different kind of sale. People are more open to modern architecture there.\u201d<\/p>\n The two-family home, designed by the Swiss architect In\u00e8s Lamuni\u00e8re, with a severe white stucco and glass fa\u00e7ade, highlighter-orange doors, and twisting form, stood out in a neighborhood of 19th-century brownstones and multifamily brick buildings. It is perhaps what attracted the tagger, who, as the New York Times reported<\/a> last year, placed a museum-style plaque on the front of the building that read \u201cNew York City Housing Crisis, 2025.\u201d The plaque also noted, with some inaccuracies, that the vacant building\u2019s multimillion-dollar price tag \u201casks us to consider the tension between NYC\u2019s historically low apartment vacancy rate (1.6%) and the price of this vacant duplex ($5.2 million).\u201d Perry wasn\u2019t a fan. \u201cThat was kind of nasty PR,\u201d she says, adding that the criticism was unfair because the 1,300-foot lot was zoned<\/a> for only a one- or two-family home and nothing more. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t going to solve the problem of housing.\u201d<\/p>\n But perhaps the mixed publicity was also a bit of a boon. Perry says the property caught the eye of several architects and rubberneckers. \u201cEvery open house I would have three types coming in,\u201d she says. \u201cOne of them would be an architect, another would be a family, and another would be someone who was curious.\u201d Pratt students stopped by, as did an artist from Beijing whose son lives in the city and was looking to buy; he said he has a similar concrete country home in China. The property\u2019s unorthodox form also proved to be useful during the NBA Finals in June, when a pizzeria projected<\/a> games onto the side of the building.<\/p>\n Perry declined to go into too much detail about No. 272\u2019s buyer, but mentioned that the owner is a father of three coming from the city\u2019s suburbs. When asked what drew him to the place, she explained that he felt like the price was \u201ca good deal,\u201d plus he was a fan of the property\u2019s inner courtyard, which can be seen from the kitchen (a rare feature in a neighborhood of more traditional backyards, to be sure). His plan, she says, is to convert the property from its current two-family setup \u2014 consisting of a triplex and duplex unit \u2014 into a single-family home (and perhaps a slight point in favor of the property\u2019s anonymous critic). Still, the buyer seems pretty pleased with his unconventional choice. \u201cHe said to me one of the first times we met, \u2018You know, I\u2019m never going to sell this house,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \n The interior courtyard of the modernist Clinton Hill townhouse, as seen in this listing photo, is something of a rarity in a neighborhood of backyards. \n It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that the townhouse, as seen in this listing photo, was a hit among architects and Pratt students. 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\/08\/00132b0754afa522ead4ee8aa319a946f0-272-Greene-Ave--2.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
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\n Photo: Compass\n <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8c4c924495aedce8bbb24a166e93da3764-272-Greene-Ave--3.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
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\n Photo: Compass\n <\/p>\n