A Landmark Townhouse with a Brown Harris Stevens Legacy

On a quiet block between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive stands 324 West 85th Street, a landmarked townhouse built in 1892 that holds more than eight decades of one family’s history—including a personal connection to Brown Harris Stevens. It is one of six neighboring homes on the block designed by renowned architect Clarence True.

Bridget Heslin Carty bought the house in 1940 at the age of 69. An Irish immigrant who arrived in New York in the 1890s—before Ellis Island even opened—she worked for a wealthy resident of the Belnord and lived to the remarkable age of 100. When she passed away in 1971, she left the house to her daughter, Margaret “Peggy” Carty.

In the late 1970s, Peggy joined Brown Harris Stevens as an executive assistant to one of the firm’s leaders, continuing the family’s story on the Upper West Side. After her death in 1991, her nephew, Brother Brian Carty, honored that legacy by turning the house into a community residence for De La Salle Academy, the school he founded.

The home’s architecture is as striking as its history. Its red sandstone and Roman brick facade, topped with a red pantile roof, has been beautifully preserved. Inside, original inlaid wood floors, intricate moldings, rich wood paneling, and four fireplaces remain. The parlor level offers soaring ceilings, with a library and rear living room divided by an oversized pocket door, and a classic box stair lit from above by a new skylight. A south-facing kitchen and eat-in area overlook a 570-square-foot garden—an ideal setting for creating a dream chef’s kitchen.

With only two families having called it home in more than 130 years, 324 West 85th Street remains a beautiful example of late-19th-century architecture.

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