The Chelsea co-op where renowned “Fame” choreographer Louis Falco rehearsed and threw legendary Studio 54 afterparties is on the market for $4.4 million.
The 4,200-square-foot home spans two floors of the seven-story co-op, with temporary walls that can be reconfigured into endless arrangements. The sprawling loft, constructed in 1901, is notable not only for its colorful history, but also its soaring 18-foot ceilings with large, south-facing windows at the core of the home.
“Light just pours in all day,” said Matthew Solomon at Compass, who holds the listing.
Louis Falco, photographed in 1964. Getty Images
Falco, born in Manhattan in 1942, was known as an electrifying performer. Getty Images
Falco choreographed the 1980 movie “Fame.” MGM studios
The Chelsea loft spans 4,200 square feet. Stephanie Powell, MW StudioCurrently, there are four bedrooms and three full bathrooms, but that could easily be changed. None of the walls in the home are structural, Solomon said, so the space is fully customizable.
When the current owners bought it in the early 2000s, Solomon said, it was completely open, and used as a dance studio.
There’s elevator access to both floors, the second of which features a catwalk that connects the south-facing kitchen to a library and two bedrooms.
The blank-canvas residence could be repurposed as a dance studio, a creative space or a grand loft home.
The walls offer plenty of space for art, and include a retractable movie projector. Stephanie Powell, MW Studio
The library. Stephanie Powell, MW Studio
The loft at night, projecting “Fame” onto the wall. Udom Surangsophon, MW Studio
The kitchen and eating area. Stephanie Powell, MW Studio
The illuminated catwalk. Udom Surangsophon, MW Studio
The view at night. Udom Surangsophon, MW StudioThe large loft served as both a living space and rehearsal studio for Falco, who famously choreographed that groundbreaking 1980 movie. Falco, a New York native born to southern Italian immigrants, achieved international acclaim during his career as a modern dance choreographer. His life was cut short by AIDS in 1993, at the age of 50.
“I think my works were gutsy,” Flaco once told an interviewer. “It comes from growing up on the Lower East Side. I don’t have the same taboos as other people. I don’t censor. I have a certain freedom that others don’t.”
Falco was a well-known frequenter of Studio 54, the notorious Midtown nightlife venue that defined the city’s frenzied, drug-fueled disco era. Tales of Falco’s legendary afterparties at his loft have been passed down through its owners, all of whom have had ties to New York’s arts and entertainment scene. However, just like the tales of happenings inside that former club, details on parties in this residence — as well as potential big-name guests — are kept hush-hush to this day.
The exterior of the former afterparty pad. Udom Surangsophon, MW Studio
Studio 54, circa 1979. Getty Images
Andy Warhol, Calvin Klein, Brooke Shields and Steve Rubell — the latter of whom was a club co-founder — partying at Studio 54. Getty ImagesThe current owners, Broadway producer Marc Routh and art curator Asher Remy-Toledo, are planning to downsize.
They’ll even negotiate the inclusion of some furniture, including a two-story column for a Broadway production of “Company,” into the bargain. The column would be hard to move, anyway, as it was brought in by crane.
