Inside Bob and Cortney Novogratzs most ambitious NYC project to date a whimsical townhouse on Waverly Place

It takes a village to raise seven children while building a thriving design and real estate business in New York City.Just ask Bob and Cortney Novogratz.Their latest book, “The Novogratz Chronicles,” tells their story — and that of New York City — over the past three decades.Now, Gimme Shelter takes readers inside their latest tour de force: a colorful, 197-year-old townhouse on Waverly Place — their most ambitious project to date.“A lot of years and experience went into building this perfect house,” Bob told Gimme Shelter.But real estate deals in New York depend on even more than hard work and a good eye.Real estate luck is also a factor.The couple’s first home was a Chelsea townhouse back in 1995.

But the house was condemned, which meant that Bob and Cortney couldn’t get a bank loan.That was until the seller — a man known only as Joe in the book — asked if they had ever heard of “taking paper.”It’s a way, Joe explained, “to purchase a gut job without involving a bank.”Bob and Cortney wondered if they had fallen into a Scorsese film.“Joe explained: We’d make a small down payment on the townhouse, and the rest would be treated as a loan from him — an interest-only loan.

He would basically hold on to the mortgage until we paid him in full.It was an unbelievable deal — which, as far as we could tell, involved zero horses’ heads left on our bed.”Things only got better.

The property had been chopped up into tiny rooms, but Bob and Cortney saw its original beauty and brought it back to life.Then they secured the bank loan, and bought the house.

To dress it up, and especially in a cool New York way, they shopped in flea markets and even found beautiful stained glass in a neighbor’s backyard.Cortney asked to buy it; they gave it to her for free.Friends and family moved in with them as renters.

Then Suzanne Vega, the iconic singer/songwriter, made an offer to rent the whole townhouse for far more than they ever imagined.Bo...