Bob Dylan’s longtime Harlem townhouse sells for $2.8M

The Strivers’ Row home where Bob Dylan lived for over a decade has officially changed hands, closing at $2.8 million after a stretch on the market that included a price chop.

The landmarked Renaissance Revival residence at 265 W. 139th St. was Dylan’s home base from 1986 to 2000, a stretch during which the notoriously guarded rocker kept a low profile on the historic block. 

The property returned to the market last August with a $3 million ask. A $250,000 reduction in January finally drew buyers in, and the listing went into contract soon after, The Post exclusively reported.

Sellers Isam Salah, a retired attorney, and Elaina Richardson, who previously served as editor in chief of Elle, bought the home in 2018 for $3.17 million. 

Despite taking a loss on the sale, the pair has said the connection to the property went beyond its famous former tenant. 

Richardson told the Wall Street Journal that living somewhere with that kind of history naturally invites curiosity, saying it’s hard not to wonder “did he sit on the stoop?” Salah and Richardson declined to comment further on the closing.

Listing agent Colin Montgomery of Sotheby’s International Realty, who shared the listing with colleague Stan Ponte, said interest in the home picked up this spring as more serious buyers entered the market, though pricing across the category remains below pre-pandemic levels. 

He noted that while Dylan’s history at the address made for good conversation, most prospective buyers were drawn in by the home’s architectural pedigree rather than its musical one, adding that visitors frequently remarked on how the house felt preserved in time, calling it “a little bit of a time capsule.”

On the buy side, Stanley Montfort of Serhant represented the purchasers and kept their identities under wraps, describing them only as empty nesters relocating from the suburbs.

Designed by Gilded Age architect Stanford White and completed in 1893, the 19-foot-wide townhouse spans four floors plus a cellar and totals roughly 4,500 square feet. 

The five-bedroom home retains much of White’s original detailing, including six decorative fireplaces, inlaid hardwood floors, period moldings and a wood-paneled entry vestibule, alongside updates like radiant-heated bathrooms, a full-height wine fridge and a preserved original range stove in the kitchen.

Montgomery said homes along Strivers’ Row, the storied two-block enclave that once anchored Harlem’s Black elite during its golden age, typically trade between $2 million and $3 million, placing this sale near the top of that range despite the discount from its original ask.

Dylan could not be reached for comment.