Sheldon Good to auction home of Shepherd Gallery.

As priceless art is transferred via high-end auction houses, a magnificent 19th century Upper East Side brick townhouse, currently home to the Shepherd Gallery's collection of European art, will be sold at an open outcry auction on Wednesday, April 22nd by Sheldon Good & Company Auctions Northeast.

Bidding starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Intercontinental Hotel, 111 East 48th Street, for the building, which offers prospective high-end buyers commercial, residential and/or combination use opportunities. Suggested opening bid is $2.5 million, with a certified or cashier's check in the amount of $200,000 required on the day of auction.

Art critic John Russell, writing in The New York Times, once wrote of the building: "On the northwest corner of Madison and 84th Street, there is a tall, square red brick townhouse that speaks for the New York of an earlier day. It is a civilized fortress, an ark that will outlast us all, a residence of an ageless, timeless, unhurrying sort."

Steven L. Good, president of Sheldon Good & Company International, said "The East 84th Street corner townhouse is an absolute jewel. Since the property is being sold vacant, it offers great flexibility and will interest buyers seeking a spectacular home or high-end commercial uses. The latter might include private banking, or a foundation or non-profit organization headquarters, upscale retail facility or an art gallery."

Andrew Ocrant, managing director, of Sheldon Good & Company Auctions Northeast, said "Increasingly, buyers and sellers alike of high-end properties are utilizing the auction strategy as a viable vehicle in support of their marketing efforts, whether they are seeking to acquire value in the buying process or a compressed marketing time and attenuated carrying costs in the sale of their cherished assets."

The townhouse was designed by John Duncan, architect of Grant's Tomb on Riverside Drive and numerous other New York landmarks. Duncan drew up the plans for such turn-of-the-century treasures as the Republic Bank building on Fifth Avenue proximate to the Public library; the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch at Prospect Park in Brooklyn; the Henry Reinhardt Art Gallery on Fifth Avenue; the Brooklyn Art Institute; the World War Monument in Trenton, NJ; the Hotel Wolcott on West 31st Street; the Kahn residence at East 68th Street; and the Whitney home at Riverside Drive and 90th Street.

The Lynd House, the corner mansion at 21 East 84th Street at Madison Avenue, was built in 1889-1890 by developer Robert B. Lynd, who hired John H. Duncan to design a complex of buildings at the corner of Madison Avenue and 84th Street. Now known as Shepherd Gallery, the residence at 21 East 84th Street is the only townhouse in original condition still standing.

The New York Record and Guide on March 19, 1892 wrote: "The Lynd residences are all of a superior character and are equal in construction and appointments to the finest of our modern city houses offered on the market."

The first owner of the residence was Alice Gertrude Grace, eldest daughter of shipping magnate WR Grace, who had served two terms as New York City Mayor in the 1880's She acquired the residence in 1897.

In February, 1914, the house was purchased by Judge Edward Ridley Finch and his wife, who was a member of the Old New York Delafield and Livingston families. Judge Finch's grandson, Edward Cox, would later marry Tricia Nixon. The Finch family owned the building until its purchase by Shepherd Gallery.

In 1966, it was rented by Robert Kashey and Martin L.H. Reymert, who bought it in 1974 and used it as an art gallery and residence, befitting the mode in which the most prestigious New York townhouses played an active role in the New York art world. Most of the great art dealers during the 1920's and 1930's lived in townhouses that also functioned as their galleries.

The Gallery has carefully preserved the 19th Century architecture of the edifice.

Open houses for the 21 East 84th Street property are scheduled by appointment on Sundays, April 5th and April 19th between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.; and Wednesdays, April 1st, April 8th and April 15th, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

For further information, call Sheldon Good & Company Auctions Northeast at [phone].