Martin Scorsese is as much a New York City icon as his good buddy Robert De Niro—and like his longtime collaborator, he’s never strayed too far from his roots. Born in Queens in 1942 and raised in Little Italy, the director seems to have an affinity for the city that has never wavered. He did, however, admit to having a bit of a dilemma when it came to where in the city he should ultimately call home. “I’m a die-hard New Yorker, but I’ve spent my life making movies and living on location,” he told Architectural Digest in 1994. “When I was ready to make a home for myself, I didn’t know what style of living in Manhattan would make me feel most comfortable. It depends where you start from. I started from the Lower East Side tenements. I certainly wasn’t going back to Elizabeth Street. But where did I belong?” Scorsese ultimately landed in the Upper East Side, where he currently still lives. Below, we’re giving a glimpse into a few of his homes over the last few decades, including his current town house, where, the octogenarian recently told GQ, he likes to hole up on the fifth floor to make movies. [Source: AD]
Early 1980s
Scorsese married his third wife, Italian actress and model Isabella Rossellini, in 1979, and the pair moved into a loft in Tribeca together shortly afterward. They reportedly paid somewhere around $235,000 for the pad, located in a converted coconut processing plant in the heart of the neighborhood. And while details of their specific unit aren’t readily available, the building boasts a Romanesque Revival–style aesthetic with exposed brick, wood-beamed ceilings, a roof deck, and a bike room.
1987
Scorsese was already a household name by the time he dropped $1.75 million on a town house in the Upper East Side, thanks to much-acclaimed films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and After Hours. The director told AD that the town house gave him “a sense of permanence” following a string of residences that had lovely views but didn’t feel “personal” enough. He explained that living in a town house gave him better work boundaries, whereas living in a loft didn’t give him “enough distance from [his] work. It’s not just that you can’t close a door: When you’re editing a film it seems to permeate your living arrangements.”
Scorsese reportedly added a dressing room to the primary suite and had at least nine sets of bookshelves scattered throughout the five-story property, working with designer Karen Houghton to make each level uniquely and indelibly his. The first floor, which boasted a dining room that opened onto a private garden, had a “provincial country feeling”; the second floor was split into two separate reception areas divided by an elevator; and the fourth floor featured a study where Scorsese screened films via a projector and listened to music. The director finally sold the town house two decades later, for $6.16 million.
2007
Scorsese’s next pad was just two blocks away from his previous one. The director had just won an Academy Award and was in the beginning stages of filming his 2010 drama Shutter Island (starring another of his longtime collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio) when he paid $12.5 million for a 7,000-square-foot town house in the Upper East Side. According to old listings of the pad, the residence features “opulent hand blown glass window panels,” a private garden, and an elevator that connects all five floors. Scorsese made headlines for the 10-room town house in 2018 when a Queens-based building supply company alleged that the director had failed to pay $18,000 worth of building materials, a claim that was tied to rumors of foreclosure. Nothing appeared to have come from the situation, as Scorsese still resides in that same town house today, and recently told GQ that he often finds refuge in the fifth-floor study, where he has an ideal setup to allow him to “make the movies.” The director’s wardrobe, a small kitchenette, a projection screen, and an entire collection of movies also occupy the fifth floor. “I don’t really want to go anywhere,” he said. Sounds a lot like home. [Source: AD]
