A Penthouse With a ‘Little Garden of Eden’ Is Listed at Nearly $5 Million

As soon as he stepped inside the East Village duplex 12 years ago, the theater director David Saint knew that it would be his next home.

“I saw about 20 apartments while I was looking to buy, and this was the last one,” he said. “The minute I walked in, I knew.”

What sold Mr. Saint on the brand-new penthouse, just off Union Square, at 123 Third Avenue and East 14th Street, was the wraparound terrace and its stunning cityscape and river views. He would eventually transform the terrace into his “little Garden of Eden” with fountains, obelisks, and potted trees, plants and flowers — not to mention a happening place for parties.

Mr. Saint, who has worked in theater for decades and more recently was an associate producer on the 2021 film “West Side Story,” has entertained numerous celebrities there, including Marlo Thomas, Tyne Daly and Steven Spielberg, along with the casts of many shows. “When people come to visit the apartment, they don’t want to leave the terrace,” he said.

But Mr. Saint is now ready to do just that. After a breakup with his partner, with whom he had shared the apartment for several years, he said he had determined that “it’s time for me to move away — it’s a new chapter.” He is selling the penthouse for $4.995 million, according to the listing broker, James Foreman of Brown Harris Stevens; monthly carrying charges total $8,633.