A Chic SoHo Loft Owned by Sela Ward Returns to the Market

The Four Percent

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The actress Sela Ward is selling her SoHo pied-à-terre, an expansive prewar loft on a quiet, cobblestone block that she bought more than four years ago and renovated into a comfortable and chic urban retreat.

The roughly 2,400-square-foot apartment is on the second floor of 16 Crosby Street, between Howard and Grand Streets, in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The five-story former factory, built in 1877, has 12 co-op units.

Credit…Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Ms. Ward, a two-time Emmy Award winner, and her husband, the entrepreneur Howard Sherman, who have their main residence in Meridian, Miss., are listing the loft for $5.795 million; monthly maintenance is $900.

The couple paid $4.2 million for the unit in the late summer of 2016, after a lengthy home search. “We kept going into buildings with four or five cubicle rooms,” Ms. Ward said. “I felt so claustrophobic. I didn’t feel like I could breathe.”

But when she saw the downtown loft, it was love at first sight. “I walked into the space and saw the 14-foot ceilings and all the light streaming in from the windows, and I said, ‘I think I’m home,’” she recalled.

Before settling in, the couple embarked on a top-to-bottom overhaul of the place that took more than a year. They kept some of the original industrial elements, including the ornate tin ceiling, stately cast-iron columns and exposed brick, adding various custom touches: an open marble kitchen with a breakfast bar, separate banquette seating, steel-and-glass French doors, oak floors and numerous built-ins. The couple also created a glass-enclosed mezzanine with extra storage space.

“The scale of this loft, and the design, is really gorgeous — there’s a real wow factor when you open the door,” said Mark Schoenfeld, a broker with the Corcoran Group who is listing the property with his colleague Joseph Pullen. “It’s not your typical SoHo loft. It’s sexy and sophisticated.”

Ms. Ward, who is also an artist and whose bold paintings hang in the apartment, said she had help with the design, working alongside Ann Carter, a Mississippi designer, and Warren Freyer, of Freyer Collaborative Architects, in the financial district.

“We just created different spaces that weren’t there,” Ms. Ward said. “This is like an art project for me.” With each new home, she added, “I have a canvas.”

The space is configured with two bedrooms and a media room that has a Murphy bed and automated curtains that convert it into a third bedroom. There are also two full bathrooms, a half bathroom and a laundry room.

The entry is through a 28-by-27-foot great room lined with 10-foot, east-facing windows. The large space has areas for lounging and dining, and includes the media room.

Off a gallery near the dining area is the primary bedroom suite, which contains a dressing room, walk-in closet and a large spalike bathroom with a separate soaking tub. A second bedroom and bathroom are on the south end of the apartment, along with the laundry room and powder room. The unit also comes with a 340-square-foot storage room in the building’s basement; it includes closets and two refrigerators, one for wine.

Contemporary furnishings can be found throughout the home, along with a bit of whimsy in the form of a wooden Ping-Pong table that converts into a dining table for dinner parties.

Ms. Ward has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies over the years; she received Emmys for her roles in the drama series “Once and Again” and “Sisters.” More recently, she worked on the TV drama show “FBI,” and was able to spend time in the SoHo apartment during filming in New York.

Her favorite spot in the loft: a window seat overlooking Crosby Street. “I’d have coffee there and watch people go by on the street,” she said.

While she and Mr. Sherman have enjoyed being in SoHo, they are looking for a larger apartment in Manhattan, perhaps closer to Central Park, to better accommodate their two grown children. “When my kids are there, especially with their significant others, we’re all on top of each other,” she said of the loft.

The idea of designing from scratch again appeals to Ms. Ward, who has also owned homes in California and Florida. In 2016, she sold her estate in Bel Air, Calif., to Jennifer Lopez.

“I love to create spaces,” she said, “and I’ll create another one that’s different and equally fun.”