Lawyerly Lairs: Alan Dershowitz Takes Manhattan

Alan Dershowitz, the prominent criminal defense lawyer and Harvard Law School professor, just purchased a Manhattan apartment. How fabulous is it? And how much did he pay for it?

Professor Dershowitz’s house in Cambridge is located at 26 Reservoir Street. Before some of you start scolding us for revealing his address — back in 2009, the controversial professor was the rumored target of a white-powder scare — we refer you to the publicly available listing (emphasis added):

Located in desirable West Cambridge on top of Reservoir Hill, the Alan Dershowitz residence is a wonderful blend of whimsical fantasy and modern functionality. Grand living spaces and soaring ceilings abound, and walls of windows in an idyllic wooded setting provide beautiful feng shui and synergy between outside and in. Built on the site of the Old Cambridge Reservoir and situated very near Brattle Street, Harvard Square and Huron Village. Indoor lap pool and hot tub, Japanese garden.

The “Alan Dershowitz residence” — where he lived for many years with his wife, psychologist Carolyn Cohen — sounds pretty awesome. If you have $3.95 million to spare and live in the Boston area — holla, Ropes & Gray and WilmerHale partners — it’s worth looking into.

(Perhaps Harvard Law School can buy the house and use it to woo faculty? How else can HLS compete with NYU, which has $3.5 million, $3.6 million, and $5.2 million properties in its portfolio?)

Just as many people strongly disagree with Professor Dershowitz’s views — say, on Israel (affiliate link), or Casey Anthony — some might dissent from his interior decoration as well:

But before you throw stones at this glass (and wood) house, read this delightful article from the Harvard Crimson, a detailed review of this notable home and its contents. Many of the items seen in the living room and dining room above are precious works from Dershowitz and Cohen’s extensive collection of art and antiquities (which has received shout-outs in the New York Times, among other outlets). If you can’t appreciate them, you are probably just a Philistine.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at the private spaces of a public intellectual. If you know of a property owned by a prominent lawyer that we should profile in these pages, feel free to drop us a line.

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Alan Dershowitz Exercises Constitutional Property Rights, Buys Sutton Place Pad [New York Observer]
FM Cribs: Alan M. Dershowitz [Harvard Crimson]
45 Sutton Place South, Apt. 16F [Prudential Douglas Elliman]
26 Reservoir Street [Hammond Residential Real Estate]
26 Reservoir Street [Zillow]

Earlier: Quote of the Day: Dershowitz Defends the Casey Anthony Verdict
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