Reykjavík’s Favorite Daughter Gets Iced Out

It appears that the peculiar and wonderful pairing that is Matthew Barney and Björk is looking to resettle in downtown Manhattan—but not without a fight. The artist behind the Cremaster films and the singer-actress, who together have a daughter and divide their time between Iceland and the former Noël Coward house near Palisades, New York, were recently outfoxed in their attempt to buy a penthouse at 136 Baxter Street, a former warehouse known as the Machinery Exchange. (Moby is said to have seriously considered the same apartment.) The 2,700-square-foot duplex—one of two, priced at $4.95 million—has a 40-foot-long living-and-dining room, three bedrooms, a working fireplace, and a 1,600-square-foot wraparound terrace. A source close to the building says the artists were nearly ready to make an offer when the apartment was snapped up by an unnamed buyer.

Reykjavík’s Favorite Daughter Gets Iced Out