A Building With Possibilities, on East 77th Street, Is Listed for $18 Million

Maurice Kanbar never saw the sense in accepting things as they were. The lifelong inventor and entrepreneur, who died in 2022 at age 93, developed, among other things, a comb for “defuzzing” sweaters, New York’s first multiplex cinema, and Skyy vodka, which he — somewhat dubiously — claimed wouldn’t leave you with a hangover.

Tall tales of miracle booze aside, Mr. Kanbar was also a real estate investor, and built up an enviable portfolio of properties that included a Neo-Renaissance mansion at 4 East 77th Street, which is being put up for sale. The 11,395-square-foot property features a ground-floor duplex that currently houses the Michael Werner Gallery. Both of those floors were fully renovated in 1990 by Mr. Werner with the architect Annabelle Selldorf.

There are four apartments above the art gallery: Two are floor-throughs, each with two bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, on the third and fifth floors. There are two one-bedroom units on the fourth floor. Mr. Kanbar lived in the apartment on the fifth floor and had a 15-by-19-foot terrace.

“When we would visit, it was so much fun for our kids,” said Stacey Kanbar of Compass, Mr. Kanbar’s niece by marriage and the co-listing agent with Leonard Steinberg. “He was like a mad scientist. Every surface was covered with such interesting artifacts. It was such a treat for any creative person’s eyes.”