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Maya Angelou's former home sells for record amount

UPDATE: We first visited Maya Angelous’ historic Harlem townhouse this past winter when it was on the market for over $5 million. The brownstone just sold for $4.085 million, still a record for the area based on price per square foot. Yahoo Finance was given a private tour of her Harlem residence when it first hit the market.

Maya Angelou—poet, civil rights activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient—savvy real estate owner? In 2002, Angelou bought a five-story, century-old brownstone in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City for an undisclosed amount of cash. She died in 2014, and now her estate has put the home on the market for $5.1 million—a record for the historic neighborhood.

Valon Nikci of Link NY Realty is the exclusive broker for the listing. He tells Yahoo Finance, “Someone purchasing this beautiful, single family brownstone, in a way, will obtain a part of cultural history.”

A gut renovation restored the home to its former glory, including the wood-carved staircase banister, parlor-level wainscoting, and an ornate oak front door. There is plenty of Angelou’s influence throughout, including stained-glass doors depicting the silhouette of an African woman. And she chose all of the tiles for the home’s eight bathrooms, each with its own distinct look.

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The home boasts five bedrooms, including Angelou’s master suite with a fireplace and spacious library. Bookshelves abound throughout the home – after all, she had to put all those award winning poems, memoirs, and cookbooks somewhere!

Gone are the bursts of bold and bright colors throughout the home, which she described as “a bowl of fruit.“ She added contemporary touches, like recessed lighting and an elevator (Angelou was 74 when she bought the home).

Angelou’s favorite spot, we’re told, was a small nook on the lower level, where she would have her morning coffee and write.

And it was in the kitchen, with its original fireplace, that Angelou whipped up her signature smothered chicken. And it was in the home’s living room that she entertained friends likes of Oprah Winfrey and Cicely Tyson.

And to top it all off there’s a little piece of real-estate gold in New York City – a cozy backyard.

Maya Angelou described her home as a refuge, not only from the world, but from her worries and troubles. Whose refuge will it be next?

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