For years, Mariska Hargitay’s television life has unfolded on the streets of New York City. Away from the cameras, however, the Law & Order: SVU star was building a very different New York story with her husband, actor Peter Hermann, and their three children.
One particularly memorable chapter took place inside an enormous Upper West Side townhouse that the couple purchased in 2012 for $10.7 million. Spread across six levels and nearly 7,000 square feet, the property became their family home before they eventually decided that their needs had changed and put it on the market. Architectural Digest
And the RARE PHOTOS from inside reveal a home far more colorful and personal than its elegant Manhattan exterior might suggest.
A Manhattan Home Built Around Family Life
Hargitay and Hermann married in 2004 and went on to raise three children together: August, Amaya and Andrew. By the time photographs of their townhouse were released with its 2018 listing, the house had clearly been designed around the realities of a busy family.
It wasn’t a small celebrity apartment tucked high inside a Manhattan tower. It was an entire townhouse stretching vertically across six floors.
The residence measured approximately 6,925 square feet and included five bedrooms, six full bathrooms, three powder rooms and a private elevator. Huge rear windows flooded the lower levels with daylight, while the back of the property opened onto a landscaped garden. Architectural Digest
The Yellow Kitchen Nobody Could Forget
Then there was the kitchen.
Rather than choosing the neutral white-and-gray palette found in so many luxury properties, the family went in the opposite direction. The double-height kitchen featured extraordinarily bright yellow cabinetry surrounding a large island.
It became one of the home’s signature spaces.
Nearby was an informal dining area looking toward the garden. Floor-to-ceiling windows made the already tall room feel even larger, while doors opened directly onto the outdoor entertaining space and its built-in barbecue. Architectural Digest
But one detail made the kitchen especially personal.
Hermann said there was a large chalkboard-painted wall where the family had recorded memories from their years in the house. When the time came to leave, he singled it out as something he would particularly miss. Architectural Digest
And Then There Were All Those Stairs
A six-story Manhattan townhouse inevitably comes with stairs — plenty of them.
Fortunately, the residence also had a private elevator. Still, one of its most striking architectural features was a staircase covered in vivid teal-blue material.
The staircase turned something purely practical into one of the boldest visual statements in the house.
The blue continued elsewhere in the residence. In the dining room, teal walls framed large windows overlooking the garden, creating another splash of color against otherwise understated furnishings. Architectural Digest
Their Children’s Rooms Were Anything but Ordinary
Some of the most charming details appeared upstairs.
One bedroom previously used by the couple’s youngest son had bright blue window frames, whimsical orange sailboat wallpaper and a bed constructed to resemble a ship. Architectural Digest
It was a playful departure from the polished rooms downstairs and offered one of the clearest glimpses of the fact that this multimillion-dollar property wasn’t simply a showpiece.
Children actually grew up there.
An Entire Floor for Mariska and Peter
The third floor was reserved for the primary suite.
It included two walk-in closets, a dressing room opening onto a small terrace and a large marble bathroom. The bathroom itself featured double sinks, a soaking tub and a separate steam shower. Architectural Digest
Above it, the remaining bedrooms occupied the higher floors.
And the house kept going.
At the top was a flexible penthouse-style space surrounded by two terraces. Listing materials suggested it could serve as a media room, guest room or writer’s studio. Down below, meanwhile, a finished basement provided yet another flexible family or entertainment space. Architectural Digest
The RARE PHOTOS Reveal the House’s Unexpected Personality
Seen room by room, the house was an unusual mixture.
There were sophisticated neutral living spaces and marble bathrooms, but also yellow cabinets, turquoise stairs, blue walls and children’s rooms filled with whimsical details.
Those RARE PHOTOS help explain why the townhouse stood out even among Manhattan celebrity homes. It was luxurious, certainly, but it didn’t appear designed simply to look expensive.
There were unmistakably personal choices throughout it.
Why They Eventually Left
In 2018, Hargitay and Hermann listed the townhouse for $10.75 million.
Hermann explained at the time that their family’s needs had changed, although the couple intended to remain on the Upper West Side. Architectural Digest
The property ultimately sold in 2019 for $9.75 million — about $1 million below both the original asking price and what the couple had paid for it in 2012. Architectural Digest
That meant closing the door on a house that had witnessed a particularly important stretch of their children’s childhoods.
And perhaps that is what makes the 10+ RARE PHOTOS from inside more interesting than the property’s multimillion-dollar price tag.
Behind the elegant Upper West Side façade was a surprisingly playful family home: a yellow kitchen, brilliant blue stairs, a child’s ship-shaped bed, walls that recorded family memories, a garden hidden behind Manhattan buildings and enough rooms to spread family life across six entire floors.
For Hargitay and Hermann, it wasn’t simply another piece of celebrity real estate.
For several years, it was home.
For more glimpses into celebrity lives, take a peek at Miranda Lambert’s transformation at 42 or see the photos of Jennifer Lopez stepping out with a younger man. And for another touching story about Mariska, you won’t want to miss the secret she shared with her father.
