Why live in a 15th-century Scottish castle when you can be living the dream in New York City?
The Upper East Side just got a lot funnier now that Scottish-born comedian Craig Ferguson — former host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS — and his wife, Megan Wallace Cunningham, have sold their Scotland castle and picked up a classic co-op on the Upper East Side for $1.79 million.
The two-bedroom, 1½-bathroom unit is in the East 80s, a block from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park — and it comes decorated by the seller, an interior designer.
The couple paid the full asking price.
“We’re very happy to be back in New York,” Ferguson told Gimme Shelter by phone on a drive back to the city from Maine.
“When I was in my 20s in New York, I lived in the East Village, and I always thought, ‘If I ever make any money, I’m going to get a place on the Upper East Side.’ It was an aspirational thing for me. I always kind of loved this neighborhood,” he said.
It’s also where he met his wife, Megan, back when she worked at an Upper East Side art gallery.
He also loves to do live comedy shows in New York and hosts his podcast, “Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson,” in person with his one-on-one guest format.
“If you want to do a podcast in person, you kind of have to go to where people live, and that’s one of the many reasons why we moved back to New York,” Ferguson said.
Like all New Yorkers, Ferguson has his favorite neighborhood food haunts. In his case, that means the not-so-fancy-fancy Three Guys diner and Nectar on Madison Avenue, as well as Saba’s Pizza on Lexington.
Last August, Ferguson sold his 13-bedroom castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, for around $5.3 million within weeks of listing it, the Daily Mail reported. The couple had bought it in 2021, and it came with a five-bedroom coach house and three smaller cottages — and 1.8 miles of salmon and trout fishing.
Ferguson also sold a second Scottish estate. Then, with his youngest child in high school, it was time, he said, to return to New York.
Ferguson was repped in the New York apartment transaction by Corcoran’s Gino Filippone, who said he was under strict instructions to limit the house hunt to a five-block radius, from Fifth to Madison and Park avenues, and never farther east.
The family’s new home boasts original prewar details like hardwood floors and moldings. It opens to a large foyer with a mural painted by the studio Happy Menocal. There’s also a large living and dining area plus a study on one side and a windowed kitchen on the other. The bedrooms share a bath.
The listing broker was Ria Browne of Compass.
Ferguson hosted “The Late Late Show” for nearly a decade and quit in December of 2014.
Now, he said, he’s thrilled to be back in New York and testing out new material and performing.
