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• The sale could help the financially troubled photographer, who reportedly owes Art Capital Group $24million from a 2009 loan

By Olivia Fleming

PUBLISHED: 13:23 EST, 7 December 2012 | UPDATED: 15:19 EST, 7 December 2012

Photographer Annie Leibovitz has decided to sell her West Village home, which she has lived in for a decade, for $33 million.

Composed of three separate townhouses, one for living, one for office  space and one as guest quarters, the buildings surround a slate patio and private courtyard garden.

A labor of love, Ms Leibovitz, 63, created the compound after she purchased all three buildings on the corner of Greenwich Street in Manhattan for $6.1million, and gut-renovated all three homes.

The brick buildings, in a Greek Revival style, date back to the 1830s, and include 13 fireplaces in all, with a combined total of more than 10,200 square feet.

Inside the main home, a main feature is Ms Leibovitz's wide-plank wood floors, which are offset by high ceilings. There is also a formal dining room and chef's kitchen.

The building that includes the photographers studio has a large reception room.

Listing broker Paula Del Nunzio, of Brown Harris Stevens said: 'It's very rare to have something like this. She created it.'

Ms Leibovitz, best known for her portraits of celebrities such as a Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, a pregnant Demi Moore, and even the Queen, began assembling the property in 2002.

She purchased the first two buildings for $4.2 million, and later acquiring the third townhouse for $1.9 million.

However in 2009, she was sued over a dispute over the terms of a loan repayment that involved her townhouses and photo archives, which creditors claimed she had put up as collateral, and saw her narrowly miss having to file for bankruptcy.

She had borrowed $15.5million after experiencing financial challenges due to the then recent loss of her father, her mother, and her long-time partner, Susan Sontag, as well as the addition of twins to to her family, and the controversial renovation of the three West Village properties.

At the time, The New York Times noted 'one of the world’s most successful photographers essentially pawned every snap of the shutter she had made or will make until the loans are paid off.'

A breach of contract lawsuit against Ms Leibovitz was filed by Art Capital Group for $24 million regarding the repayment of her loans.

However Art Capital Group withdrew its lawsuit against Ms Leibovitz a few months later in 2009 and extended the due date for repayment of the $24 million loan. Under the agreement, Ms Leibovitz continues to retain control over her work, and is still the 'exclusive agent in the sale of her real property (land) and copyrights.'

According to Ms Del Nunzio, Ms Leibovitz is selling the buildings because she plans to move uptown to be closer to the school of her three daughters - Sarah Cameron Leibovitz who was born in 2001, and her twin girls, Susan and Samuelle, who were born to a surrogate mother in 2005.

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