Stunning $13 Million Birkenstock Penthouse Takes You Around the World in 3,500sqft
Alex Birkenstock, heir to the shoe brand worn in colleges across the U.S., is selling his Setai Wall Street penthouse and he’s asking $12.995 million. If you’re into movies like Back to the Future or the episodes of Family Guy where Stewie and Brian hop in the time machine, you’ll get a kick out of this amazing apartment. With the help of Steve Harivel, one of the designers behind the famous Soho House hotel, this 3,500-square-foot pad seamlessly blends modern technology and vintage charm… and the best part is the furniture is included. If you’re already screaming like you got called to the front in The Price is Right, just wait until you see what this place has in store.
You can enter this apartment from one of two entrances, one of which greets you with hardwood floors made from reclaimed wood from the Portuguese embassy in Paris. The loft has two separate wings off opposite sides of the main living space, separated by retractable glass garage doors. One of those doors closes to create a more private master suite that essentially becomes its own one bedroom apartment. The other door detaches a corner living area as well as a large sauna bathroom. This bathroom was modeled after a 15th century church in Palma, Italy and is decorated with reclaimed floral patterned, hand-cut, blue stone tiles from 1930s Belgium, and a stone tub imported from Mexico. But as if that’s not impressive enough, that stone tub was sculpted from one single stone. That’s not a stone tub. That’s pure art.
1920s stainless steel Art Deco doors that were rescued from a theater in Hawaii introduce the kitchen. Just iike the rest of the apartment this gourmet haven marries the old with the new, featuring top-of-the-line appliances right alongside custom-treated zinc and brass cabinetry and a tin ceiling made with reclaimed tin from institutional buildings. Two floor-to-ceiling Gagganeau wine refrigerators and a 16-foot metal bar are right off the kitchen, so guests can drink until they forget what century they’re in… responsibly of course.
Harivel didn’t forget about the powder room while he was designing this residential U.N. The half bath, situated near the kitchen, has patterned encaustic tiles reclaimed from the 1920s on its walls, and another Art Deco stainless steel door from the flapper decade.
More historical and cultural conversation pieces this place contains are a 1908 two-tier converted gas reflective chandelier; two Murano glass chandeliers; Napoleon III chairs; tufted sofas in mohair; vintage French leather club chairs; industrial factory lights and tables; 1920s street lights from Brussels; and a 130-year-old, 1000lb steel & brass safe from Bank of France in Vichy France to indulge your inner Scrooge McDuck. Pair that with divine views of the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center, the modern touch of a 50-inch television that descends from the ceiling, and motorized blinds to pry your eyes from the heart-melting sunset, and you’ll have to pinch yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming.
The remarkable Setai penthouse sits on the 30th floor of the Setai Wall Street, a full service building that offers 44,000 square feet of hotel amenities, including fitness and relaxation at the Setai Club and Spa, and dining at the Exchange Restaurant. With a condo like this, in a building like the Setai, it might be hard to coax you out of your apartment, but if you ever get some vitamin D (and no, we don’t mean from those breathtaking views), there’s plenty to do in the area. The Setai is in the heart of the Financial District, with Wall Street, Cipriani Club 55, Anthony Bourdain’s Brasserie Les Halles Downtown, and New York’s oldest restaurant The Bridge Café right at your feet.
We hope listing agent Daniel Hedaya of Platinum Properties is drinking plenty of water these days because listing off this property’s attributes would cause anyone’s mouth to go dry. But what else can you expect of the home of a Birkenstock. It appears that just like his family’s eponymous shoe brand, Alex Birkenstock’s apartment is lonely at the top and well worth the price.
[Listing: 40 Broad Street, Penthouse by Platinum Properties]
Photos courtesy of Platinum Properties
