Rather Modest UES Townhouse Has Five Floors, Seven Fireplaces, Two Kitchens, Mail Center and Elevator
We’ve pretty much seen it all when it comes to no-holds-barred luxury in an Upper East Side townhouse, and this five-story, 7,000 square-foot specimen at 17 East 83rd Street is by no means the most opulent. But when the listing starts with “elevator townhouse,” you know you’re probably not in for a lot of skimping. And when you learn there’s a “separate service entrance/mudroom with paw washer,” and a “mail center,” well, Billionaire’s Row is looking a just a bit like Dogpatch…
The current owners of this Manhattan mansion—an investor and an interior designer—purchased it for $2.9 million in 1998, which, sure, was 20 years ago, but if they get anywhere close to their ask of $24.5 million, it’s still quite a payday. A tidy sum, it’s true, must have been spent on renovations in this townhouse-that-treats-you-like-a five-star-hotel–though now that we think of it, where’s the pool?
Daily life–social and otherwise–is going to run a lot more smoothly if you live here, to say the least. Resulting from that no-detail-overlooked renovation, modern luxury and grand historic detail are beautifully placed just where everyone loves them, starting with a wrought-iron gated entry and a radiant heat marble forecourt and bluestone sidewalk (so no snow shoveling necessary). Once inside, s a gracious limestone foyer shows off bespoke paneling and a dramatically curving staircase with hand-carved balusters.
A gleaming chef’s kitchen (because of course you’ll have a chef) offers Calacatta marble surfaces, a SubZero refrigerator and freezer, a Viking range, Miele dishwasher, and a gas fireplace.
Adjacent, a separate breakfast room opens to a magical privet-hedge-lined garden with a pergola and an “impressive 11.5′ limestone fountain hand-carved by a master carver at St. John the Divine.” Also on this lower floor are the aforementioned mudroom with paw washer and mail center plus walls lined with closets and storage.
On the ascent, 13-foot ceilings and wide-plank mahogany floors frame the parlor floor, where a formal living room boasts seventeenth-century Jacobean paneling from England, custom plaster ceiling moldings and a wood-burning fireplace. A dining room offers yet another wood-burning fireplace; tucked away here also is a fully-loaded butler’s pantry with appliances by SubZero, a washer/dryer, and a Juliette balcony with views of your lovely garden…and the Metropolitan Museum.
On the third floor is a media room with yet another wood-burning fireplace and marble mantel and a wet bar.
Opposite you’ll find a mahogany-paneled library with a coffered leather and mahogany ceiling, another wood-burning fireplace (you’ll need to commission your own forest if you’re serious about those fireplaces) and a “restaurant-grade cigar-smoke ventilation system.” Also here is a full bath and a guest bedroom with a Juliette balcony.
On floor four is the master bedroom, where you’ll find a totally unexpected wood-burning fireplace, a cedar closet, and an en-suite powder room.
The master bath/dressing room across the hall has a gas fireplace (because there are no trees left?), radiant-heated antique stone floors and an “antique stone water ‘cave’ with several showerheads and body sprays and an oversized bath tub set under an antique stone mosaic covered apse with hand-carved lion’s head fountain,” plus lots of closets and wardrobe storage, of course.
Steps away from the bed and bath is a gorgeous window-wrapped exercise room with endless ceilings (we wouldn’t really ever use the pool anyway). Two more bedrooms with ensuite baths and and a laundry room live up here also.
And the ascent continues: The ipe wood-decked rooftop boasts lattice walls and built-in seating.
Going down! Lest we forget the basement, it boasts a 2,500-bottle capacity wine cellar, a game room, and lots of storage (because where would we put things, otherwise?). In addition to that exhaustive list of luxury necessities, there’s that mahogany-paneled commercial elevator, Lutron (lighting) and Crestron (electronics) systems and a video-surveillance security system.
And, of course, there’s the security of knowing that you’re perfectly placed amid what are arguably upper Manhattan’s most sought-after and elegant blocks, a half-block from Central Park, surrounded by museums, galleries, historic townhouses, shopping and dining that have changed relatively little since the Gilded Age–and express subways that have improved significantly since then.
[Listing: 17 East 83rd Street by Sabrina Saltiel and Jennine Gourin for Douglas Elliman]
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Images courtesy of Douglas Elliman
