Mansions

September 24, 2015

Live Your Versailles Fantasies in This Gilded Upper East Side Mansion for $60K/Month

There are undoubtedly many grand mansions of this kind in the rarified environs of the Upper East Side, some even grander and gold-er–but they don't pop up among the rental listings too often. This triplex palace at 10 East 62nd Street is clearly in search of someone who is looking to make an impression. The rental bill is steep at $60,000 a month, but, again, there are plenty of big-ticket rentals around. What you're getting for your monthly outlay is less about substance than it is about 5,600 square feet of gold-and-marble-covered, let-them-eat-cake opulence–in addition to four bedrooms, two living rooms, two kitchens, and an elevator, just to start with. The home has been on and off the rental market for several years–on the last go-round it was asking $48k (which is still in the listing title, though the listing body names the higher rent), and that was just a year ago. So whomever's behind the pricing has faith in the city's booming economy.
More of this gilded palace

Distinctive Homes

August 31, 2015

A Price Cut for a Gated Mansion in Jamaica Estates, Queens

By Emily Nonko

Yes, you can live in a 6,500-square-foot, five bedroom mansion right in New York City. It's here, at 184-15 Hovendon Road in Jamaica Estates, Queens. The neighborhood is known for its large plots and spacious freestanding homes, but this property takes it to the next level. Not only is it gated in, but the interior is awash in marble, coffered ceilings and Venetian plaster walls. It's got a new asking price since it first hit the market last year, with a price chop down from $3.488 million to $3.388 million.
Check out this interior

Roman Abramovich; View of the three townhouses — 11, 13, 15 (from L to R)

July 24, 2015

Roman Abramovich Closes on Third UES Townhouse for His $80M Makeshift Mansion

By Dana Schulz

At the beginning of the year, news broke that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had secretly bought a townhouse at 11 East 75th Street for $29.7 million, which followed his purchase of a townhouse two doors down for $18.3 million a month earlier. So, of course, we all assumed that he would snatch up the townhouse wedged in between to create his very own makeshift mansion. And now it's official, as the Daily News reports today that Abramovich has closed on the townhouse at 13 East 75th Street for $30 million, bringing his total up to nearly $80 million.
Find out more here

June 10, 2015

$120M UES Townhouses-to-Mansion Combo Officially Hits the Market

By Dana Schulz

On Monday, news broke that the three Upper East Side townhouses owned by the billionaire Safra family were being quietly marketed as a $120 million combination to be turned into one giant mega-mansion. Today, the listing at 12-16 East 62nd Street has officially hit the market, and there's some pretty impressive floorplans to give prospective buyers an idea of how their palatial home could look. Also up for grabs is the brownstone next door to the trifecta at 18 East 62nd Street. This wouldn't combine as easily as the other three, as their cornices, ceilings, and floors all line up, but it could make a pretty spectacular guest house.
Ogle the floorplans here

Distinctive Homes

Three UES Townhouses List for $120M, Could Be Single-Family Mansion

12-16 East 62nd Street via NYDN

June 8, 2015

Three UES Townhouses List for $120M, Could Be Single-Family Mansion

By Dana Schulz

Most of us can only dream of owning a townhouse on the Upper East Side, so the idea of having three of them seems downright silly. But that's exactly what's for sale on East 62nd Street–three adjacent townhouses that are being sold as a package deal for their potential to be combined into one giant, 30,000-square-foot mansion. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the $120 million listing, and the Daily News revealed that the billionaire Safra family, of Brazilian banking fame, is behind the company listed as the seller. Currently, the three limestone, six-story homes at 12, 14, and 16 East 62nd Street are divided into 13 apartments with one doorman, though they can be delivered vacant. Together they boast 23 fireplaces, 11 terraces, and two roof decks. What makes the trifecta perfect for a combination is the fact that the homes are pretty much identical, with their cornices, ceilings, and floors all lining up.
More details ahead

Distinctive Homes

May 7, 2015

Former Beekman Home of CBS Founder Lowers Price to $37.5M

By Aisha Carter

This palatial Beekman Place mansion, designed by Eldridge Snyder, has served as a domicile to the head of CBS and to the shah of Iran's twin sister. The majestic home stands eight levels tall, with eight to ten bedrooms covering 10,500 square feet. Unfortunately, the home has had a visit from the price chopper, falling from an initial asking of $49.9 million in February 2014 to a current asking of a much lower $37.5 million.
More pics inside

The Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate of Brooklyn’s… Gravesend?

Image: Nest Seekers International

April 28, 2015

The Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate of Brooklyn’s… Gravesend?

By Emily Nonko

When people talk about expensive Brooklyn real estate, the conversation often revolves around the well-kept townhouses in Brownstone Brooklyn, the waterfront condos of Williamsburg, the freestanding mansions of Prospect Park South. Gravesend is not a neighborhood that’s on most New Yorkers' minds. But this South Brooklyn enclave, bordered by Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Bensonhurst and the waterfront, sees some of the highest home sales in all of Kings County. Here, it’s not uncommon for selling prices to break the $10 million mark. Two years ago, a home hit the market for $14 million. So what’s happening in Gravesend? Simply put, this is not your average New York City real estate market. This neighborhood is home to the largest Sephardic Jewish community in the United States, and real estate is dominated by proximity to synagogues and Jewish Community Centers. That pressure for proximity has driven real estate prices into the multi-millions.
Learn more about the unique Gravesend real estate market…

November 11, 2014

Beautiful Upper East Side Fairytale Mansion Now $2M Less

By Rebecca Paul

The fairy tale of New York City is constantly unfolding, and this one-of-a-kind Upper East Side townhouse will surely set the scene for a romantic urban happily ever after. This home, originally built in 1893 by A. B. Ogden and Son, is located at 5 East 93rd Street, a stone's throw away from 5th Avenue and Central Park. Within the last few years the entire property was completely restored, and the elaborate detailing that went into the design of this home is immaculate. The listing price for this property is $17.95 million—and yep, if you’ve been following, it's dropped almost $2 million from its February listing price.
READ MORE

October 19, 2014

Inside the Historic $6M Bed-Stuy Mansion with a Presidential Connection

By Diane Pham

Bed-Stuy's most expensive single-family home has a set of new photos that gives us a closer look into the work that's been put into bringing this storied home back to life. Designed by Montrose Morris and modeled after a Gilded Age Vanderbilt mansion along Fifth Avenue, this spectacular house known as 'The Kelley Mansion' was built for water meter magnate John Kelley in 1900. The mansion was a favorite hangout of Kelley's pal President Grover Cleveland and has for the better part of its existence been affectionately referred to as the 'Grand Dame' of Hancock Street. The home fell into disrepair over the decades, but savior Claudia Moran, a retired ad exec, dedicated a great deal of her time and money restoring the mansion after buying it up for just $7,500 in the 1980s. It's now selling for $6 million.
Take a look inside the incredible mansion

August 15, 2014

Architecture Day Trip: Visit the Mansions of Gatsby’s “Gold Coast”

By Jason Carpenter

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is an immortal novel about Long Island millionaires in the Roaring Twenties, inspired by actual parties Fitzgerald attended at the time. The Jazz Age mansions of Long Island's "Gold Coast" certainly represent a bygone era, but you can still visit several of these Gatsby-esque architectural relics today.
Plan your architecture day trip here

Manhattan Mansions: 5 of the Biggest (We Mean Gigantic) Single-Family Homes

By Jason Carpenter

Everyone knows Manhattan is all about high-rise condos, tall apartment buildings, and any other kind of building in which people live above other people. But it wasn't always that way. A hundred years ago, there was still room on this small island for the ultra-rich to build mansions all to themselves, single-family homes with the square footage of a castle. Today many of these buildings, all "Millionaire's Row" mansions in the Upper East Side, belong to museums and schools, but the question remains: What are the biggest buildings in Manhattan today that were built as single-family homes?
See our list of mansions here

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