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Historic Upper East Side mansion sells for $57 million after buyer viewed the property in FACETIME — and paid millions more for all the furnishings: The house has six beds, a pool, and a sauna
- The Upper East Side mansion, built in the 1870s, sold for $57 million in an off-market deal with a South African buyer
- The seller, who works in the financial sector and paid $16 million for the house in 2012, was an entity associated with Felice Lasalvia di Clemente, who has served as an executive in the Italian organic grocery industry.
- The buyer, based in South Africa, viewed the property on FaceTime during the year it took for the deal to close
- The 9,200-square-foot home has six bedrooms, staff rooms, a private indoor pool and sauna
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A historic mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has been sold for $57 million to a buyer in South Africa after he viewed the property via FaceTime.
The move-in ready home on East 68th Street spans 9,200 square feet, excluding two floors below street level, and features six bedrooms, staff rooms, and an indoor pool and sauna.
It’s the most expensive price per square foot ($6,200) ever for an Upper East Side mansion, according to salesman Ryan Serhant, who appears on Bravo reality show Million Dollar Listing.
The off-market deal of the 22-foot-wide property, which took a year to complete due to the language barrier with the buyer, was priced in the low range of $50 million with millions added to include the home’s furnishings.
The buyer, who has not been identified, is based in South Africa and wanted to wait for recent renovations to be completed before closing. They didn’t view the property in person until the deal was close to closing, instead monitoring the expensive purchase via FaceTime calls.
A historic mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has been sold for $57 million in an off-market deal to a buyer in South Africa after he viewed the property via FaceTime
It’s the most expensive price per square foot ($6,200) ever for an Upper East Side mansion, according to salesman Ryan Serhant, who appears on Bravo reality show Million Dollar Listing.
According to the Wall Street Journalthe seller was an entity associated with Felice Lasalvia di Clemente, a director of an Italian supermarket chain, and paid $16 million for the mansion in 2012.
It is just a block and a half from Central Park and steps from the chic boutiques of Madison Avenue.
The property is located in the most coveted area of the Upper East Side, with addresses west of Lexington Avenue traditionally priced higher than those closer to the East River.
The new owner can also keep an eye on high-profile neighbors – both famous and infamous. Woody Allen has long lived on the Upper East Side, as have Drew Barrymore, Bill Murray, and Samuel L Jackson.
Past residents have included the disgraced Fox News boss Roger Ailes, Jeffrey Epstein and his imprisoned Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, whose former property was on East 65th Street.
The image on the left is a representation of a facade proposed in 2015. The photo on the right is of the front facade before the renovation. The terraced house was first adapted in the neoclassical style by Morris & O’Connor in 1932
A street view of the mansion as renovations were completed. Buyer waited for completion before closing
Loy Carlos of Serhant represented the seller with brokerage founder Ryan Serhant. He added that the mansion was in the $50 million range, but the final price was higher with the addition of the furniture.
According to Carlos, Italian craftsmen were hired by the sellers for the interior of the house. He added that some of the interiors were designed by Achille Salvagni, an Italian architect known for designing ultra-luxury yachts.
The Upper East Side property, designed by RW Buckley, was built in 1879 and modified in 1932 by Morris & O’Connor in the Neoclassical style, according to the non-profit Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.
In 2015, more renovations were proposed, including reconstruction of the front facade, alterations to the roof and rear facade, removal of the fifth-floor balcony and work to excavate the basement.