real estate price cuts

La Selva Back On The Market

Filed under: Estates

One of my favorite properties is back on the market and for a lower price than ever. La Selva is Italian Renaissance mansion in Upper Brookville, New York built for investor Henry Sanderson in 1915. It's a classic American example of the exuberance of wealth. The 40-room villa on 24 acres was used by the Roman Catholic Church as the St. Francis Retreat House and next went to Sylvia Kumar, wife of imprisoned former Computer Associates chief Sanjay Kumar. Sanjay Kumar was ordered by a federal judge to pay back $798 million to shareholders after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud. The home was bought by Sylvia Kumar from St. Francis Monastery for $6.75 million in 2001.

The home has a domed rotunda, a loggia, a winding staircase, a library, two dining rooms, seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home has stone columns and arches, wrought iron doors and delicate Renaissance style paintings. There is a possibility that the land could be subdivided into five acre plots and the property does have a renovated three-bedroom cottage and a walled carriage house with heated garage, five indoor stables, six bedrooms, workshop and two bathrooms. It was first listed at $17 million then went to $14.5 million. Now it's back with a new listing and new listing pictures (finally, furniture!) and a price that skates under $10 million at $9.999 million. Margaret Mateyaschuk and Margaret Trautmann of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty have the listing.

Gallery: La Selva Tries Again

[via Newsday's Real LI]

Tags: estate of the day, la selva, new york real estate, real estate price cuts, upper brookville

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Harris Manor Gets $1 Million Price Cut

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Browsing through listings today I came across a price cut for one of the grand mansions of Brookville, New York. The area is home to many estates including this one, the historic Harris mansion. The 1929 manor house was built for Henry Upham Harris, a partner at J.P. Morgan. Architect Roger Bullard created the home which is made of stone taken from the excavation of New York City's subway system tunnels. The 31-acre property has a three-bedroom cottage, gatehouse, green house, pool and tennis courts. The main house has eight bedrooms. Listing pictures show carved woodwork details, stone floors and leaded glass windows. When it was our estate of the day last summer it was listed at $12.9 million but it is now a million less at $11.9 million.

Gallery: Harris Manor

Tags: brookville, harris manor, new york real estate, real estate price cuts

A Deep Discount At 15 Central Park West

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

More signs of real estate reality at Manhattan's pricey 15 Central Park West. The building which once spawned an $80 million listing has been coming back to earth of late. The NY Times reports that the 18th and 19th floor duplex at 15 Central Park West owned by Richard O. Ullman is now listed with a deep price cut that is being kept hush hush. The apartment which was quietly listed for $75 million is now listed with superagent Dolly Lenz for a secret price said to be around $55 million. It would still be a good deal for Ullman who is said to have spent around $23.5 million on the unit.

The terraced penthouse comprises around 5,600 square feet of living space including four bedrooms and 6.5 marble bathrooms. The listing pics show treetop views over Central Park. It is listed at "price available upon request" but I think we can trust the NY Times on this one. The listing does show fees of $6,600 plus $2,000 in taxes per month. In the NYT article another broker says that the apartment was once quietly shopped around for as high as $90 million. Listings in the building do finally seem to be selling, not usually for their optimistic first list price but more often after a few months on the market and a couple of dips into more realistic territory meaning that some people who bought in during the days of real estate exuberance may have a bitter pill to swallow.

Gallery: Deep Discount at 15 Central Park West