Palatial Historical Upper East Side Townhome Back On Market
Share News:
At first, it was believed to have been sold for a record $80 million in December, but Vincent Viola’s 20,000 square foot townhome on the Upper East Side appears to be back on the market — and this time the list price is $88 million.
It’s unclear if Viola (who owns the NHL’s Florida Panthers, is CEO of Virtu Financial, and was briefly President Donald Trump’s nominee for army secretary) and his wife Teresa are still the current owners (although what we could find in property records seems to indicate they probably are). But the home was listed in 2013 for $114 million, making the current list price a relative bargain.
Viola bought the townhome in 2005 for $20 million.
The home sits at 12 E. 69th St., and is currently listed by Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens. Built in 1884, the home was updated by the Violas to include a panic room.
But that’s not the only amazing feature of the home, which has a movie theater, swimming pool, sauna, and rooftop garden.
The six-bedroom, nine-bath home was commissioned in 1883 for an international silk trader, Del Nunzio said. In 1913, the home was transformed to its current neo-classical style by William Wells Bosworth for James Ellsworth.
“Ellsworth flourished in business during The Gilded Age, achieving particular success at the peak of the economic boom between 1890 and 1920,” Del Nunzio explained. “He was a flexible American industrialist moving from one industry to another: he began as the owner of coal mines in Pennsylvania — the coal town Ellsworth, Penn., is named after him. He moved into railroads, and in 1907 after the completion of a railway, Ellsworth sold his coal mines to Bethlehem Steel, and subsequently purchased a villa in Florence, Italy, and would become a notable fine art and coin collector.”
Bosworth’s designs included the Kykuit — the Rockefeller family estate north of Tarrytown, New York. He was also tapped to restore the Palace of Versailles.
“A century later, the present owner of 12 East 69th Street was influenced by the Palace of Versailles, which receives 3 million visitors a year, a testament to its international draw as a monument to timeless architecture,” Del Nunzio added.
And the location is perfect for someone who wants everything the Upper East Side has to offer and a luxuriously large space, too.
“Positioned a few houses off Fifth Avenue and Central Park on an exceptional residential, tree-lined block, this mansion is 40 feet wide, 90 feet deep, and features four windows across the front and rear facades providing remarkable light at all times,” Del Nunzio said.
