{"id":282756,"date":"2026-06-30T20:32:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/282756\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:32:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:32:22","slug":"tiny-nyc-home-is-on-sale-for-9m-after-owner-lost-16m-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/282756\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny NYC home is on sale for $9m \u2014 after owner lost $16m on it"},"content":{"rendered":"

A six-story Upper East Side townhouse that cost its owner over $16 million to buy and renovate is now on the market for just under $9 million \u2014\u00a0a staggering $7 million loss.<\/a><\/p>\n

The seller, who requested anonymity, bought 238 1\/2 E. 83rd St. in January 2013 for $2.6 million and spent $13.6 million tricking out the place \u2014 adding levels and installing custom-made marble floors, mahogany panels, an elevator, central air and a sophisticated security system.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did it knowing full well he likely wouldn\u2019t get [his money] out,\u201d co-listing agent Brown Harris Stevens\u2019 Maggie Peters said during a tour of the property. \u201cIt was like a vanity project.\u201d<\/p>\n

238 1\/2 clocks in at just 14 feet wide. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The owner of 238 1\/2 E. 83rd St. spent $13.6 million on renovations. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

His loss is a buyer\u2019s gain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who\u2019s buying it is getting an incredible bang for their buck,\u201d Peters said.<\/p>\n

Two major factors are driving the discount: width and location.<\/p>\n

At just 14 feet wide, the 4,400-square-foot house is narrower than the city average of 18 to 20 feet, according to co-listing broker Barbara Fox of BHS.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s width sends most people running, but yet it doesn\u2019t read like a narrow, dark townhouse,\u201d Peters said. \u201cIt really doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The patterned inlaid marble on the stoop entry level is very distinctive. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The inlaid marble extends into the kitchen on the stoop entry level. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The kitchen has a balcony overlooking the garden. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

It is also situated between Second and Third avenues, well removed from the tony enclaves west of Lexington Avenue. The block features a psychic, a copy store, an auto repair shop and small residential buildings.<\/p>\n

Inside, the owner, who primarily resides in Connecticut, spent $13.6 million completely transforming the property, converting it from a two-family building into a single-family mega-home<\/a>. The gut renovation added three stories, six distinct outdoor spaces and entirely new mechanical systems.<\/p>\n

The house, Peters added, \u201cis a bit of an anomaly on the block.\u201d<\/p>\n

The home has three to four bedrooms, five bathrooms and three powder rooms, with a separate ground-floor apartment with its own street entrance.<\/p>\n

The kitchen balcony overlooks a garden at ground level. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The brokers have staged a media room as a living room. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

On the second level is a copper bar with ribbon mahogany wall and ceiling panels. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

Upon entering the foyer at the stoop entry level, there is a distinctive patterned inlaid marble.<\/p>\n

There is a huge eat-in kitchen with a wall of windows and a balcony overlooking a garden.<\/p>\n

The highly customized house has some quirks. For one thing, there is no formal dining room.<\/p>\n

And on the second level, it was originally configured \u201clike a man cave,\u201d Peters said. \u201cThere was no proper living room. So we had to rejigger it to make it practical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bar opens up to a terrace on the second level. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The master bedroom has double-height ceilings, and a floor-to-ceiling cathedral window. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The primary bedroom has a soaking tub and spacious walk-in stall shower. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The other side of that floor has a copper-top bar with seating, a fireplace, a TV, a powder room and a terrace.<\/p>\n

On three are two spacious bedrooms and two marble bathrooms, plus a laundry room.<\/p>\n

The fourth level houses the double-height primary bedroom suite with a floor-to-ceiling cathedral window and a private balcony. It has a walk-in closet and a large bathroom with a soaking tub and walk-in stall shower.<\/p>\n

On five, there is a fully equipped gym and balcony office with a built-in desk and storage overlooking the primary bedroom, plus a marble bath.<\/p>\n

A balcony with a built-in work station overlooks the primary bedroom. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The house comes with a fully equipped home gym. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

The fully renovated basement inclues a large wine storage room. Edward Menashy\/Evan Joseph<\/p>\n

There are two large roof decks on six, one with a fully equipped kitchen and dining room, and one for sunbathing.<\/p>\n

The owner outfitted the ground level under the stoop with a living-dining room, a kitchen and one bedroom and one bathroom.<\/p>\n

In the finished basement, there is a wine storage unit with a floor that looks like cork, full-size laundry equipment and a dog-washing sink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A six-story Upper East Side townhouse that cost its owner over $16 million to buy and renovate is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68,3001,1023,75,9,24,55,54,56,1491,6338,3006,1996,6069,466],"class_list":["post-282756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-exclusive","tag-luxe-listings","tag-luxury-real-estate","tag-manhattan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-real-estate","tag-renovations","tag-residential-real-estate","tag-townhouse","tag-townhouses","tag-upper-east-side"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}