Curbed reported<\/a>, after years of discounted listings dating back to 2017. <\/p>\nStill, it may just be the best deal in the prime neighborhood right now.<\/p>\n
Manhattan\u2019s real estate market doesn\u2019t see a 43-foot-wide mansion with a private garage and curb cut every day. The presence of nine apartments inside has complicated its sales history, however, defined by finicky buyers, prohibitive tenant protection laws and high taxes.<\/p>\n
The brick and limestone facade of 323 W. 80th St. dates back to 1897. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
The ornate home has long served as a multi-family residence. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
The double-height owner\u2019s duplex is the gem of the building. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s this Bohemian place that just doesn\u2019t exist very much anymore,\u201d listing representative Mark Jovanovic, of Compass \u2014 who shares it with Scott Hustis \u2014 told The Post. \u201cIt was just filled with all sorts of life and characters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of those properties where you feel the history the moment you walk in but it\u2019s really about what comes next,\u201d the two wrote in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s been in the same family for 55 years, and now it\u2019s ready for its next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new price tag of $6.9 million is currently more in line with its turn-of-the-century, multi-family neighbors. Less pedigreed listings from the same era hover in the $5.8 to $6.1 million range, according to StreetEasy data reviewed by The Post.<\/p>\n
An arched hallway is lined with the DeSetas\u2019 art collection. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
The DeSetas paid $170,000 in 1970 to take on the then-derelict property. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
A secret cocktail bar numbers among the home\u2019s unique features. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
The six-story home was built as a single-family residence in 1897. It last sold to Bill and Donna DeSeta in 1970 for just $170,000. <\/p>\n
The brick and limestone facade belied the derelict, squatter-occupied units, Curbed reported, but the DeSetas doggedly pursued their \u201cmedieval castle fantasy\u201d vision. <\/p>\n
That vision included newly installed parquet floors, wood paneling, stained glass, Gothic arches and secret panels \u2014 some of which the DeSetas added by hand. <\/p>\n
With the help of friends, the DeSetas turned the second and third floors into the opulent owner\u2019s duplex, and the floors above and below into rentals. <\/p>\n
The DeSetas installed parquet floors by hand. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
Custom shelves line the owner\u2019s study. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
Mary Louise Parker once rented one of the building\u2019s nine units. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
This one-bedroom rental was formerly an open-air loggia. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
The 3,000-square-foot owner\u2019s duplex became the crown jewel of the home, decked out with jaw-dropping Gothic furnishings, original art and antiques. One of the one-bedrooms was converted from a loggia, Jovanovic said, with windows inside archways that were once wide open to the Hudson River views.<\/p>\n
Practical additions included an elevator and a communal rooftop deck that overlooks the Hudson River.<\/p>\n
Models, musicians and other creative friends of the DeSetas rented out the rooms, Curbed reported, including a young Mary Louise Parker and Joel Gray, the iconic Emcee in Bob Fosse\u2019s \u201cCabaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it was time to sell in 2017, the DeSetas\u2019 $20 million asking price was met with a $15 million offer, which they declined.<\/p>\n
A living room blends Bohemian tastes with Gilded Age design. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
Terracotta tiles function as wine bottle storage. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 saw the multi-family building\u2019s value plummet, as any interested buyers were now required to buy out the mansion\u2019s rent-stabilized tenants.<\/p>\n
Potential buyers became more wary, Jovanovic said, \u201cthey never knew if they could buy the tenants out,\u201d adding that the potential cost would\u2019ve run buyers hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
The already-discounted home was pulled off the market in 2019 and didn\u2019t reappear until five years later, asking a more modest $11 million. A price cut to $6.9 million in March 2025 did the trick, attracting a bidding war and securing a buyer.<\/p>\n
The view of the Hudson River from the rooftop deck. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
Zabar\u2019s sits a short walk away. Will Ellis<\/p>\n
That list price took into account the residence\u2019s considerable $200,000 annual tax bill. Despite it, that would-be buyer wanted the property to be a multi-generational compound, even bringing the mother-in-law to tour it.<\/p>\n
However, that buyer failed to show up to the scheduled closing on Nov. 24, according to allegations documented in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed in December \u2014 one filed on behalf of the DeSetas aiming to keep the not-insignificant $785,000 that remained suspended in escrow. The documents add the closing was previously scheduled for Nov. 11 \u2014 with the litigants also alleging a breach of agreement.<\/p>\n
That suit has since been resolved, which is how the listing returned this month.<\/p>\n
The mansion is officially vacant as of July 2025, Jovanovic said. A buyer would still have to incur the price and paperwork of a singe-family conversion.<\/p>\n
The DeSetas permanently moved to Florida last year, Curbed reported, and are understandably ready to sell. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a massive $13 million price cut and more than 11,500 square feet within, this Gilded Age home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[30206,9,56,63,65,64,1491,3006,6069,62],"class_list":["post-94151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-mary-louise-parker","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-real-estate","tag-residential-real-estate","tag-townhouses","tag-upper-west-side"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94151","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=94151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}