The Upper East Side's Waterfall Mansion, so-called for a 23-foot indoor waterfall that runs through it, has officially hit the market for $31 million.
We recently stopped by to chat with developer Kate Shin, who purchased the mansion in 2008 and spent four years renovating it, and to take a tour of the one-of-a-kind property.
Shin said she expects a foreign buyer to purchase the mansion, most likely as a second home. The 120-year-old former carriage house on East 80th Street, near Lexington Ave., had been owned by a family with a heavy art background that Shin wanted to respect while renovating it.
She said that in designing the long, narrow mansion, she hoped the rooms and floors would flow.
"I really wanted to blend the classic townhouse with the modern," said Shin a former hedge fund employee who counts the Waterfall Mansion as her first development project. "I really wanted to change the way developers handle townhouses. The city is getting more crowded and we need to re-think how we construct townhouses."
The mansion is one of the only residential properties more 10,000 square feet to be LEED silver certified And unlike most townhouses in New York, the ceilings get higher as you go up, creating more space and light.
"This home is an investment," Shin said. "I imagine this being in a family for generations to come."
The door is becoming famous on the Upper East Side. At night, the light shines through and the leaves are illuminated on the sidewalk.
The mansion was a former carriage house.
Visitors enter the home through a gallery space. The buyer can display his own art collection, or rent it out.
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