The Kleeberg Residence, one of Manhattan’s historic 19th Century townhouses, beat auctioneers’ estimates by selling for $18.5 million at auction Tuesday, according to mobile application Instant Gavel.
The 18-room mansion on the Upper West Side with an elaborate French Renaissance Revival facade was one of many properties participating in Concierge Auctions' winter portfolio sale. Other luxury homes at the group auction included a condo in Telluride, Colorado, that sold for $7.1 million.
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The ultra-luxe townhouse, which is designated a city landmark, went to auction following a series of dramatic price cuts since it first hit the market in 2012.
The highest bid, at $18.5 million, exceeded the high-end auction house’s expectations, which estimated that the home would go for between $13 million and $16 million. A spokesperson for Concierge did not immediately return request for comment.
Still, the final sale price was less than half of the eye-watering $40 million original asking price the seller wanted in 2012. The price was reduced to $36 million in 2014, and reduced five more times until its latest listing price of $18.5 million (same as the highest bid) with Engel & Völkers New York Real Estate.
The seller is New York real estate developer Regina Kislin, according to city property records. A lawyer for Ms. Kislin did not immediately return request for comment.
The historic home was built in 1898 and got its name from original owners Maria and Philip Kleeberg, who commissioned society architect Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert to design their townhouse on Riverside Drive, according to records from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
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The architect had a flair for the ornate and designed the Kleeberg home accordingly, with gargoyles and cherubs carved into the limestone facade, and a three-story bay that projects to the sidewalk.
The restored interior is just as grand. The entryway opens into a marble foyer leading to a marble staircase and topped with a golden, coffered ceiling.
The mansion has eight bedrooms, nine full bathrooms, a modern kitchen with two Bosch dishwashers, a sauna, an elevator and an indoor resistance pool in the basement. The views from the west side of the townhouse look over the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument at the corner of 72nd Street and Riverside Drive.