This $7M Gilded-Age mansion on the Upper West Side has a private garage and a theatrical history

The 11,670-square-foot home at 323 West 80th Street is a head-turning masterpiece of Elizabethan Renaissance Revival style, as well as being a true city mansion with an underground private garage, a gym, and a roof terrace. Built in 1897, the 43-foot-wide landmarked brick and limestone townhouse, asking $6,999,000, has been thoroughly renovated by a family with a theatrical legacy and a creative eye.

When creative couple Bill and Donna DeSeta bought the home for $170,000 in the 1970s, they were attracted to its eclectic old-world charm, though it had fallen into disrepair, divided into small apartments occupied by squatters.

Inspired by his theatrical career, Bill, who was a noted Broadway producer, production designer, rock club owner, and all-around New York City cultural fixture, undertook a renovation with a creative eye.

With six stories (all served by an elevator) and 31 rooms (plus a full basement), the home offers the kind of living space often seen in sprawling country estates. Currently, an owner’s duplex is anchored by a dramatic double-height salon.

This peerless entertaining space is joined by eight separate apartments, all retaining the original features–like ceiling beams and leaded glass windows that had initially charmed the buyers. Renaissance Revival elements like Gothic arches and elaborate built-ins were preserved as well.

Above the home’s topmost levels is a sprawling roof garden. Surrounding this landscaped oasis are views of the historic district in every direction.

Anchoring the home is a private indoor garage, made even more convenient by a curb cut. Below, a full basement is big enough to hold a home gym and a wine cellar along with the building’s mechanicals.

The showbiz couple put the home on the market in 2017 for a show-stopping $20 million; its still-grand current ask represents a more modest production, given the fact that the next owners will likely want to invest in a reinvention of their own.

[Listing details: 323 West 80th Street at CityRealty]

[At Compass by Mark Jovanovic and Scott Hustis of Paradigm Advisory]

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