163 East 70th Street

163 E 70th St

Lenox Hill

This is the rarest of opportunities, to acquire one of the most beautiful and historic carriage houses remaining in all of New York, perfectly located in the low 70s, on one of the Upper East Side’s most desirable tree-lined blocks. This spectacular, large house, with a private garage and curb-cut, is over 7,500SF above ground, plus an enormous full-height cellar of nearly 2,500SF, with zoned additional FAR of another 2,500+/- SF. Larger in scale and size than other carriage houses that have come to market in recent years, due to its coveted width of almost 26 feet, and its extraordinary depth - built full on the 100' lot on the ground floor and cellar, and to 90' on the upper 2 floors. The 12’ tall garage can fit even the largest SUVs, and could be expanded for multiple vehicles.

Currently configured as a single family home with a ground floor medical office, with separate entrance, and delivered vacant, the ground floor presents buyers with incredible possibilities. Incorporate the office into the residence, rent as a separate medical office for an estimated $240k in annual rental income, keep as a private home office, expand the garage, use as private gallery space for an important art collection, create windowed staff suites, family recreation space, or any combination thereof.

163 East 70th Street was completely gut renovated in the 1970s to a very high standard, with steel and concrete construction. It combines the elegance and charm of a 19th century townhouse with proportions only found in the very grandest downtown lofts or pre-war Park or Fifth Avenue apartments. While in need of updating, with the potential to enlarge the house with a re-built 4th-floor rooftop addition, it has an ideal residential layout and features that many buyers would retain, including an exquisite sky-lit sculptural staircase that floods the center of the house with natural light, and a central elevator shaft. Upon entering the house, one is immediately drawn upwards by the light pouring in from the central stair, leading to the parlor level. An enormous but gracious living room opens on one end to an elegant library, with wood burning fireplace, and on the other to the formal dining room (which easily seats 20). A hall leads to a massive eat-in kitchen at the rear, with large glass doors open onto a terrace with lovely townhouse garden views. Two guest powder rooms complete the entertaining space.

With 4 bedrooms, 3 full and 4 half baths, the house is easily expanded to encompass 6 bedrooms plus staff quarters. The graceful stair landing on the third floor leads to a huge 24-foot wide master suite with abundant closet space and a massive en-suite bath. The layout could easily accommodate 2 large dressing rooms within the suite. Down the hallway, separated by the staircase, is the secondary bedroom wing, with three additional bedrooms and two full baths. The two bedrooms at the back of the home feature large floor to ceiling windows.

On the fourth floor, a large glass-roofed solarium with a powder room leads out to the roof, with views of the city skyline to the north and south. The roof offers the potential to build additional living space as well as two or three spectacular terraces.

Although the current ceiling heights are excellent, at 10’+/- on the main living and bedroom floors, the 1970s mechanical ducts and lighting could be redone, with potential for an additional foot of ceiling height, for up to 11’+/- throughout, and nearly 10’ in the cellar. The enormous finished cellar is already full-height, with no need for further excavation, and could easily accommodate a gym, media room, wine cellar, spa, and even a swimming pool. The house also benefits from a rare sidewalk-vault that has been newly reinforced and houses the mechanicals.

The carriage house was designed by CPH Gilbert and built in 1902 for the prominent banker, philanthropist and art collector Jules Bache, who built his brokerage firm into one of the largest in the country, outranked only by Merrill Lynch. A few blocks from his mansion at 814 Fifth Avenue, it was built to a grander scale than most carriage houses of its day, with a ground floor carriage-wash, a horse ramp, second-floor double-height stalls for 9 horses, as well as grooms’ quarters above. In 1944, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased the house, which was ideally located just 2 blocks from his home at 740 Park Avenue. His architect, Grosvenor Atterbury, converted it to his family's private automobile garage and chauffeur’s quarters.