search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

Lawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aLawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aHousing deal critics spin themselves sillyHousing deal critics spin themselves sillyDavid Werner strikes $115M deal to snap up 100 Wall Street at big discountDavid Werner strikes $115M deal to snap up 100 Wall Street at big discountThe Daily Dirt: A “conceptual” housing dealThe Daily Dirt: A “conceptual” housing deal
New York

Tunnels touted as latest luxury amenity

With wine cellars in every home, tunnels offer something unique

An "Alice in Wonderland Tunnel." Photo via Chad Holder/The Wall Street Journal
An "Alice in Wonderland Tunnel." Photo via Chad Holder/The Wall Street Journal

Step aside wine cellars, home theaters and Central Park views. The latest luxury amenity to hit private homes is tunnels.Fodder for the imagination and a place for the kids to play, private tunnels have become a huge selling point, According The Wall Street Journal. However, most home tunnels began their life as unadorned, utilitarian spaces intended for servants to come and go unnoticed.

Now, tunnels have re-emerged as a unique amenity that few other sellers can compete with.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

“In the big markets, people who are paying cash for $3 million homes want something that no one else has,” Ron Syrnyk, an interior designer who recently designed and built a 20-foot tunnel as the entrance to a “wine cave,” told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s creating a feature that no one else has.”

Tunnels are even popping up in the Hamptons, because of a zoning loophole. Since zoning often prevents homeowners from building more than one house on their property, guesthouses or separate staff quarters can be connected with a finished underground tunnel. It “make[s] it one structure in essence,” Gary DePersia of the Corcoran Group, told the Journal. [WSJ] —Christopher Cameron

Tags
Amenities