Imagine a land of twisting, idyllic streets nestled in greenery, where the maples and oak trees are fiercely protected and even grow through the roofs of houses. The streets are lined with Greek Revival manors, Dutch colonials, Tudor mansions and Mediterranean bungalows, some with stunning river views.
Though you might doubt it, this is the Bronx, more specifically its Riverdale section, a three–square-mile area with the borough’s toniest houses.
To determine the location of the borough’s priciest blocks, The Real Deal researched the top home sales last year and found prices from $1.8 million for a house at 4720 Delafield Avenue to $3.2 million for a mansion at 407 West 246th Street. Both sit within the exclusive Fieldston neighborhood of Riverdale.
Since parts of Riverdale, perched on a bluff next to the Hudson River, were originally sited in Westchester County, it’s perhaps appropriate it’s known as “the Scarsdale of the Bronx.” So said Joseph Greene, the broker-owner of Weichert Realtors House & Home, who also happens to live in Riverdale.
“Riverdale has pieces of property, a third or half of an acre, with huge, beautiful mansions, some of which were built in the late 19th century and early 20th century,” he said.
These homes are found almost exclusively in two areas, said Bradford Trebach, an associate broker and general counsel with Trebach Realty, in business in Riverdale for 33 years. The Fieldston enclave, with about 257 homes, has a uniformity of architectural detail that landed it a historic designation by the city last year. And the estate area west of the Henry Hudson Parkway, which also has a tiny historic district, has quiet, rambling streets overlooking the Hudson River.
Both areas sit within the Riverdale Greenbelt, where trees, natural rock outcroppings and sloped land are protected, Trebach said.
“The most impressive residential real estate in the Bronx is within this natural district,” he said. “And, on top of that, a historic district means that all the houses together, collectively, create a special character deemed worthy of protection.”
Perhaps the highest-priced blocks in Fieldston are Delafield, Grosvenor and Waldo avenues, Greene said. Each avenue had a home among the top 10 sales in the Bronx last year. For instance, a 2,891-square-foot home at 4641 Grosvenor Avenue, built around 1920, sold for $2.1 million, and a 4,919-square-foot home built around 1945 at 4530 Waldo Avenue snagged $1.98 million.
“These homes sit on spectacular landscaped lots, have three- or four-car garages, with some of the best swimming pools,” said Vasco Da Silva, director of sales for Halstead Riverdale. “I’ve seen prices of up to $10 million.”
Those prices may pale against future ones.
“It’s still a hidden secret, but it’s a sleeper real estate town, and I think these prices are going to explode,” Da Silva said. “Already, from about 2000 to now, they’ve doubled, and in some cases, tripled.”
For example, on Fieldston Road — which Da Silva picked as his choice for “best block” in the enclave, along with Delafield Avenue — a Mediterranean-style house built around 1920 at No. 4595 sold for $2.6 million in 2006, placing it among the top 10 home sales in the borough. The 3,299-square-foot home, which sits on a 90-by-146-foot lot, had sold for $2.15 million in 2004.
While Fieldston has its own cachet, Greene said, another section of Riverdale with similar elite homes has a woodsier feel, along with breathtaking river vistas.
“Many times you get the river views, which are hugely appealing,” he said. “Many of the houses are built next to one of the city parks, so you don’t have a lot of high-rise buildings next door. You’re in almost a suburban setting.”
The Riverdale historic district in this area is tiny, but is bounded to the west by the 97-acre Riverdale Park, with the river just beyond, and to the south by Wave Hill, a Greek Revival estate built in 1843 whose 28 acres have been turned into lush gardens, wooded paths and an environmental center.
Regal homes along Palisade Avenue in this part of Riverdale, as well as Sycamore Avenue in the historic district, regularly achieve sales prices, when they sell, of $6 to $10 million, Da Silva said. But they don’t sell often. Trebach agreed: “Let’s say the most valuable real estate sells once in a generation.”
Sales prices on Riverdale’s best blocks are also bolstered by its excellent public schools, as well as several prestigious private schools, such as the Horace Mann School on West 246th Street, the Riverdale Country School and the Fieldston School on Fieldston Road, Greene said.
Convenient access to the city as well as Westchester County is a plus. And a small concentration of nursing homes in the area provides additional convenience for the younger generation that is discovering Riverdale but may have elderly parents in tow. “Those are things that people look for, and that have a lot of value,” Greene said.
Greene said that other parts of the Bronx, New York City’s “forgotten borough,” are starting to be recognized for their beautiful prewar townhouses — of which Riverdale has relatively few. “There are some very nice buildings in Riverdale, but not the same type,” he said. “There are some prewar buildings, but you’re not getting that same ornate architecture that you get in other parts of the Bronx.”
Still, he said, it will be a long while before areas such as the South Bronx, Port Morris, Grand Concourse and Willis Avenue catch up to Riverdale. “As those blocks come up in other parts of the borough, Riverdale’s going to increase in price as well,” he said.