A historic waterfront property has changed hands in the highest-grossing residential sale ever in Larchmont.
The estate at 25 Park Avenue sold for $11.3 million, its asking price. It broke its own Larchmont record: This year’s sellers had paid $10.4 million for it in 2006.
“We went into contract within two weeks of the house being on market, which is not uncommon in this market, but it is uncommon in this price point,” said Mimi Magarelli of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty, who had the listing. “It validated the unique luxury of this property.”
Magarelli said most of the interest came from local buyers.
The property is known for being home during the time of the American Revolution to the Hoboken Turtle Club, founded by a Continental Army captain.
The captain had noticed turtles attacking his chickens at his riverfront property in Hoboken. As the story goes, to cut down on the turtle population he created an exclusive club for the elite to dine on turtle soup. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, along with other historic individuals, were part of the turtle-eating club.
It was not immediately clear how local turtles were catching the chickens.
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The club later relocated from New Jersey to New York, and in 1890 the members purchased the property where the record-setting, 1898 Victorian house stands. They intended to develop it into a permanent home, but defaulted on the mortgage.
The property went to auction and was purchased by Walter Manny, a key investor in and salesperson for one of the first adding machines. The house stayed in Manny’s family for the next 100 years. The new owners will be just the third since then.
The home sits adjacent to Larchmont’s Manor Park, with 1.6 landscaped acres on a promontory above Horseshoe Harbor and Larchmont Harbor in the Long Island Sound. The property includes 500 feet of private shoreline and a deep-water dock, jetty and swimming area.
Inside the 8,182 square-foot house is a billiards room, half turret living room, den, sun room, study, library, seven bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms. An original stable on the property has been transformed into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom guest house with a kitchen. The home was designed by 19th century architect Frank Ashburton Moore.
Lisa Collins, also of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty, brought the buyer, whose identity has not been disclosed.