This fall, Marcus Lemonis purchased a recently completed Manhattan townhouse on a site with a very interesting history…one that involves a building-leveling explosion and a little WWII-era espionage.
The sale closed back in September, and recorded at $18 million, a low price, all things considered. The property hit the market in 2017 with a price tag of $32.5 million, according to The New York Post.
In 2006, the original townhouse—which was built in 1917—was destroyed by an explosion caused by a gas main; apparently, the home’s owner at the time had been attempting suicide and triggered the accident. Previous owners included Vincent Astor, a real estate scion and buddy of F.D.R.’s. Astor was a businessman by day and occasionally a cloak-and-dagger man by night, spying on the Japanese in the months leading up to the outbreak of World War II, and on the USSR as the war unfolded.
The Upper East Side lot was cleared and left vacant until the latter half of the last decade, when architect Henry Jessup was commissioned to replace it. The result is a 9,200 sq. ft. residence with a limestone façade that suggests the original build period and five above-ground levels. It is 20 feet wide, and contains five bedrooms.
Ten-foot ceilings, a wood-burning kitchen fireplace, an elevator, and stairway halls are among the townhome’s details. Amenities include a master floor, a wet bar, a butler’s pantry, a power room and a roof garden.