A gut-renovated townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper West Side hit the market on Tuesday for $16 million.
When entrepreneur and author Vincent deFilippo bought the West 76th Street home in 2015—for $8.725 million, according to records—it was a three-family home primed to be converted into the New York townhouse he’d “always dreamed about.” Though unmarried and childless at the time, deFilippo wanted a home large enough that his parents could live there if needed and he could raise a family in one day.
He looked “all over” the city but was drawn to the tree-lined street and the convenient location—grocery stores, top schools, multiple subway lines and even Central Park were all within a few blocks.
A gut-renovation, which took about seven years, turned the 1910, 20-foot-wide brownstone into an approximately 8,000-square-foot, six-bedroom single-family home.
In addition to an elevator, a curving, sculptural staircase inspired by New York’s Guggenheim Museum connects the home’s five floors (there’s also a garden level and a cellar).
“My wife’s first time in New York City, she wanted to see all the museums, and we went to the Guggenheim and that inspired me for the stairs in the house,” deFilippo said. “I drew [the sketch] myself.”
Before settling in Manhattan—and during the first couple of years of the renovation—deFilippo, 52, lived in Hong Kong and was CEO of a private-equity fund there. He also founded the financial services company LendingHub NYC.
The home’s interiors are modern, with dark wood cabinetry in the kitchen, a red-painted library and a primary bedroom with built-ins that include a fireplace and space to hang a TV, listing photos show. The primary suite occupies the entire third floor and has a terrace and a long dressing room connecting the bedroom to the bathroom, floor plans show.
“The design is stunning, but also comfortable,” listing agent Kate Wollman-Mahan of Coldwell Banker Warburg said. “Everything feels cohesive and well-planned, so even buyers used to living in a new development would make an easy transition to this beautiful, spacious home.”
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Wollman-Mahan shares the listing with colleague Judy Kloner.
DeFilippo’s renovation extended the home vertically, too, adding a fifth floor with terraces on both the front and back sides, plus a roof deck on top. He also added a large patio off the garden-level media room, complete with a built-in barbecue, refrigerator and sink.
“Growing up, everything was about, ‘What are we barbecuing on the weekends?’…and playing in the pool,” deFilippo said. “We don’t have a pool, but we have the barbecue, and we love barbecuing in the backyard, sitting outdoors and sharing family moments.”
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The renovation also included putting in all new HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems, plus new Sheetrock. “I built it for myself, and that’s why I didn’t skimp on the cost,” deFilippo said.
Now with two kids, though, deFilippo said his family needs a bigger home that’s closer to his daughters’ new East Side school. He has plans to renovate a larger, historic townhouse and said he looks forward to taking on another reno project, this time with his wife—and even hopes to fit in a pool this time.
“We want to make it a family project,” deFilippo said.