The final voyage of the Yankee Ferry is turning into an elegy.<\/p>\n
The storied 1907 vessel \u2014 the last surviving Ellis Island ferryboat \u2014 is back on the market for $1.25 million after the death earlier this month of designer Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, whose eccentric imagination helped transform the retired steamship into one of the strangest and most romantic homes in New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moored now in Staten Island, the 150-foot iron-hulled boat is part immigrant-history relic, part floating artwork, part family archive.<\/p>\n
For nearly a quarter-century, the ferry served as the live-work refuge of MacKenzie-Childs, who died at age 77, and her husband, Richard, the design duo behind the whimsical aesthetic that made their name famous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Yankee Ferry, the last surviving Ellis Island ferryboat, is back on the market for $1.25 million following the recent death of designer Victoria MacKenzie-Childs. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
Moored in Staten Island, the 150-foot, 1907 vessel was transformed by Victoria and her husband, Richard MacKenzie-Childs, into a whimsical floating residence and studio after they bought it in 2003. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
What they bought in 2003, for about $300,000, was not just a boat, but a battered survivor with a past stretching from Gilded Age leisure travel to wartime service to the immigrant journey through New York Harbor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What they created was something far more intimate: a sprawling four-level, roughly 10,000-square-foot vessel layered with pattern, color, oddity and memory. <\/p>\n
The ferry also served troops during the World Wars. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
Inside, the scale of the ship still surprises. A former grand salon \u2014 once used to entertain passengers in its early 20th-century heyday \u2014 now reads like a theatrical ballroom, with soaring ceilings, wide-plank floors and sweeping sightlines across the deck. <\/p>\n
Original maritime details remain embedded throughout, from the working wheelhouse to industrial beams and portholes, while the MacKenzie-Childs layered in their signature touches \u2014 painted finishes, patterned walls and unexpected materials \u2014 turning cavernous communal spaces into something between a historic hall and an immersive art installation.<\/p>\n
Now, with Victoria gone and Richard unable to speak after a stroke, the family is confronting the question that has hovered around the ferry for years: who, exactly, takes on a vessel like this next?<\/p>\n
Gregor Collins, a close family friend helping with the sale, said the ferry is no longer being marketed through a traditional brokerage and is instead being offered more informally to buyers who understand what it is \u2014 and what it demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not officially listed anywhere other than the media and sort of me reaching out to people,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n
The boat seen carrying immigrants to Ellis Island in 1923. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
That unusual sales process fits a property that has never belonged comfortably to the ordinary real estate market. The Yankee has been offered on and off for years, sometimes with outside representation, sometimes not. It was initially listed for $3 million, but steadily decreased. The current ask returns it to the same $1.25 million figure it carried more than a decade ago, even as its legend has only grown.<\/p>\n
A 1907 survivor that carried millions \u2014\u00a0and now holds one family\u2019s story<\/p>\n
Long before it became a maximalist floating home, the vessel had already lived multiple American lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Built in Philadelphia in 1907, it first carried affluent summer passengers in New England waters before being pressed into military use during World War I. Later, in New York Harbor, it transported immigrants to Ellis Island and also carried passengers to Liberty Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most of the ferries that once carried passengers to Ellis Island \u2014 which operated until its closure in 1954 \u2014 were eventually retired, scrapped or left to decay. The main vessel, aptly named Ellis Island, met a more dramatic fate, sinking in a storm in 1968 before its remains were finally removed decades later in 2009. Now, only The Yankee remains. <\/p>\n
By the early 1990s, after years of decline, it had landed on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n
The Yankee had fallen into disrepair when it was acquired by private owner Jim Gallagher, who towed the aging vessel to Pier 25 in Tribeca and began an ambitious restoration. <\/p>\n
The historic ship is now being cared for by the couple\u2019s daughter, Heather Mackenzie-Chaplet, who said she hopes its next life will allow more people to experience and celebrate its layered New York story. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
The ferry occupies roughly 10,000 square feet. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
In a rare arrangement, local authorities allowed him to live aboard while carrying out the work, offsetting costs by hosting weddings and private events on the ship. Two years later, the ferry earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n
In 2003, the MacKenzie-Childses acquired it after financial setbacks left Manhattan property out of reach and after the ship had already endured years of deterioration, displacement and piecemeal restoration.<\/p>\n
Heather Mackenzie-Chaplet, Victoria\u2019s daughter, is now living aboard with her husband, Nils, as the family tries to steady the ship and guide it toward whatever comes next.\u00a0Victoria had dealt with the shipyard to dock their boat for $4,000 a month, according to Collins, with separate upkeep costs not included.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re living here and checking on it,\u201d she told The Post, \u201cand mainly just, you know, trying to make contacts with everybody we need to in order to find out how it\u2019s going to go on to its next chapter in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
That next chapter, she hopes, is bigger than a private sale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would make me the happiest would be that it becomes a place where it\u2019s celebrated,\u201d Heather told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, she is pragmatic about the outcome. \u201cIf it just is goes on to be somebody\u2019s home, that\u2019s fine as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mackenzie-Childs and her husband purchased the ferry after they lost their company and couldn\u2019t afford Manhattan real estate. Gregor Collins<\/p>\n
Heather Mackenzie-Chaplet (C) with her daughter (L) and mom, Victoria Mackenzie-Childs (R). Courtesy of Heather Mackenzie-Chaplet<\/p>\n
They spent decades transforming the deteriorating ship into a whimsical, maximalist home and studio filled with their signature patterns and theatrical touches. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
That flexibility is practical. The Yankee has always required a believer, but also a realist. Owning a 118-year-old metal vessel in salt water is less like buying a trophy townhouse than taking custody of a high-maintenance historic structure that happens to float. Over the years, the ferry\u2019s caretakers have grappled with restoration costs, structural upkeep and rising dockage fees as the ship moved from Tribeca to Hoboken to Brooklyn and eventually Staten Island.<\/p>\n
Heather does not sugarcoat it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy ever,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a boat, so it\u2019s always sort of battling with the elements. It\u2019s a metal boat sitting in a salt water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, the MacKenzie-Childs family never treated the ferry as a burden alone. It was a canvas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside, the couple overlaid the ship\u2019s industrial bones with stripes, florals, rope chairs, painted finishes, salvaged objects and theatrical flourishes that turned cabins and corridors into immersive sets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mackenzie-Childs family on the boat. Courtesy of Heather Mackenzie-Chaplet<\/p>\n
Despite its artistic significance, the ferry has long been expensive and difficult to maintain, with high docking fees and ongoing restoration needs. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
The ferry has cycled on and off the market for years, most recently priced around $1.25 million. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
Plumbing parts, piping and utilitarian materials became lamps and decorative gestures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would kind of mix up the definitions\u201d of what counted as refined and what counted as functional, she said, \u201calways with a lot of sense of humor as well,\u201d Heather said.<\/p>\n
For the family, the ship was never just a design object. It was lived in, and celebrated on. There were gatherings, and even a children\u2019s theater camp in its earlier downtown days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The deck. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
The grandchildren of Victoria MacKenzie-Childs seen playing on the pier in front of the Yankee ferry. Courtesy of Heather Mackenzie-Chaplet<\/p>\n
Among the traditions she recalled were Epiphany parties full of costumes and laughter, and long meals punctuated by her mother\u2019s love of song.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would always have a pile of hymnals next to the table, and we would all sing hymns before eating or after eating, or both,\u201d Heather said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the same, not the same without them on the boat,\u201d Heather said. <\/p>\n
Collins said Victoria\u2019s death stunned those close to her. \u201cIt was shocking,\u201d he told The Post. \u201cShe was such a powerhouse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said Richard is now surrounded by family, while Heather and Nils arrived in New York just days after Victoria died and have remained aboard since early March, caring for the vessel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ferry offers multiple dining and living spaces throughout. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
An interior look at the ferry. victoriaandrichardemprise.com<\/p>\n
For all its rarity, the Yankee\u2019s appeal may lie less in its specs than in its collision of national history and personal mythology. Few properties can claim to have carried immigrants, soldiers and vacationers before ending up as the fantasy residence of two artists who had already lived through fame, collapse and reinvention. Fewer still can plausibly become a home, museum, event venue, restaurant, boutique hotel or civic attraction depending on who takes the wheel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heather, for her part, seems most interested in the idea that the ferry has never stopped adapting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a boat that has really served each generation of people,\u201d she said, and that long sequence of reinvention is \u201cso beautiful to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
That may be the most fitting way to understand the Yankee now. Not as a stranded relic, and not merely as an eccentric listing, but as a vessel in transition once again \u2014 carrying the imprint of Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, and waiting for someone bold enough to decide what it becomes after her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The final voyage of the Yankee Ferry is turning into an elegy. The storied 1907 vessel \u2014 the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":667977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[1037,2677,648,1032,32258,131009,12611,1033,2556,187416,171,6335,4178,42131,6501,5418,405,403,4329,12216,10204,9294,130287,57198,67,132,68,8515],"class_list":["post-667976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-art","tag-artists","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-boats","tag-collectors","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-design","tag-development","tag-ellis-island","tag-entertainment","tag-exclusive","tag-furniture","tag-historic-buildings","tag-immigrants","tag-luxury-real-estate","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-real-estate","tag-renovations","tag-residential-real-estate","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-ferry","tag-surreal-estate","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-victoria"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116258703026621227","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}