163 East 70th Street

One of the most beautiful and historic carriage houses remaining in all of New York, perfectly located in the low 70s, on one of the Upper East Side's most desirable tree-lined blocks. This spectacular house, with 4 bedrooms, 3 full and 3 half baths, and a private garage and curb-cut, is over 5,800 SF. Larger in scale and size than other carriage houses that have come to market in recent years, due to its coveted width of almost 26 feet, and its extraordinary depth - 90' on the upper 2 floors. The 12' tall garage can fit even the largest SUVs. There is an additional opportunity to rent the ground floor space, which can be used as an office, gym, playroom and/or family room, for a total of 7,500 SF.

163 East 70th Street combines the elegance and charm of a 19th century townhouse with proportions only found in the very grandest downtown lofts or pre-war Park or Fifth Avenue apartments. Upon entering the house, one is immediately drawn upwards by the light pouring in from the exquisite, sculptural staircase, leading to the parlor level. An enormous but gracious living room opens on one end to an elegant library, with a wood burning fireplace, and on the other to the formal dining room (which easily seats 20). A hall leads to a massive eat-in kitchen at the rear, with large glass doors open onto a terrace with lovely townhouse garden views. Two guest powder rooms complete the entertaining space.

The graceful stair landing on the third floor leads to a huge 24-foot wide master suite with abundant closet space and a massive en-suite bath. Down the hallway, separated by the staircase, is the secondary bedroom wing, with three additional bedrooms and two full baths. The two bedrooms at the back of the home feature large floor to ceiling windows.

On the fourth floor, a large glass-roofed solarium with a powder room leads out to the roof, with views of the city skyline to the north and south.

The carriage house was designed by CPH Gilbert and built in 1902 for the prominent banker, philanthropist and art collector Jules Bache, who built his brokerage firm into one of the largest in the country, outranked only by Merrill Lynch. A few blocks from his mansion at 814 Fifth Avenue, it was built to a grander scale than most carriage houses of its day, with a ground floor carriage-wash, a horse ramp, second-floor double-height stalls for 9 horses, as well as grooms' quarters above. In 1944, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased the house, which was ideally located just 2 blocks from his home at 740 Park Avenue. His architect, Grosvenor Atterbury, converted it to his family's private automobile garage and chauffeur's quarters.