Results tagged “castle”

Earlier this year the Harlem home once owned by the late James Bailey (of Barnum & Bailey fame) dropped in price from $10M to $6.5M (soon after it was brought down to $3.5M). Now Curbed reports that the limestone castle on St. Nicholas Place and 150th Street has just sold for a $1.4M! Surely the gigantic price drop had more to do with economic climate than all the bad press for the circus he helped found. Regardless, the site points out that this could be the real estate steal of the year, going for around $170 per square foot; a "cold calculation [that] doesn't even include the Belcher mosaic glass, 12' high mercury mirror, French polished oak floors and all the other dramatic original details in need of a thorough dusting." Surely this selling price has Bailey rolling over in his grave like a well-tamed circus lion. Wonder how much he paid to have the home built back in 1888...

       

Located at the intersection of St. Nicholas Place and 150th Street, the James Bailey House is now for sale and could be yours for just $6.5 million dollars (coming down from $10 million). Not a bad price for a castle, 12,000-square-feet of living space and a 62.5 x 100-foot lot. Originally built in 1888 for the co-founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the freestanding structure is saturated with plenty of luxurious details throughout the interior (stained glass, hand-carved wood), but is said to need significant repairs. The Wall Street Journal reports that it was purchased by a former funeral home director in 1951 (Marguerite Blake, who still lives there with her niece), but only Wikipedia says the house was actually a mortuary at one point—so we're guessing there's probably no need to bring in the Ghostbusters. Check out more photos at Harlem Hybrid, who just went on an open house tour.

     

What's more intriguing than an abandoned island with a rotting castle sitting just north of New York City? Bannerman's Island sits in the Hudson, just about 50 miles north of here, and American Heritage explains "this island fortress was once the private arsenal of the world's largest arms dealer," Frank "Francis" Bannerman.