Dreaming of ditching this concrete landmass for a breezy life on the open sea? While there’s no shortage of charming and affordable houseboats on the market, there’s only one Ellis Island ferry-turned-marine mansion. And now it can now be yours for a mere $1.25 million (remember, in this imaginary world where buying a floating home is not a terrible idea, you also have a million bucks lying around).
The 11-bedroom, 150-foot ferry comes with quite the backstory. Built in 1907, the ship spent its first decade ferrying passengers and cargo through different parts of New England. After the United States entered the war in 1917, the Navy commissioned the ship as the USS Machigonne, and used it to move men and supplies between Boston and Bumpkin Island Training Station. The steel hulled ferry was also fit with two one-pounder guns as a defensive measure.
Following the war, the decommissioned ship was purchased by US immigration services and moved to New York Harbor, where it shuttled new immigrants from Ellis Island to Manhattan for much of the 1920s. (It is the oldest existing Ellis Island ferry.) The ship was called back into service for World War II, again as a troop carrier, before spending the next fifty years as a commercial tour boat. In 1990, the decaying ferry was purchased by a private citizen and towed to Pier 25 in Tribeca for repair. Two years later, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.
Curbed reports that the ferry’s current residents, artists Richard and Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, are looking to sell after 15 years of living off the shores of New York City. The couple, who also run a home decor business, have overseen some major renovations and restorations in that time. Much of the original wood flooring is still in place, but the upper deck has been turned an open living area and a lower level ballroom, accommodating 150 people, has been added.“You could have a huge party on the top deck or passenger deck or both,” broker Michael Franklin of Franklin Ruttan told TODAY Home.
But don't let the prohibitive cost of this history-rich party boat sink your seafaring dreams. The regular old ferry will do, and it’s getting a dramatic expansion this summer!
