Graceful Upper East Side Mansion Dubbed The Block House Asks $25M

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Photos Courtesy of Compass
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Moments from Central Park stands The Henry Block House, a sublime time capsule of Old World grandeur that seems almost too perfectly preserved to exist in the 21st century. With a marble entrance and reception hall that once played host to Grace Kelly, the circa-1881 abode could not possibly still sit in Lenox Hill, and yet it does. Located at 18 East 76^th Street, the Upper East Side mansion is for sale offering an exciting opportunity to step into the past without forsaking the present. It also has a new price tag of $24.99 million, a major lure for a buyer with plenty to spend since it wanted $35.8 million in April of last year.

Originally designed as a Victorian-era brownstone, the home was extensively reimagined in 1906. Esteemed architect Henry Herts refashioned the façade in limestone and added ornate Beaux-Arts and neo-Classical elements. At this time, Herts also expanded the house to five stories. Little about the design of The Block House has changed since then and many notable families have lived within its walls, perhaps evening using its secret cellar. Offering eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms within a 10,800-square-foot floorplan, it seems a bastion for large-scale, high-society living in Manhattan.

To live beneath The Block House’s thirteen-foot wedding cake ceilings and warm up beside one of its seven stately fireplaces; to clutch the bronze-trimmed handrails of its grand central staircase, see the listing with Miky Bonazzoli and Sebastiano Tronchetti Provera of Compass.