Extravagant UES mansion with Hermès leather walls, fur closet gets a discount

An Upper East Side mansion with walls bedecked in red Hermès leather (on the fifth floor) has returned to the market, albeit with a $5 million price cut, and a new brokerage firm. The six-story Beaux Arts, owned by developer Keith Rubenstein, first came on the market early last year for $84.5 million.

Nearly two years later, the mansion has yet to find a buyer, which is presumably why Rubenstein has now brought on Douglas Elliman to sell the house for $79.5 million. That’s still a mammoth ask, and handily places the house high up on the list of NYC’s 25 most expensive homes for sale.

The house was designed and built by John H. Duncan (the architect who designed Grant’s Tomb in Morningside Heights) in the early part of the 20th century. Following Rubenstein’s acquisition of the house in the past decade, he brought on interior designer William T. Georgis to revamp the mansion.

“Revamp” might actually be an understatement—now, the mansion features a spa with a plunge pool, a 2,500-square-foot rooftop terrace with a rock garden and a fountain, a temperature-controlled vault for furs, and a snow melting system for the sidewalk in front, among scores of other luxury finishings.

Will this price cut enable a buyer to come forward?

• Listing: 8 East 62nd Street [DE]
• $85M UES House Has Hermès Leather Walls, Special Fur Closet [Curbed]
• NYC’s 25 most expensive homes for sale [Curbed]