$15M Bay Ridge mansion is one of Brooklyn’s most expensive homes

Say hello to Brooklyn’s second most expensive home: A Bay Ridge mansion, located on the corner of Shore Road and 82nd Street close to the waterfront, just hit the market asking $15 million. Corcoran’s Evan Church, Chris Cavorti, and Marvin Chu have the listing.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the listing, the home is owned by the family of Carmelo Giuffre, who owns 21 auto dealerships in the tri-state area. The home has been owned by the family for more than 30 years, and the story of how they came to own it is pretty cute:

When [Giuffre’s son, John Giuffre’s] mother, Marianna Giuffre, and father first arrived in Brooklyn in the 1950s, Mrs. Giuffre marveled at the home as they walked by it during a day at the shore. Years later in 1983, after Mr. Giuffre had built his auto dealership business, he secretly approached the owner to buy the house, then handed the keys to his wife as a surprise.

Awww.

Rise Media, courtesy of the Corcoran Group

There’s no mistaking that this house was updated in the 1980s: Things are gilded and marble-enrobed, and there are columns galore; according to the Guiffre’s son, his parents enlisted Italian artists to create ceiling murals, and imported other materaisl from Italy for the place. Indeed, the overall vibe is oversized Italian-style villa.

And while a new buyer might want to update some things, the listing is nonetheless effusive in its praise: The “one-of-a-kind gem” is “unparalleled in its caliber and level of comfort,” and is “one of Brooklyn’s most prized and storied properties!”

The home measures a whopping 10,1010 square feet and sits on a half-acre lot, with seven bedrooms and seven and a half bathrooms. Other perks include: a two-car garage, a pool with a slide, two solariums, a master suite with a terrace and dressing room (which has its own separate balcony), several sitting rooms, a fountain, a gazebo, and yes, even more.

The only residential property (i.e. not a multi-family building) that currently tops it in price is a condo at 1 Brooklyn Bridge Park, listed for $16.9 million. If it did sell for the full asking price, it’d become one of the borough’s priciest properties ever sold; time will tell if the sellers succeed.

• Listing: 8121 Shore Road [Corcoran]
• Auto Dealer Magnate Lists Home as One of Brooklyn’s Priciest [WSJ]