Long Island estate with 15 bedrooms sells for 2024 Nassau County record $21M
Completed in 1935, the 15-bedroom Georgian-style estate in Old Westbury known as Erchless includes four greenhouses and other buildings on the 92.7-acre property. Credit: Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty
A historic Gold Coast estate in Old Westbury, with ties to a Gilded Age steel fortune, sold Monday for $21 million in the largest publicly listed sale of the year so far in Nassau County.
The 15-bedroom Georgian-style estate, named Erchless after a Scottish castle, was completed in 1935. It includes four greenhouses and several other buildings on the 92.7-acre property, Newsday previously reported.
The property offered the rare combination of abundant land with space for horses within 45 minutes of Manhattan, said Lois Kirschenbaum, an associate broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty, who listed the property.
"There are no more grand estates like this close to the city," said Kirschenbaum, a 37-year resident of Old Westbury.
She said the deal was the largest residential sale in the village's history.
Kirschenbaum said the property has not been subdivided but the buyer would be able to divide the estate into dozens of 2-acre lots for single-family houses as of right, meaning the owner wouldn’t need the Village of Old Westbury to approve a zoning change. The owner would need to work with the village to create a subdivision, she said.
“There’s definitely a development opportunity here,” Kirschenbaum said.
Maria Babaev, who represented the buyer in the transaction, declined to disclose her client’s identity. She said the buyer had already been living in Old Westbury and is “a health care mogul and a real estate developer.”
Babaev said his current plan is to use the property for personal use. The buyer’s daughter is planning her wedding, Babaev said, and Erchless is a contender as a possible venue.
"This transaction is truly an epic one, not just for Old Westbury but really for the entire North Shore of Long Island and the luxury market space," she said.
Babaev said the sale could be relevant to the pricing of other estates in the area but it would be difficult to use as a comparison given the estate's acreage and legacy.
"We might use it as a relevant sale to fuel other large transactions," she said. "However, I think it will always remain a unique and special estate. The number is significant ... but what's even more significant is the history behind this incredible property."
The home was owned by the Phipps family, which acquired the land in 1901. Howard Phipps, a philanthropist and horticulturalist, lived there with his wife, Harriet, until his death in 1981. Phipps' father, Henry Phipps Jr., was a business partner of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. The seller was Howard Phipps Jr.
The estate was owned by Little Erchless LLC before the sale, according to property records.
The family's horticultural heritage is reflected in the estate's award-winning gardens with a focus on rhododendrons. The grounds also feature an arboretum's worth of trees, including linden, Japanese cherry and dogwood trees, Kirschenbaum said.
The property has a stable with a turnout paddock and several barns, according to the real estate listing.
There's also a heated swimming pool with two pagoda-style cabanas. Other buildings on the grounds include a superintendent's house and a chauffeur's house with a garage on the grounds, the listing shows. Inside, there are modern amenities such as central air conditioning and an elevator. The home has an attached four-car garage.
The nearly century-old home was well-maintained, which allowed prospective buyers to appreciate its details rather than worry about its mechanical systems, Kirschenbaum said.
“Many of the [fireplace] mantles were from Europe, and what was so beautiful about the house is that you had this Old World charm,” Kirschenbaum said. “Then, in some of the details, in the lighting and in the moldings, they had American Art Deco detail.”
The estate was last listed at $23 million, according to OneKey MLS, the multiple listing service that includes Long Island, which showed the sale closed Monday.
At $21 million, the Old Westbury sale far surpassed other Nassau deals this year. The second-most expensive sale this year was the nearly $12.7 million sale of Fox News host Sean Hannity's waterfront home on Centre Island, according to sales data from OneKey MLS. That data only includes homes that were publicly listed.
The last time a property sold for as much in Nassau was in 2021, when luxury housing developer Toll Brothers paid $38.4 million for 30 acres in North Hills.
That property had been the site of a 1920 Gold Coast mansion, known as Inisfada, which was later donated to the Jesuits and converted to the St. Ignatius Retreat House until it closed in 2013.
While the $21 million sale is notable for Nassau, homes in the Hamptons frequently fetch higher prices. There were 10 deals on the South Fork for at least $28 million last year, with the most expensive in Southampton selling for $112.5 million.
With Rachel Weiss
A historic Gold Coast estate in Old Westbury, with ties to a Gilded Age steel fortune, sold Monday for $21 million in the largest publicly listed sale of the year so far in Nassau County.
The 15-bedroom Georgian-style estate, named Erchless after a Scottish castle, was completed in 1935. It includes four greenhouses and several other buildings on the 92.7-acre property, Newsday previously reported.
The property offered the rare combination of abundant land with space for horses within 45 minutes of Manhattan, said Lois Kirschenbaum, an associate broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty, who listed the property.
"There are no more grand estates like this close to the city," said Kirschenbaum, a 37-year resident of Old Westbury.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A historic Gold Cost estate sold for $21 million this week in the largest home sale in Nassau County so far this year.
- The seller was Howard Phipps Jr., while the buyer was an unnamed resident of Old Westbury.
- The 15-bedroom home sits on 92.7 acres, which could be subdivided in the future. The buyer's agent said he plans to keep the home for personal use.
She said the deal was the largest residential sale in the village's history.
Kirschenbaum said the property has not been subdivided but the buyer would be able to divide the estate into dozens of 2-acre lots for single-family houses as of right, meaning the owner wouldn’t need the Village of Old Westbury to approve a zoning change. The owner would need to work with the village to create a subdivision, she said.
“There’s definitely a development opportunity here,” Kirschenbaum said.
The home was owned by the Phipps family, which acquired the land in 1901. Credit: Douglas Elliman Real Estate
Maria Babaev, who represented the buyer in the transaction, declined to disclose her client’s identity. She said the buyer had already been living in Old Westbury and is “a health care mogul and a real estate developer.”
Babaev said his current plan is to use the property for personal use. The buyer’s daughter is planning her wedding, Babaev said, and Erchless is a contender as a possible venue.
"This transaction is truly an epic one, not just for Old Westbury but really for the entire North Shore of Long Island and the luxury market space," she said.
Babaev said the sale could be relevant to the pricing of other estates in the area but it would be difficult to use as a comparison given the estate's acreage and legacy.
"We might use it as a relevant sale to fuel other large transactions," she said. "However, I think it will always remain a unique and special estate. The number is significant ... but what's even more significant is the history behind this incredible property."
The home was owned by the Phipps family, which acquired the land in 1901. Howard Phipps, a philanthropist and horticulturalist, lived there with his wife, Harriet, until his death in 1981. Phipps' father, Henry Phipps Jr., was a business partner of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. The seller was Howard Phipps Jr.
The estate was owned by Little Erchless LLC before the sale, according to property records.
The family's horticultural heritage is reflected in the estate's award-winning gardens with a focus on rhododendrons. The grounds also feature an arboretum's worth of trees, including linden, Japanese cherry and dogwood trees, Kirschenbaum said.
The property has a stable with a turnout paddock and several barns, according to the real estate listing.
There's also a heated swimming pool with two pagoda-style cabanas. Other buildings on the grounds include a superintendent's house and a chauffeur's house with a garage on the grounds, the listing shows. Inside, there are modern amenities such as central air conditioning and an elevator. The home has an attached four-car garage.
The nearly century-old home was well-maintained, which allowed prospective buyers to appreciate its details rather than worry about its mechanical systems, Kirschenbaum said.
“Many of the [fireplace] mantles were from Europe, and what was so beautiful about the house is that you had this Old World charm,” Kirschenbaum said. “Then, in some of the details, in the lighting and in the moldings, they had American Art Deco detail.”
The house, called Erchless, was completed in 1935. Credit: Douglas Elliman Real Estate
Top sales
The estate was last listed at $23 million, according to OneKey MLS, the multiple listing service that includes Long Island, which showed the sale closed Monday.
At $21 million, the Old Westbury sale far surpassed other Nassau deals this year. The second-most expensive sale this year was the nearly $12.7 million sale of Fox News host Sean Hannity's waterfront home on Centre Island, according to sales data from OneKey MLS. That data only includes homes that were publicly listed.
The last time a property sold for as much in Nassau was in 2021, when luxury housing developer Toll Brothers paid $38.4 million for 30 acres in North Hills.
That property had been the site of a 1920 Gold Coast mansion, known as Inisfada, which was later donated to the Jesuits and converted to the St. Ignatius Retreat House until it closed in 2013.
While the $21 million sale is notable for Nassau, homes in the Hamptons frequently fetch higher prices. There were 10 deals on the South Fork for at least $28 million last year, with the most expensive in Southampton selling for $112.5 million.
With Rachel Weiss
Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.
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