Rosie O’Donnell Lists Her Manhattan Apartment, a Beloved “Sandcastle” House Hits the Market, and More Real Estate News

From daytime divas like Rosie O’Donnell listing their duplexes to historic homes hitting the market in the nation’s capital, there is always something new happening in the world of real estate. In this roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

On the Market

Rosie O’Donnell puts her Manhattan penthouse up for $8.3 million

Longtime New Yorker Rosie O’Donnell is saying goodbye to the Big Apple—or at least to her spacious Turtle Bay penthouse. Listed for $8.3 million, the nearly 3,600-square-foot condo includes four bedrooms, three baths, and a rooftop terrace with views of Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the East River.

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The comedian and former TV host bought the apartment for $8 million in 2017. But these days, O’Donnell is primarily based on the West Coast, according to Paul Anand of Brown Harris Stevens, who has the listing. 

The upper floor offers a spacious primary suite and a second bedroom that can be converted into a home office, as well as a glass-enclosed dining room with a light-up onyx wet bar; a great room with a granite fireplace; and a Boffi kitchen with Corian countertops, Miele and Gaggenau appliances, and a 70-bottle wine refrigerator. Down the Guggenheim-inspired staircase, you’ll find two additional bedrooms, a Jacuzzi, and a Swedish sauna, all accessible from a discreet guest entrance. 

O’Donnell, 61, is no newcomer to the East Coast real estate scene, having bought and sold homes in Greenwich Village, the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Miami, West Palm Beach, and beyond. The duplex at Sterling Plaza, one of two penthouses in the building, is her last remaining New York property. Because the 1,620-square-foot terrace has an enclosed pantry and kitchen, O’Donnell’s residence has previously been marketed as a triplex. The roof is the apartment’s “crown jewel,” Anand says.

“It’s like a private oasis,” he told The New York Times. “And it’s what sold Rosie on the apartment.”

Sandra Lee is selling her oceanfront Malibu home for $7.5 million

Sandra Lee, the queen of Semi-Homemade, has listed her oceanside Malibu home with Coldwell Realty’s Julian Alexander for $7.5 million. Lee, 56, bought the house for $3.38 million in January 2020, four months after announcing her split with former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and seven months after the couple listed Lily Pond, the six-bedroom Westchester residence they shared since 2008. 

The single-level house in Malibu dates to 1948 and is situated on an oceanfront stretch between Big Rock and Topanga Beach. A highlight is the whitewashed living room, with its vaulted wood-beam ceiling, floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace, and the wall of glass that opens onto a cantilevered deck jutting out over the Pacific. Outside, 75 feet of beach frontage delivers unparalleled views of the Queen’s Necklace, the string of jewel-like lights that ring the Santa Monica Bay at night.

Given Lee’s fondness for food, it’s not surprising the modest three-bedroom home features two kitchens—one of which includes a rock-crystal chandelier and twin ovens, dishwashers, and garbage disposals—plus a breakfast nook and separate formal dining room.

Last spring, Lee offered the house for rent for $75,000 a month, though it’s now available for long-term lease for just $42,500 a month.

Harry Gesner’s Sandcastle lands on the market 

Speaking of Malibu, a home designed by a legendary architect long associated with the area is also for sale: Sandcastle, the striking cylindrical abode architect Harry Gesner built for his family in the early 1970s, has listed for $27.5 million.

Gesner, who died in 2022, was self-taught and renowned for tackling projects in challenging environments. He was also an early proponent of sustainable design: Sandcastle incorporates salvaged materials like old telephone poles, maple flooring from a high school gym, and doors and windows saved from a silent movie theater. 

His son, realtor Zen Gesner, who is handling the sale with Chris Cortazzo of Compass, describes growing up at Sandcastle as magical. “Growing up there was a bit Swiss Family Robinson but in Middle Earth—like living in a total fantasy world,” he tells AD PRO. “Weekends and summers were usually spent surfing, diving, fishing, exploring the tide pools, and sleeping by bonfires on the beach.”

The roughly 3,000-square-foot three-bedroom house is topped off with a small tower that once housed Gesner’s studio. The property also includes two guesthouses, a one-bedroom “nest” above an indoor/outdoor cabana, and a three-car garage. At the home’s heart is a window-wrapped living space with a brick fireplace that mirrors the shape of the Hollywood Bowl. (The massive polished concrete hearth occasionally served as a stage for Gesner’s wife, actress Nan Martin.) 

Gesner had a passion for surfing: He reportedly came up with the design for Wave House, the iconic property next door, while on his longboard. For its part, Sandcastle has steps leading down to about 120 feet of beachfront, as well as an outdoor shower and surfboard storage.

 “All people who enter and spend a brief period or long time here immediately feel at home and relaxed,” Gesner wrote of the three quarter-acre property in his book Houses of the Sundown Sea. “The experience never becomes commonplace or boring because over everything is the sound and rhythm of the waves breaking on the shore in front of the house.”

A $29.95 million Gilded Age mansion could set a DC record

The Blaine Mansion, a Gilded Age jewel in Washington, DC’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, is on the market for $29.95 million. If it sells for even close to that amount, it would be the most expensive residence in the city, shattering the record set in 2007 by the $24 million Bowie-Sevier Mansion in Georgetown.

Completed in 1882, the Blaine Mansion is named for its original owner, James Gillespie Blaine, the 19th-century statesman from Maine who served as speaker of the house, senator, and secretary of State. (Blaine narrowly lost the 1884 presidential election to Democrat Grover Cleveland.)  

The last freestanding mansion at the gateway to Embassy Row, ​​2000 Massachusetts Ave NW was designed by Scottish American architect John Fraser, who created several prominent homes in the district. After Blaine, the mansion passed through other notable hands, including Marshall Field & Company cofounder Levi Leiter, inventor George Westinghouse, and French ambassador Jules Patenôtre des Noyers. In 1921, railroad executive Henry B. Spencer converted the building into apartments and added a four-story glass addition designed by architect George N. Ray.

Over the years, the offices on the lower level were used by embassies from Japan, Colombia, and Denmark. During WWII, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia worked out of the mansion when he oversaw the Office of Civilian Defense. John R. Phillips, the US ambassador to Italy and his wife, Obama administration communications adviser Linda Douglass, purchased the property in 2006. (President Obama visited the mansion numerous times during his term, according to The Wall Street Journal, as did then Vice President Joe Biden.)

The couple tapped architect Benjamin A. Van Dusen for an extensive three-year renovation that converted the upper floors into their four-bedroom penthouse, which retains the original moldings, dormers, and five fireplaces. There’s also an oak-paneled library, a light-drenched atrium, and a massive dining room that can accommodate a 40-person sit-down dinner. Van Dusen added rooftop access to a 60-foot lap pool and outdoor kitchen on an adjacent condo too.

“Imagine being able to go out on your rooftop and be in the pool, drinking a margarita and overlooking DuPont Circle,” Daniel Heider, the listing agent with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, told Realtor.com. “Right now, nothing compares to it.” According to Heider, the property has mixed-use zoning and could generate more than $1 million in rental income annually if the new owners decided to keep it as is. The space could also be converted into the enviable new headquarters for a foundation or embassy, he added.  

Sales Launches

Historic West Village hotel gets a new lease on life 

Sales have commenced at The Keller, the first new condo development in New York City’s West Village in over four years, according to developer Aurora Capital Associates. The building, located at 150 Barrow Street, is launching with over $50 million in presales, including its two penthouses.

Designed by BKSK Architects, the 24-unit residence combines a new seven-story with a fully renovated version of the Keller Hotel: a six-story Renaissance Revival building built in 1898 by Julius Munckwitz, who designed the Central Park Boathouse.  

At the time, the Keller was one of many properties that housed longshoremen and laborers working on the adjacent Hudson River piers. In later years, the shipping and cruise industries declined and, by the 1980s, the Keller became an SRO and later a welfare hotel. 

From 1956 until the hotel’s close in 1998, the ground floor storefront on the right was home to the Keller Bar, one of New York’s oldest gay leather bars. (The Village People shot the cover for their self-titiled debut album there.) Many similar structures were torn down, but the Keller survived—and was designated a New York City landmark in 2007. 

“The Keller spoke to us because of its unbeatable waterfront and park-side location coupled with the textured history of the building,” Aurora Capital CEO Bobby Cayre said in a statement. “We knew we had a special project on our hands. “

The building had been vacant since 1998 but now its earth-toned brick façade has been restored (as has the distinctive neon hotel sign outside.) And of course the residences have been overhauled with luxury touches, like white oak flooring, walnut cabinetry, and white Macaubas kitchen countertops.

Available units at the Keller start at $2.64 million for one-bedrooms, $3.54 million for two-bedrooms, and $5.59 million for three-bedrooms. 

Milestones

Four Seasons Private Residences checks into Las Vegas

Four Seasons announced this month it was partnering with Luxus Developments and Azure Resorts and Hotels on Four Seasons Private Residences Las Vegas, a standalone project in MacDonald Highlands, Nevada, located about 15 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Designed by Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo, the luxury enclave will include two towers with 171 condominiums and six single-family villas. If that sounds familiar, that’s because the project was originally announced in February 2022 as Pinnacle Residences.

Now the famed hospitality brand is on board, and the $1 billion project’s completion date has been pushed back to 2026. “We looked at a bunch of luxury brands,” Azure President Jim Reilly told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “and came to the determination that the only one that would really make sense to delay our project six to nine months to make a few changes was the Four Seasons.”

Owners will have access to Four Seasons service and amenities, their own restaurant and nearby DragonRidge Country Club. Originally announced at $1.5 million when the project was unbranded, prices are now set to start at $3 million. 

News

Fewest existing homes sell in over a decade

In April, the number of sales of previously owned homes showed a staggering 23.2% year-over-year drop, the biggest decline seen since January 2012. Last month, existing homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million, according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) latest report, compared to 5.57 million in April 2022. Of the homes that sold, only 27% were on the market for more than a month. (The average length was only 22 days.)

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says home sales “are bouncing back and forth.” “The combination of job gains, limited inventory, and fluctuating mortgage rates over the last several months have created an environment of push-pull housing demand,” Yun said in a statement.

At the end of April, the supply of unsold homes increased 7.2% from March to 1.04 million, or roughly 2.9 months’ inventory. One year earlier, the inventory was equal to just 2.2 months’ supply. The median sale price last month was $388,800, down 1.7% year-over-year. Regionally, prices dipped in the South and West, while they rose in both in the Midwest and Northeast. “Roughly half of the country is experiencing price gains,” Yun said.

With the warm weather, the market has heated up again, he added. Even areas where prices are typically lower have seen sellers getting multiple offers. Distressed and forced property sales, said Yun, “are virtually nonexistent.”