![]() If they’re not (pre-pandemic, at least) commuting to their offices in midtown or visiting friends downtown, most of the residents seem to spend much of their time on the terrace watching the boats go by or looking out at the Palisades.īut with fewer than 20 units, it’s extremely difficult to buy into. Because of this, McKelvey’s vision of the Villa as a city escape seems to have been largely upheld. And though there has since been more development in the area (a handful of high-rises, a Thai restaurant), the neighborhood remains quiet - combined with neighboring Kingsbridge, there are only 31,000-odd residents, 24 percent of whom are over the age of 65. McKelvey advertised the Villa in the New York Times as a sort of permanent vacation, perfect for anyone whose “soul is hungry for the majesty of the river.” Over the years, those residents have included the novelist Richard Ford, a costume designer for the Godfather, a character actor specializing in butler roles, and one real-estate agent turned waterfowl painter. No two units were exactly the same - today, some have a terrace off the kitchen, others a view of the George Washington Bridge one has a cathedral ceiling. ![]() In 1926, it was finished: eight buildings, separated into two sections by a central courtyard, with exterior walls made of stucco and multicolored-tile roofs. Gardner to create something that looked exactly the opposite of the revivalist apartment buildings that had been popping up in Manhattan. Plus it’s an easy, roughly 25-minute trip - six stops on the Metro-North Hudson Line - to Grand Central. They liked its suburban feel development of the neighborhood only began in the latter half of the 19th century. Situated 9.5 miles north of midtown in relatively sleepy Spuyten Duyvil, adjacent to Riverdale and Kingsbridge, the neighborhood was then home to wealthy New Yorkers like James Douglas, president of Phelps, Dodge & Co., and William C. The Villa (which, yes, was named after the novelist) was built in the early-20th century by John J. Says singer and psychotherapist Ivy Austin, who moved into the Villa last year, “It’s only when the trains go by that we know we’re in the Bronx.” Triplex apartments with two decks sit seemingly in mid-air, accessible only by curlicue staircases. It’s hard to blame the intruders: Set jarringly beside a blocky 1980s development on a cliff’s edge above the Hudson, the Villa is “like a set for a Disney movie,” residents say, and “the Amalfi Coast.” Both of which feel apt: The property is covered with winding hedge-lined paths, arched staircases, and a sunken courtyard. It is so common for joggers, passersby, and tourists to stop and take pictures of the Villa Charlotte Brontë - to crowd around the front gate, to sneak in past the NO TRESPASSING sign - that the residents of the 17-unit co-op have become self-proclaimed expert shooers.
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