By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — For $35 million you not only get a 1,000-bottle wine cellar, 2,300-square-foot private spa lounge and an art gallery (for your private collection or to rent out to an art dealer), but also a 20-foot-wide, 22-foot high indoor cascading waterfall.
It's the tallest indoor waterfall in a New York City home, according the designers of the 13,000-square-foot mansion at 170 East 80th St. listed through exclusive broker Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens.
Kate Shin, president of WEmi:t LLC, a real estate company that acquires and develops high-end boutique residential properties by blending Eastern and Western design influences, spent more than three years developing the five-story townhouse with the well-known Toshiko Mori Architects.
They even brought in waterfall specialists to create a serene and peaceful atmosphere for the waterfall that can be glimpsed from the second-floor dining room.
"We hired water consultants who measured the rate and rhythm of the water so it would peacefully fall into the pond," Shin said. "We didn't want it to be too splashy."
Shin, whose company focuses on the top 1 percent of the market, said there were two reasons the super-wealthy leave the city: "They want more space," she said. "They miss green and nature. That is the reason they move to Alpine, N.J., or Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut."
That's why Shin focused on green elements, creating a green roof where one can grow tomatoes and planting real grass on the 1,000-square-foot terrace off of the master bedroom.
The re-designed mansion is the city's first LEED-certified single-family home over 10,000 square feet, Shin noted.
"It's not just a luxury property. We focused on creating a lifestyle," Shin said. "Over the past three years, we have poured our heart and soul into this project."
