Central Park is one block east. Riverside Park is six blocks west. Lincoln Center is a short walk south. From the street, the 1910 Renaissance Revival rowhouse on Manhattan's Upper West Side designed by architect Henry F. Cook gives little away. The 20-foot-wide facade is intact, classically restored, exactly as it should look on West 76th Street. The 8,000-square-foot interior tells a different story entirely. Author and entrepreneur Vincent DeFilippo spent seven years gutting it and rebuilding it from the inside out, with a Guggenheim-inspired spiral staircase at its core. The former CEO of a Hong Kong-based private-equity fund recently listed the six-bedroom townhouse at $16 million with
Judy Kloner and
Else "Kate" Wollman-Mahan of
Coldwell Banker Warburg.
Step inside and DeFilippo’s vision comes into full focus: floor-to-ceiling glazing at the rear opens to the garden, flooding the interior with northern light.
At the center of the home, skylit from above, the staircase spirals through all five floors, evoking the serpentine movement of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim ramp and giving the space a gallery-like atmosphere where an enviable art collection would feel right at home. Ceilings stretch ten to eleven feet on every floor. A 12-person Kone elevator handles the more practical ascent.
The parlor floor is designed for living that spills naturally into entertaining. A grand living room with two seating areas anchors one end, its gas fireplace and bay window giving the space both warmth and light.
The kitchen — outfitted with an eight-burner Wolf range with grill, two Subzero refrigerators, a Gaggenau coffee station, and custom walnut cabinetry by HenryBuilt — opens to a dining area that seats ten. Dolomite marble slab surfaces throughout. The pantry is the size of a room.
The garden floor introduces a second kitchen — a proper catering kitchen with Subzero, Wolf wine fridge, and Fisher & Paykel dishwasher — alongside a windowed bedroom with ensuite bath and an entertainment room with French doors opening directly to the garden. The outdoor space, 1,450 square feet across three terraces, includes an outdoor kitchen and ample seating: sun-filled, private, the kind of outdoor room that justifies the square footage entirely on its own.
The second floor is currently configured as a library and playroom, with two full bathrooms and a proper laundry room.
The third floor belongs entirely to the primary suite: a 24-foot dressing room with custom walnut cabinetry, a spa bathroom with separate soaking tub, stall shower, and custom stone mosaic, a fireplace in the bedroom, and a private south-facing terrace. The fourth floor offers two additional bedrooms, each with ensuite baths and generous closets.
The penthouse level — a fifth floor added during the renovation — provides flexible space for a media room, studio, or solarium, opening onto two expansive roof decks finished in bluestone with copper waterproofing. An additional upper roof delivers panoramic city views. Below grade, the cellar introduces a gym with infrared sauna, a bathroom, and abundant storage — fully conditioned and easily adaptable as recreation space or art storage.
The renovation extended to every detail: radiant-heated floors in all bathrooms and cold zones, white oak floors throughout, Italian marble slab in every bath, motorized blinds, and a Magnolia smart home system connecting custom audio-visual, lighting, and surround sound.
DeFilippo clearly thought of everything. “I built it for myself, and that’s why I didn’t skimp on the cost,” he told Mansion Global.
