Carlos Marques/Marcott Studios
This prepper-friendly abode in Upstate New York is looking for a new owner.
In the Hudson Valley, within the town of Chester, an emergency-ready sanctuary designed to be the ultimate “safe house” has hit the market with a $2.69 million price tag.
Among its unique amenities are steel-reinforced walls, a security gatehouse, a 4-inch concrete poured floor slab, a NASA-designed water filtration system, various emergency escape routes, panic rooms and a private helipad.
As well, it also boasts a saltwater pool and spa, a home theater, a gym, a library, a ballroom, a nearly 10,000-square-foot white-sand beach — plus a geometrical design that allows for portions of the house to be “shut down” so as to conserve energy, or take the home completely off-grid.
The approximately 8,200-square-foot five-bedroom, five-bathroom was built in 1986 for the Bancroft family, who owned the publishing company Dow Jones & Co. for the majority of the 20th century, Mansion Global first reported.
The architect, Paul Rudolph — best known for building the brutalist Yale Art and Architecture Building, today known as Rudolph Hall — used 18th-century cedar salvaged from the original homestead at the 19 Greentree Lane address.
Since 1999, the abode is set on close to 10 acres and has been owned by the security expert and TV personality Dave Vitalli, who described the residence to Mansion Global as being “perfect for all seasons. Drink your morning coffee or have a cocktail with friends in a cabana, throw a beach party or play beach volleyball in the summer, go hiking, horseback riding, skiing or ice skating, and visit the area’s wineries and organic farms.”
“It’s a secluded sanctuary and fortress for someone high profile,” Richard Healy of Corcoran Country Living, who shares the listing with his colleagues Marie-Claire Gladstone and Jason Karadus, told Mansion Global. “It’s a safe house, but it’s also a fun house — it’s the ultimate indoor/outdoor entertainment center, and it’s like having your own private resort.”