Having it all

Shelter Island residence complete with its own nightclub, squash court and swimming pool fails to sell in two years despite price cut of £2.6 million to £15.7 million

Most people wouldn’t build a holiday home with 40 rooms but then most people aren’t the hedge funder Marco Birch. In 1999, he and his wife purchased a small house on 7.5 acres on Long Island and then pulled it down and built a colossal 23,000 square foot residence complete with its own nightclub in the basement. They’ve been trying to sell it since 2013 and have most recently cut the price by £2.6 million ($4 million, €3.6 million).

Known quite plainly as 9 and 15 Little Ram Island Drive, the property – which has been reduced in price from £18.2 million ($28.5 million, €26 million) in February 2013 to £15.7 million ($24.5 million, €22.3 million) today – has 10 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms but what makes it special is that after the Birch family realised that “Shelter Island doesn’t have a lot of large entertainment [spaces], clubs or bars” and thus built a vast nightclub with disco, home theatre and alabaster bar in the basement to use for fundraisers and private parties. It is soundproofed, air conditioned and has a dance pole (that Curbed controversially described as a “stripper pole” in March 2013), a sound system by Steve Dash and lighting by the team behind that at New York’s (since closed) Kiss & Fly Club.