Chutes and Ladders, NYC Penthouse Edition: Sky House Lists for $20 Million
Most penthouses make their case with views. Sky House at 150 Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan makes its case with an 80-foot mirror-polished stainless steel slide, a rope swing, a rock-climbing wall, and 46-foot ceilings — and then gets to the views. It has been named the best home of its decade twice by Interior Design Magazine, once in 2015 and again in 2025. Reddit titled the listing "Chutes and Ladders, NYC Penthouse Edition." Both descriptions are accurate.
The Vision Behind It
Tech executives Craig and Kirsten Nevill-Manning acquired the raw, unoccupied four-story penthouse shell atop the 1895 American Tract Society Building for approximately $6.45 million in 2007. The building — a Beaux Arts tower at the corner of Nassau and Spruce streets, once one of the tallest structures in Manhattan — had never had a residential occupant in its upper floors. The couple hired architect David Hotson and interior designer Ghislaine Viñas to build something that was, in Hotson's words, "rigorous yet playful." The planning and construction took over five years. The result was a collaboration that Interior Design Magazine would go on to honor twice: as best home of the decade in 2015, and best home of the last twenty years in 2025. Viñas describes her design philosophy as "the aesthetics of happiness." Looking at Sky House, the philosophy lands.
What $20 Million Gets You
The slide — entered through a circular hole cut in a sloping glass partition at the apex of the building — is 80 feet of mirror-polished stainless steel that coils through the full height of the home before flaring out into a distorted rectangular mirror at the foot of the staircase. It was installed at the suggestion of the owners. There are also hidden ladders, glass bridges spanning open voids between floors, a rope swing and rock-climbing column in the main living room, and glass cutouts in the floors that let you see straight down through the building from top to bottom. The living room itself vaults 46 feet to the ceiling, ringed by massive arched windows that frame the Manhattan Municipal Building, One World Trade Center, and the Brooklyn Bridge. A 1,200-square-foot terrace wraps the third floor for 360-degree views; a second 1,200-square-foot terrace opens off the main level to the east. The primary bathroom features a hidden room, heated nanoglass floors, and a steam shower. A medicine cabinet in one of the guest bathrooms, when opened, perfectly frames the Brooklyn pier of the Manhattan Bridge through a window on the opposite side of the apartment. The Chrysler Building is visible — four miles up the island — through a porthole in an aquamarine shower enclosure. The building dates to 1895; its caryatids, copper portholes, and green-pitched roof are visible from the third-floor terrace directly outside. The HOA is $14,143 per month.
The Internet Has Thoughts
Naturally, this listing caught the attention of Reddit's r/zillowgonewild community. See what people are saying about it here.
An 80-foot slide, a rope swing, a rock wall, and the best views in Lower Manhattan. Named best home of the last 20 years. View the full listing here.
