Sixteen-time Grammy winner Paquito D’Rivera has sold his home for a record-setting price of $1,525,000.
That’s $425,000 more than any other single family home in North Bergen has sold for.
The median sales price of a single family home in North Bergen was $505,000 as of February, according to the most recent data available from New Jersey Realtors. That’s down 11% from a year earlier when the median sales price was $567,500.
“The rarity of this beautiful home accounts for it having attained a record price for North Bergen,” said Angela Cuciniello, the listing agent with Coldwell Banker Realty in Hoboken. “It is one of only three Colonials of this size nestled on Boulevard East that offer sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline from across the Hudson River.”
Boulevard East is equivalent to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, she said. “It’s one of the most prestigious and coveted areas because it’s a bluff top and has unobstructed views. And there’s no way the view will ever be taken away.”
The brick home has four bedrooms, four full and one half bathrooms. It has a two-story addition that gave the home a large chef’s kitchen, a junior bedroom suite and a small balcony all with skyline views. And the 4,100 square foot home has five-zone heating and cooling.
Built in 1911, it has a formal foyer, a three-story staircase, 10-foot ceilings, detailed moldings and stained glass windows. The living room has a marbled fireplace and there is a den that opens to a blue-stone terrace. The lower level has a spa, sauna, steam room, a billiards room and a guest room. The yard has motorized steel gates, a four-car driveway, a detached two-car garage and a heated Gunite swimming pool.
“People were wowed by the feeling of the grand and the charm of it combined,” Cuciniello said. “And to add a Gunite pool, at that depth, would cost about $300,000.”
The property is also in walking distance to shopping and dining on the waterfront and an approximately 20-minute commute to New York City.
It was originally listed in August 2023 for $1.75 million. The price was reduced in October to $1.625 and again in December to $1.575 million.
“When we started, I think there was a bit of sticker shock because of the interest rates being so high -- and the time of year,” she said. “After the end of September, it’s just not the most ideal time to sell.”
There were four offers in late December, after the last price change. It closed March 22 for $1.525 million.
The buyer is a family from Hoboken who were looking for more space. They had been shopping for about a year and focusing on brownstones, said Danny Rojo of Coldwell Banker Realty in Fort Lee, who represented the buyer.
“They were very married to the brownstone. But when this was presented to them, they couldn’t say no,” he said. “They fell in love with the view. You could see all of New York from one side to the other.”
Property records indicate that D’Rivera bought the home in 2003 for $750,000. He and his wife sold it because they wanted to downsize.
“He has such a fan base,” Cuciniello said. “People send him gorgeous pieces of art. Clarinets made from all different types of materials, lots of paintings. He has instruments and antique instruments.”
“Their goal was be to able to move to a place that would afford them a good amount of space for practices and rehearsals,” she said.
D’Rivera, 76, was born in Havana, Cuba and at age 10 performed with the National Theater Orchestra. By 17 he was a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. He has won 16 Grammy Awards since 1979, including five Grammys and 11 Latin Grammys. He has recorded more than 30 solo albums and is regarded as a Latin jazz musician and classical music composer.
D’Rivera, who still performs, won his most recent Grammys last year for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album and Best Contemporary Classical Composition at the 24th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.
