High ceilings and high crime lore aren’t enough to sell a house in 2025 — especially when the interior is covered in aging marble.
From Staten Island to Long Island and across the Hudson River to Fort Lee, New Jersey, several lavish mansions once tied to organized crime figures are lingering unsold, victims not of their infamous pasts, but of their extravagant and outdated design choices.
“The issue isn’t the history,” said real estate agent Tom Le to the New York Post. “It’s that these homes are very expensive to renovate. Inside, the home is all marble, and so if anyone wants to renovate that, it will be really expensive to do so.”
Inside the Mob Mansions
That’s been the case with one of the most notorious of them all, the Staten Island mansion built by late Gambino family boss Paul “Big Paul” Castellano, who was murdered in 1985 outside Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.
Castellano’s White House–inspired estate, located in Todt Hill with sweeping views of the Verrazzano Bridge, spans 33,000 square feet and includes 13 garage bays, a solarium, home theater, Olympic-sized indoor and outdoor pools, a gym with sauna, a wine cellar, beauty salon and more.
First listed in October 2023 for $16.8 million, the property fell out of contract, was delisted, then reappeared in October 2024 with an increased price tag of $18 million. It was pulled again this month without a sale.
“There are no other homes in that area or all of Staten Island priced that much,” said Le, who recently sold a record-setting $8.5 million property across the street. Castellano’s over-customized mansion, he said, limits its appeal. “Over-customization narrows the field to buyers whose taste already aligns.”
Listing agent Melsa Skrapalliu said the owner will consider re-listing the home after the holiday season.
The property is also famous because it was featured recently on HGTV’s “Zillow Gone Wild,” siLive.com reported. The mansion was showcased on the July 25 episode “Where the Trolls Live” in which host Jack McBrayer toured the lavish estate, showing off its King Tut DVD sarcophagus. Current owner Dave revealed to the host his father rebuilt the mansion “top to bottom” and listed it only after running out of renovation projects.
The Castellano property isn’t alone in struggling to land a buyer in recent years.
Across the river, a similarly infamous Fort Lee estate, once home to Albert Anastasia, the one-time leader of Murder Inc. was ultimately razed. Known for its thick walls, leisure-level amenities, and fortress-like design atop the Palisades, the home changed hands over the years, including a stint with comedian Buddy Hackett and later transportation magnate Arthur Imperatore.
It had ben sold in 2106 to an undisclosed buyer, days before it was set to go to auction, ABC 7 reposts. The 1.3-acre estate was built in the late 1940s by Anastasia, the feared mob “Executioner.” Known for its sweeping Manhattan views and secluded setting, the property hosted numerous underworld meetings. The home has six bedrooms, a pool, spa, and theater.
“The property was sold and the new owner obtained a three-lot subdivision,” real estate agent and councilman Joseph Cervieri to the New York Post. “The house was razed after a neighbor recorded an easement to assure that her view of the NYC skyline would be unobstructed for posterity.”
On Long Island, Victoria Gotti’s Old Westbury mansion told a similar tale of slow decay. Once featured on her reality show “Growing Up Gotti,” the 6,000-square-foot estate sat on two acres but fell into disrepair after a 2016 federal raid. It included chandeliers, designer clothing, and even a hidden room behind a bookshelf.
Despite its high-profile past, the home lingered on the market for over a decade. First listed in 2013 for $2.5 million, it eventually went into foreclosure. JP Morgan Chase bought it in 2022 for $2.65 million, and it was finally sold in 2024 for $1.1 million. “That house is so gorgeous … I can’t believe it only went for $1.1 million,” said Kim Gotti, widow of John Gotti to the Post.
Built in 1996, the five-bedroom estate was once filled with marble floors, gold chandeliers, and the Gotti family’s extravagant style. The once-abandoned home became a viral hotspot for urban explorers and YouTubers who documented its eerie decay, including designer clothes and furniture left behind, according to the Greater Long Island website.
Another Gotti-linked home, at 6 Birch Hill Court, also faced challenges despite its fame. At one point asking $6.5 million, it ultimately sold for $6.1 million in 2025, only to be demolished.
Even the Brooklyn brownstone where Al Capone lived until he was around 10 recently went on the market and had a price decease. After the family moved around 1919, it was under private ownership for decades. It was bought again in 2108 for $2.42 million, after it had been listed for about six months. It was listen in 2020 for asking price of $2.9 million. But there didn’t seem to be any takers. Then in 2024 Minerva Development purchased it and did a full-scale transformation to add luxury features. It went the market at $6.25 million. The price had to drop $5.99 million before going into contract in August.
Listing agent Nadia Bartolucci said the developer “did a complete ground-up renovation,” turning what was once “uninhabitable” into a “triple-mint townhouse.”
Further south, Capone’s rumored Prohibition-era hideout in Berlin, New Jersey, also languished before finally trading for $1.3 million in 2020 — a drop from its original $1.75 million ask.
The pattern is clear: notoriety alone won’t sell a home.
“It is specifically about the product and the pricing,” Le said.
And when that product includes layers of over-personalized décor and dated grandeur, even the most notorious name in real estate can’t stop a wrecking ball.