$80M Townhouse With Panic Room Is NYC's Biggest Sale Ever: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A massive Upper East Side townhouse is reportedly under contract in New York City's biggest real estate sale ever. An unnamed buyer has purchased the 20,000-square-foot mansion at 12 E. 69th St. for $80 million, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The opulent 19-room house previously belonged to Vincent Viola, the billionaire commodities trader who was once President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of the army, the Journal reported.

Viola and his wife, Teresa Viola, reportedly renovated the 40-foot-wide, four-story mansion, first built in 1884. It's got 12-foot ceilings and a load of amenities, including a movie theater, bar, spa and even a panic room if disaster strikes, according to an old listing on Zillow.com.

The house first went on the market in 2013 for an eye-popping $114 million. The price was dropped to 98 million about a year later before it was taken off the market. The Violas paid $20 million for it in 2005, the Journal reported.

The house wasn't formally on the market when it was sold recently, according to the Journal.

The $80 million price shattered the previous record for New York City's most expensive home sale, previously held by the $53 million sale of the Harkness mansion on East 75th Street in 2006, the Journal reported.

(Lead image: The house at 12 E. 69th Street recently sold for $80 million. Image from Google Maps)