You Can Touch My Tippy Top

So I was driving up the West Side Highway on my way to Westchester the other day. As per usual, I was blasting my radio, rocking out with the sunroof open and casually glancing at my blind spot / the scores of new apartment buildings on the west bank of Manhattan. After I passed the George Washington Bridge but still stuck in insidious traffic, I noticed a building that I never noticed before.

Perched aside the upper rocky ridges of way uptown Manhattan, was this castle-like structure. It didn't look like anything near or around it, and as you can see by its post-war construction red-brick neighbor in the picture at left, I wasn't quite sure that this was actually an apartment.

OMG, was I wrong. I got off at the next exit, somewhere in Inwood, and did a little urban exploration in my SUV. Finally, I found the castle of which I want to be king.

The building sits at the southern end of Chittenden Avenue, on an urban cul-de-sac. No. 16. Turns out, this is WAY more than just an apartment. The building is a private home with a separate apartment on the "bottom" level of the structure. It's a 1 BR, 1 BA with a terrace and views TO DIE FOR. OMG OMG OMG.

Once I got home, I found out that the apartment is actually on the market for a reasonable $3,000 / month rental. That's actually a price tag to go OMG over as well, considering the ample space, huge terrace with tremendous views, and uniqueness of the property. Plus, the building is called "The Pumpkin House" - I mean, doesn't every Cinderella (male or female) want to live in a pumpkin like this? And for a mere $3 million more, you can OWN the ENTIRE building (5 bedroom house atop the 1 bedroom apt.) and sit pretty watching the Hudson River Line. On my drive home, I blasted "New York State Of Mind" followed by "Empire State of Mind," because well, obviously.