Skaneateles, N.Y. — Billionaire scrap dealer Adam Weitsman is asking for permission to demolish a Skaneateles Lake home he bought eight months ago for a cool $6 million. Weitsman bought the 6,300-square-foot, six-bedroom home with over 200 feet of private waterfront next to his own lakefront mansion in October. He’s now asking the Skaneateles Village Planning Board for the OK to tear it down and add the seven-tenths of an acre it sits on to his estate.
The businessman told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard this week that he likely would not raze the home for a couple of years. He said friends, as well as members of his staff who help maintain his grounds, are living in the home for the time being.
“It was up for sale,” he said. “The owner passed away and I bought it from his family. I’m in no rush.” It would be the second multimillion-dollar Skaneateles Lake home Weitsman has demolished so he can expand his lakefront domain. He bought a home on the opposite side of his mansion on West Lake Street for $2.5 million in 2018 and later tore it down after no one took him up on his offer of $25,000 to anyone willing to move the home. In 2021, he built a $4.5 million infinity pool in its place.
The home he purchased in October was built in 1900 but rebuilt in 1990, according to Onondaga County property records. It has four full- and two half-baths, a large screened-in porch and three decks with views of Skaneateles Lake’s pristine waters. The property also has a small boathouse, which Weitsman said he has no plans to demolish.
Weitsman, the owner of Owego-based Upstate Shredding, is one of many wealthy folks and celebrities who own homes, often as summer retreats, on Skaneateles Lake.
Located 23 miles southwest of Syracuse, the lake is the fifth largest of the 11 Finger Lakes. Among those who have purchased homes along its long shores in recent years: ABC News anchor David Muir, former Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and celebrity designer Thom Filicia.
He said he does not anticipate any opposition to the home’s demolition because it has no historic value. In fact, neighbors would likely be happy about its removal because it would open up their view of the lake, he said. Weitsman built his 12,309-square-foot mansion in 2010 on 2.7 acres of lakefront. The house, designed by the Boston architectural firm of Meyer and Meyer (and prominently featured on the front page of the firm’s website), was spotlighted in Architectural Digest in 2013. It is assessed by the town of Skaneateles at $11.5 million.
[related_posts_by_tax posts_per_page="4" format="thumbnails" image_size="full" limit_year="1"]