Al Capone's Childhood Home Goes Up for Sale

Al Capone's Childhood Home

The Brooklyn, NY, home where Chicago mob boss Al Capone grew up has hit the market for $2.9 million.

However, buyers looking for relics from the infamous bootlegger's childhood will be sorely disappointed. The 20-foot-wide townhouse in now-tony Park Slope bears little resemblance to the home where Capone grew up more than a century ago.

The residence in the heart of brownstone Brooklyn has been renovated and turned into a gorgeous, modern triplex with a separate unit on each floor.

"The exterior is similar [to the original home] at the front of the facade, but everything else has been gut-renovated," says Nadia Bartolucci, the Douglas Elliman real estate agent representing the property. Even the roof has been replaced. "There are no original components to the house."

Today, the home has been divided into a main unit with three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and a garden. The new kitchen features stainless-steel appliances and a subway tile backsplash, and the stylish bathrooms have chevron tile and chrome fixtures. There are two one-bedroom apartments above, one with a newly tiled, private roof deck and the other with a terrace. The electrical system has been upgraded, and all three residences are equipped with new split Mitsubishi Hyper heat units and vented washers and dryers.

"What's really special is, each apartment has generously proportioned outdoor space," says Bartolucci. "It's so important right now because we have a lot of people pivoting to working from home. It's nice to have ... during these uncertain times."

Capone was born in Brooklyn in 1899. Chicago's one-time "Public Enemy No. 1" moved into the house at 21 Garfield Place with his family sometime in the early 1900s. He'd live there until he decamped to the Windy City in 1919, where he became known for running bootleg, prostitution, and gambling rings in the 1920s. Capone was eventually convicted of tax evasion in 1931 and served eight years in prison. He died in 1947 at age 48.

The home's last owner purchased the property for $2.42 million in 2018.

"It is really nice to be able to hold on to a piece of Brooklyn history," says Bartolucci.

Thanks to Clare Trapasso.