After a decade on the market, an Alpine mansion built by the Isley Brothers sells for $3M

ALPINE — Here's something to "Shout" about: A nine-bedroom home once owned by R&B royalty was sold last week for $3 million after nearly a decade on the market.

The house on Allison Road was owned by Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers, the legendary music group behind such classics as "Shout," "Twist and Shout," "It's Your Thing" and "Fight The Power."

The home, built on 2 acres of land, also has eight full bathrooms, three half-bathrooms, a four-car garage, marble fireplaces and a chef's kitchen. Book-match marble — meaning the marble sections are aligned so the patterns mirror each other — can be found throughout the house.

The Isley Brothers, originally from Ohio, moved to Bergen County in 1959. Several brothers attended Englewood's Dwight Morrow High School. Ronald, one of the founders of the group, lived in Teaneck while building his house in Alpine. O'Kelly Isley also owned a home in Alpine, then one of the most expensive ZIP codes in the United States.

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In the 1980s the Allison Road home was owned by Ronald Isley and his wife, Margaret, but never occupied. At the time it had 10 rooms and 13 bathrooms. In 1989, it was among the five houses family members owned that a federal bankruptcy judge ordered to be sold to pay back taxes.

The house was sold for over $1.6 million in September 1989 to Alpine resident Albert Carmel.

Ronald Isley's tax troubles would eventually lead to his being sentenced in 2006 to three years in prison for tax evasion.

The oldest brother, O'Kelly, lived on Sherwood Court in Alpine until his death in 1986 from a heart attack.

The Isley Brothers — Ronald, Rudolph, O'Kelly, Marvin and Ernie Isley and Chris Jasper — were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

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Igor Beyder, co-owner of Beyder and Company, the luxury real estate firm based in Alpine that sold the Allison Road home, said the sale on Jan. 6 was for $3,050,000, a 22% drop from the original listing price of $3,899,000. His firm took over the listing two months ago, and he represented both the seller and the buyer. He said the house was listed for nine years.

Beyder did not disclose the names of his clients. Public records show the home was owned by Fataneh Ghassemieh, who purchased it in December 1993.

Beyder said the house was designed and built by the Isley Brothers and reflected some of their personal tastes.

"The house was stucco when the Isleys built and designed it," Beyder said. "There's a lot of symmetry and a lot of hexagonal shapes."

Beyder said the home did not sell for a long time because of its uniqueness, and buyers did not want to take on the renovation work needed to update it.

"In today's world, especially in Bergen County, people want to pay multimillion dollars for a house, but they don't want to have to renovate it," Beyder said.

Home sales in Alpine averaged nearly $1.8 million in 2019.

Ricardo Kaulessar is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com Twitter: @ricardokaul