The term pied-à-terre might conjure dreamy images of an ultra-sumptuous residence in some faraway, romantic place. But in reality, the origins of the French descriptor can be traced back to—well, horses. It simply translates to “foot on the ground.” Long ago, French soldiers would mettre un pied à terre—that is, dismount their steeds at the end of the day and spend the night in transient housing. The expression was eventually abbreviated to pied-à-terre in the 1700s, when it first came to describe interim lodging. Nowadays, the word still refers to a temporary place to live, but the connotation is far grander. So what exactly is a pied-à-terre?
“Think of a baseball field,” says Serhant associate real estate broker Loy Carlos. “There’s a home base, plus three other bases one may stay at for a short period of time while in the area before heading off to another location.” A pied-à-terre refers to any of those non-home bases, and is meant to serve as a transient residence—usually an urban home, "rather than a country or beach house,” he notes.
Despite the centuries-old phrase's humble beginnings, it is often thrown around by present-day elite to not-so-subtly signal their wealth and status. “It’s a luxury purchase,” Carlos admits. “Whether it’s a flat in Paris in which you stay twice a year, or an apartment on Billionaire’s Row in New York with Central Park views, [a pied-à-terre] is bought for convenience, and in many cases as a trophy property. When someone asks which hotel you stay in when in New York, there is a certain prestige in replying, ‘Oh, I have an apartment on Park Avenue,’ or, ‘I stay at my loft in Tribeca during the Film Festival.’” Prestige is one way of putting it.
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Those who can afford pieds-à-terre typically purchase them for one of two reasons: for the sake of convenience (for instance, if they frequent a particular city, either for business or pleasure)—or as an investment. “Instead of paying money to rent or stay in a hotel, some people may find it makes more financial sense to buy an apartment or house, the value of which increases over time,” Carlos explains.
That said, a pied-à-terre is defined more by the amount of time one spends in it than a set price. “Some may call an $88 million penthouse on Central Park West or a $45 million townhouse on the Upper East Side their pied-à-terre,” Carlos says, “but it could also be a simple studio apartment in a condo, or a one- or two-bedroom in a hotel-style building.” (Co-op pieds-à-terre are less common since some buildings don’t allow it, and not many homebuyers “want to go through the rigors of a co-op board scrutiny during the application process," he expounds.)
Before you invest in a pied-à-terre—or any second home, regardless of what you call it—it’s important to determine whether you actually have the desire and finances to maintain the property, let alone purchase it. Consider all the monthly maintenance charges, taxes, and utilities to maintain a generally unoccupied unit, says Carlos, who owns a property and lifestyle management company that helps homeowners care for their secondary residences. “Some of my clients hire us to pay the utilities—and when they are in town, help them manage the day to day,” he reveals. That includes hiring cleaners, making beds, stocking the refrigerator, ordering flowers, and everything in between.
It adds up to... a lot. But if you are fortunate enough to have such finances, there are many upsides to a pied-à-terre purchase—whether or not you wish to actually use the phrase. “You should buy a pied-à-terre if you truly wish to feel at home in a city that you frequently visit for longer periods. It gives you a real foothold in the community,” Carlos asserts. “Even in a big city, it can feel like you’re part of an intimate neighborhood. The bonus is that in the long run, it’s a much better investment than renting, since real estate appreciates substantially in value over time.”
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