Vacant luxury home collapses on Staten Island

TODT HILL, N.Y. (WABC) -- The entire second floor of a 6-year-old home that no one has even lived in on Staten Island collapsed early Wednesday.

Around 4 a.m. Wednesday on Ocean Terrace in the Todt Hill section, the roof and walls suddenly gave away. It appears the top floor collapsed down into the first floor.

Staten Island house that was never lived in suddenly collapses

"It fell the right way," said neighbor Vincent Caselli. "It fell in; it didn't fall out."

Police and firefighters responded immediately, finding a dangerous situation. The structure is not safe to enter and city buildings inspectors have posted vacate orders. After discovering that the collapse penetrated the second and first stories, they also found significant water seepage and deterioration of the structure's wood frame due to a lack of upkeep.

The house is listed online for $1,499,000 dollars, down from nearly $2 million. Some neighbors have described it as looking like a three-tiered birthday cake. Built in 2008, it has four bedrooms, six baths and many amenities. The ad said it "needs some TLC."

According to the listing agent, the house was vacant at the time of the collapse, and no one has ever lived in it.

That's about seven years now," said Caselli, who added that it did not appear that anyone took care of the house regularly. "So we will see what happens. Maybe it's a blessing, they will take it down."

There were no injuries in the collapse. Ocean Terrace was shut down during the investigation.

THE HOUSE LISTING: http://bit.ly/1spnUFI

Officials from the Department of Buildings responded to inspect the building, and ordered demolition possibly as early as Thursday.