Law Prof Lists Home for $30 Million

Hans Smit's areas of academic expertise are international law, conflict of laws and civil procedure.

But the Columbia Law School prof also apparently knows a thing or two about real estate. He currently has his Riverside Drive mansion on the market for $30 million, and has turned down a $20 million offer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Smit reportedly purchased the 12,000-square-foot, 1909 French Renaissance-style home from Columbia for $325,000 in 1979. In addition to being conveniently located to the law school on the Upper West Side, it also has Hudson River views.

He has spent decades doing a complete interior renovation, according to Tom Fletcher's New York Architecture. The blog, by an Australian architect working in New York, provides more details about the Vermont marble home and features a photo of it.

"When I bought it, most people said, 'You're a raving maniac,' " Smit tells the architecture blog. "But it's the best investment I ever made."