An 18,000-square-foot mansion in Brooklyn Heights has just listed for $40 million, making it the highest ask price ever in the borough.

The mansion is currently subdivided into eight apartments with a total of 16 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms. Built in 1856, the Low Mansion was the residence of Abiel Abbot Low, a New York merchant who became very wealthy through trading in tea and silks with China. Low operated his business from the mansion at 3 Pierrepont Place, where he could see New York harbor as his cargo fleet sailed in and out, according to marketing materials.

Low's son, Seth, grew up at the mansion and became a prominent citizen of New York City, first as president of Columbia College, later as mayor of Brooklyn and then mayor of New York City. It was under Seth Low's leadership the Columbia campus moved to Morningside Heights. He paid for the construction of Columbia's Low Library, which bears his name.

Due to its location overlooking the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, the mansion boasts views of the tip of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and Governor's Island. It is also a location for the movie Prizzi's Honor; the mansion had the role of the home of Don Corrado, the mafia boss played by William Hickey.

The mansion's architect was Richard Upjohn, the founder and first president of the American Institute of Architects. Upjohn also designed Trinity Church Wall Street, St. Thomas Episcopal on Fifth Avenue, and Grace Church in Brooklyn, as well as the Connecticut State Capitol.

The seller is Jeffrey Keil, a private investor who was president of Republic New York Corporation and vice chairman of Republic National Bank of New York from 1984 to 1996. Keil bought the property for $2.3 million in 1991, according to public records.