Late billionaire’s ex lists spectacular Stanhope penthouse with five terrace gardens for $65M
The 7,067 square-foot penthouse at 995 Fifth Avenue owned by Claude Wasserstein, ex wife of the late Bruce Wasserstein, former chair of investment firm Lazard, was just listed for the first time since a brief stint on the market in 2010. Wasserstein, who died in 2009, was the brother of the late playwright Wendy Wasserstein. The 11-room, five-bedroom duplex atop the Rosario Candela-designed former Stanhope hotel was purchased by Ms. Wasserstein for $34.8 million in 2008, The Real Deal reports. In addition to five garden-like wraparound terraces crafted by landscape designer Madison Cox, “epic NYC views” and 72 linear feet of Central Park frontage, the full-service building offers top-drawer amenities like a gym and a spa. But does all of that add up to $65 million–$9,285 per square foot?
Claude Wasserstein purchased the sponsor unit as a raw “white box” space and transformed it into a fantasy of a family home high above Manhattan; the “rooftop playhouse” was featured in Vogue in 2011; Wasserstein told the magazine “I feel like I have a suburban house in the city with a cottage garden.” According to the listing, “views of the park seamlessly merge into the vistas from the two very large west facing terraces,” which is a pretty impressive feat for a home in the heart of the Upper East Side. The apartment’s rooftop garden is planted with box hedges, birch trees, roses and a vegetable garden.
On the main floor of the duplex, a dining room with a wood-burning fireplace surrounds a breakfast nook that “appears to cantilever out over the terrace and park;” a corner living room overlooks the park as well.
A wood-paneled library offers another park-view perch in the form of a bay window. Upstairs, a more feminine study is paired with yet another vast terrace.
Created to respect the balance between grand entertaining and intimate time with family and guests, the home’s private quarters contain five bedrooms, each with its own marble bathroom and gracious closets.
The bedroom suites enjoy French doors offering views of many, many terraces. On those terraces you’ll find “arched allees, vine clad trellises, and verdant plantings,” a veritable urban forest above a 1927 luxury hotel.
Also on board are a laundry room and a chef’s kitchen with an adjacent terrace, of course–on this one you’ll find a vegetable garden and a grill.
Recent ultra-modern additions include HVAC, FIOS and Crestron systems.
[Via TRD]
[Listing: 995 Fifth Avenue, PH by Serena Boardman for Sothebys]
[At CityRealty.com]
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Images courtesy of Sothebys.
