Radio Rabble-Rouser Don Imus Lists CPW Pad With Terraces and Endless Views for $19.8M
A Central Park West penthouse belonging to controversial radio and TV jock Don Imus just hit the market for $19.8 million. The duplex co-op atop the 1928 Rosario Candela-designed 75 Central Park West, owned by Imus and his wife, Deirdre, for decades, is wrapped by gorgeous terraces and offers seriously breathtaking park and city views; for that seriously breathtaking price, you’ll also get a good-sized two-plus-bedroom street-level maisonette to use as guest quarters or as an office.
The Imuses are also selling their sprawling New Mexico ranch, where they ran a seasonal program for children with cancer and other illnesses; the pair sold their Westport, Connecticut home for $14.4M in 2013 (though not before it was price-chopped repeatedly from its $30M 2005 ask). The septuagenarian talk show personality–plagued with health problems from a long-ago riding accident–recently left his longtime television gig at Fox Business Network, though he’s still rattling the radio airwaves on WABC’s “Imus in the Morning.”
The couple recently bought a ranch in Brenham, Texas to be near their son, Wyatt. That, and no longer needing a NYC TV studio nearby may have been what spurred the decision to sell this classic Manhattan aerie with interiors that, excepting the aforementioned terraces and views, read more Southwest ranch than Upper West Side apartment. A gracious entrance hall leads to a large living room with a vaulted ceiling and big arched windows facing Central Park. Accessed through double doors opposite a wood-burning fireplace, a vast wraparound terrace with ample stone seating and 360-degree views over the park’s greenery and the city skyline is by far this apartment’s grandest feature. Suitably massive stone urns add to this effect.
A wood-paneled library, lined with bookshelves from floor to ceiling  is outfitted with built-in audio, making it a cozy media hideaway.
Through the library, a fully equipped eat-in kitchen gets the rustic country treatment, complete with with bleached wood cabinetry, gingham cushions and rustic tiles, though thoroughly modern high-end appliances are in full effect behind the farmhouse frippery.
A separate dining area opens to a bright study with a wood-burning corner fireplace and a view of the terrace; alternately you can see the rugged American Southwest, abundant in the room’s interior decor.
A spacious and high-ceilinged master bedroom offers plenty of closet space and a large wood-burning fireplace. The ultimate luxury: direct access to the terrace (plus an en suite bathroom). On the lower level of the duplex, though not pictured, are a staff bedroom, a gym, and another bathroom, plus separate access to the service elevator landing on this floor.
About that ground-floor maisonette: Included in the deal is an office/guest apartment with its own lobby entrance as well as a street entrance on Central Park West that the couple acquired for $2.03 million in 2006. Though it’s not pictured, according to the listing a large living/reception room with a gas fireplace and a powder room front a private hallway leading to two spacious park-facing bedrooms/offices, a gym, and a full kitchen and bath with a washer/dryer, plus ample storage and closets. The penthouse is available by itself for $16.9 million.
Nearly $20 million is a high price to pay–even given the penthouse-on-the-park terrace and views–for a not-palatial duplex in a gracious building–home to the likes of actors Hank Azaria and Amy Irving–that lacks, all the same, any standout amenities beyond the standard doorman and concierge; the ground-floor suite definitely sweetens the pot. And it’s hard to argue with the convenience and desirability of the Lincoln Square/Upper West Side location and the beauty of having the park as your front yard.
[Listing: 75 Central Park West, #PHA/1D by Kathryn Steinberg for Brown Harris Stevens]
[Via CityRealty]
[Via TRD]
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Images courtesy of Brown Harris Stevens.
