A rare offering at 740 Park Avenue

SELLER: estate of Enid Haupt
LOCATION: 740 Park Avenue, #17D, NYC
PRICE: last listed at $27,500,000
MAINTENANCE: nearly $12,000/month
SIZE: 2 bedrooms, 3.5 baths
NOTE: This apartment was on the market in the Spring/Summer of 2005 and has long since been sold.
DESCRIPTION: One of the most exceptional residences in Manhattan, this magnificent 9-room penthouse duplex is located on the 17th and 18th floors of one of Manhattan's most prestigious prewar buildings on Park Avenue...The public spaces include a corner living room with a wonderful terrace and an elegant corner dining room which combined enjoy a 42-foot expanse of unsurpassed Central Park views. The sundrenched, windowed kitchen has ample room for dining, a large butler's pantry with a washer/dryer, plus a large service hall. The staff quarters, which include two bedrooms and a full sized bath, could easily be converted into a guest suite. The upper level of the duplex consists of the private chambers; a commodious corner master bedroom suite with a large terrace and a second sun-filled bedroom with a marble bath en suite.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Children, this apartment may not have belonged to what we think of as a celebrity nowadays, but I'm including this because it is pure New York City real estate pornography. The folks in this building are so rich they really prefer you not know who they are but I'm going to tell you they are mostly finance and real estate magnates that you've never heard of. Did you know that designer Vera Wang's parents live here in an enormous duplex. That explains her start-up capital, right?

Enid Haupt (scion of the Annenberg publishing fortune and one-time editor of Seventeen Magazine) owned this two bedroom apartment since 1967. When it was put up for sale it had multiple bids. MULTIPLE BIDS! Keep in mind that board for this building is notoriously difficult to get by (no celebrities please) and the list of rich and famous that have been turned away is longer than the list of the merely rich who have been approved. It is said Barbra Streisand was turned down by the board.

This particular apartment is locatated at the back of the building...the better part of the building mind you because it is accessed more privately from 71st Street rather than Park Avenue. See kiddies, at one time Park Avenue was considered a Jewish street and all those enormously wealthy non-Jews that wanted to live here preferred the more discreet 71st Street entrance. I'm not making this up...you can read Michael Gross's book 740 Park Avenue for more juicy stuff on the lifestyles of the uber-rich New Yorkers who have passed through this building (that's where I got a lot of my information).