Grace Hightower Finally Sells Bachelorette Pad

SELLER: Grace Hightower
LOCATION: Trump Palace, 200 East 69th Street, 25th Floor
PRICE: $2,495,000 ($4,060 per month maintenance and taxes)
SIZE: 1,653 square feet, 2 bedrooms 3 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: (shortened from listing agent's website) Contemporary yet classic, this vibrant yet peaceful 2 bedroom, easily convertible to a three bedroom home is suited for fine family living as well as exciting entertaining. With an open, airy feel and panoramic city skyline views, this tasteful, inspiring space has a lovely, gracious living room with large balcony. The galley kitchen spills onto a windowed dining room. The amply scaled second bedroom has an en suite marble bath and handsome custom built-ins. The master bedroom has its own marble bath with Jacuzzi tub and separate stall shower, double sink, huge custom-fitted walk-in closet, and an alcove sitting area.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: This week in his Gimme Shelter column in the NY Post, Braden Keil gives us an update on the real estate dealings of Miz Grace Hightower, wife of Oscar winning actor and New York fixture Robert DeNiro. Property records indicate Miz Hightower purchased this apartment in 2000, which was shortly after DeNiro filed for a dee-vorce. No doubt this was the petit safe place where the lady licked her wounds and plotted her next moves in life and love. However, although the couple remained estranged for about four years, they eventually reconciled sometime in 2003. Shortly thereafter began a looong house hunt for a new love nest that was followed obsessively by all real estate the gossips.

After a long time on the market, the couple finally sold their Tribeca penthouse in 2005, for $12,250,000 according to Keil, and begin leasing on the Upper West Side. After an exhaustive search through dozens of pricey and swanky apartments and townhouses, the couple finally settled on a 15-room Upper West Side duplex that they purchased from Eve Weinstein (ex-wife of movie tycoon Harvey) for a reported price of just under $21,000,000.

All this time, Miz Hightower hung on to her Upper East Side condo located in The Trump Palace, one of Donald Trump's dee-luxe towers and one of the tallest buildings on the Upper East Side. Perhaps she was hedging her bets, or perhaps she just wanted a place to get away to when things got intense at the rental.

In addition to the 25th floor unit with 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, Hightower purchased four storage units in the building. Gurl's gotta store her out of season shoes and bags somewhere, and they may as well be close by in the basement for easy access. The listing states the four store rooms are included in the sale, but Keil tells us that three of the four have already been sold, at a profit, and presumably, to other tenants.

Your Mama is not the Upper East Side type and we are certainly not the Trump building type, but we do find the layout of this apartment attractive. We appreciate the winged bedrooms so the snoring and/or screwing guests won't disturb the owner.

Anchored by ebonized floors and wrapped in glass on two walls, the reasonably sized living room leads to a small terrace, perfect for evening cocktails, except for those poor souls who suffer from acrophobia. The galley kitchen is pretty standard in these Trump buildings. The Donald and his designers and architects clearly think Trump Palace dwellers will eat out or order in most of the time. Because, let's face it, this kitchen will only accommodate early morning coffee making and late night aspirin taking.

The large master bedroom includes a sitting area which again, provides a necessary sanctuary when in-laws and other unwanted guests are in temporary residence. The double walk in closets in the master are nice and the listing states they are custom fitted, which is even nicer.

Keil notes that the apartment has gone to contract so we expect the moving trucks will be lining up on East 69th Street in order to transfer the storage unit contents across town to the new apartment.

We hope the sale of this condo indicated that Miz Hightower and Mr. DeNiro have passed the awkward stages of reconciliation and have begun to properly nest down in their huge Central Park West duplex.

Sources: NY Post