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).

From JLo to Gwen

CURRENT OWNER: Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale
PAST OWNER: Jennifer Lopez
LOCATION: very near Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland Drive, Beverly Hills
PRICE: listed at $15,500,000
SIZE: 4 bedrooms, 6.5 baths
DESCRIPTION: This opulent estate in The Summit above Beverly Hills is seductive and timeless. you enter through an approx. 250 ft. gated drive and arrive in a home of soaring volumes and grand spaces awash in light reflected off Calcutta marble floors and framed by stunning city vistas. The grounds are strikingly elegant, with an infinity-edge swimming pool, fountain, spa and tennis court on over 2 acres. Very private, this home boasts a one-of-a-kind screening room and state of the art security system.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: JLo and Ben Affleck were supposed to get married in the backyard of this property before Affleck decided he didn't want that sort of fame and lifstyle (probably a smart move on his part, right?). I suppose when that relationship went south and she started in with that skinny Latin dude she wanted to shed the skin of her previous life. No doubt she did not want the memories of her romantic evenings with Ben haunting her salsa nights with what's his name.

So up for sale went the house in Beverly Hills and after some time on the market it was purchased by some dude who owned it briefly before selling on to the Rossdales. Who knew this white girl was making so much paper she could afford a house like this. I heard it sold for close to 15 million (any tips on that?). You gotta have some serious coinage to pay for this shit.

The house is totally private and can not be seen from the street as it has a very long tree lined drive that tucks the house back behind another house...perfect for celebs and other rich privacy seekers. This is a real-ass celebrity style home for only the most glammy and moneyed. I have the address to this property, but in the interest of protecting it's current celebrity inhabitants, I'm going to keep that information to myself.

He's not that famous!

SELLER: Kyan Douglas (one of the Queer Eye guys)
LOCATION: Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Gretcsh Building), New York
PRICE: listed at $899,000
SIZE: 1200 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
SOURCE: NY Magazine
DESCRIPTION: A home of perfect balance where East meets west on the Southside. Light abounds, and the energy flows in this convertible 2-bedroom loft with soaring ceiling heights of 12+ feet. Rich texture and color by Feng Shui Master Reiko Gomez. Oversized windows capture the panoramic southern exposure. High-end appliances, beautiful stonework, custom-designed closets are only the beginning.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: I guess Mr. Douglas is simply too famous to include photos of his apartment...privacy issues and all. But as a working real estate agent I can tell you assuredly, no photos means no interest from potential buyers. Particularly because this apartment is not so special really...It's a nice building and Williamsburg is a hipsters heaven, but in real estate pictures are worth not a thousand words, but tens of thousands of dollars. I did get the floorplan from the listing agents website for you kids. You'd think a gay like this might have more closet space.

UPDATE: A YogiBear comments that Mr. Douglas' apartment has been "let," the listing should have been removed from the listing agent's website and that photos of the apartment were published print and on the web. We missed 'em and apparently so did the folks over at curbed.com but we stand corrected then.