740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.[1]
History
An apartment previously belonging to John D. Rockefeller, Jr., when sold by Saul P. Steinberg in 2000, brought a price "slightly above or below $30 million", reportedly the highest price ever paid on Park Avenue.[2] When Rockefeller moved to the building in 1936, having previously lived in "the tallest private house" in Manhattan, he passed over two of his own newest buildings.[3]
The apartment house has 31 units. The building is made of limestone. It has the highest ceilings and widest hallways on Park. The building was built in 1929, designed by Rosario Candela and Arthur Loomis Harmon, the design partner of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. The builder was James T. Lee, whose daughter Janet Lee Bouvier and son-in-law Jack Bouvier would take the final open lease (according to one account, for free), and their daughter Jackie Kennedy Onassis grew up there. (Gross, 2005)
Life in the building is amusingly described in the New York Social Diary[4]
In 2005, author Michael Gross published a detailed book on the building and its history, 740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building.[5]
Famous residents
- Jackie Kennedy, childhood home.[1]
- David H. Koch, occupy an 18-room duplex on the fourth and fifth floors said to have been purchased in 2005 for $17 million.[1]
- Ronald Lauder, businessman.[1]
- John D. Rockefeller, Jr., lived from 1938 to 1960 in a 24-room, 12-bath duplex.[1]
- Steve Ross, late CEO of Time Warner
- Steve A. Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Gross, Michael. "Where the Boldface Bunk", The New York Times, March 11, 2004. Accessed October 8, 2007.
- ^ Josh Barbenel (October 29 2006). "The Candidate as Landlord". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Rockefeller Apartments". Time Magazine. 1936-10-26. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
- ^ The Root of All Evil and Home Sweet Home
- ^ Rogers, Teri Karush. "Peeking Behind the Gilded Walls of 740 Park Ave.", The New York Times, October 9, 2005. Accessed August 15, 2007.
Sources
- Gross, Michael. "740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building" Broadway Books, 2005
- Where the Boldfaced Bunk by Michael Gross, The New York Times, March 11, 2004]
- Das geheime Museum der Superreichen: Welche Picassos, Cézannes, Klees, van Goghs, Giottos und Tintorettos in den Luxuswohnungen von 740 Park Avenue in New York hängen Monopol, Feb 2007 (not seen, referred to on Gross's book web site))
- Curbed Q&A: Michael Gross on 740 Park's $27m Penthouse (interview, Jan. 2006) "With duplex penthouse 17D at legendary apartment building 740 Park Avenue hitting the market priced at $27.5 million, "
- The Upper East Side Book By Carter B. Horsley (gives references to articles about Candela's design for the building)
- Streetscapes: 740 Park Avenue; Repairs for a '29 Luxury Co-op by Christopher Gray, The New York Times, October 21, 1990
External links
- Book website with links to detailed floor plans, and list of residents.
- building webpage with links to many individual apartment floor plans.
- Sales agent for apartments