In the nearly 1900s, retail chain magnate Frank Woolworth has hired legendary architect Charles Pierpont Gilbert who created many of the city’s most notable mansions of that era, to build seven-level, single-family residence on New York’s Upper East Side. Now, former Woolworth family townhouse is on sale for a whopping $90 million, or for those slightly less cashed-up, for rent for $165,000 per month.
The Woolworth Mansion Off Fifth Avenue
The property is one of three built by the original Mr Woolworth – of the Woolworth retail empire – one for each of his three daughters; Edna, Helena and Jessie. The mansion currently for sale, built for Helena, is the central and largest of the three at almost 35 feet wide.
Described as a Gothic limestone castlette, it covers a massive 18,000 square feet over its seven floors. Ceilings are 14 feet high, and the six-storey building includes a roof garden, a dining room that can seat 50, a wood-panelled library, wet bar, powder room, two kitchens (one for the servants, naturally), a gym and a stained-glass skylight. An elevator services all levels. While the other great mansions that have come on the market in New York have been shells requiring total renovation, this is the only mansion to be formally available that has been fully renovated in a traditional prewar style.
The house was most recently owned by fitness entrepreneur Lucille Roberts, whose 47 eponymous women’s gyms are spread throughout the New York metropolitan area. Roberts died in 2003.
The property is listed by Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens.
The Woolworth Mansion Off Fifth Avenue
The Woolworth Mansion Off Fifth Avenue
