LAST LISTED AT $55,000,000
SOLD FOR Subscribe to see price

AS OF ABOUT 6 YEARS AGO

4 East 75th Street in Upper East Side

Widest Mansion In New York at 50 Feet.

The fortunes of the Harkness Clan improved substantially in 1867 with Stephen V. Harkness' investment in John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, when rather than providing a loan of $100,000, Harkness instead requested stock in the company. From this investment, among others, his descendants, Edward S. and Mary Stillman Harkness, created the neo-Renaissance palace at 1 East 75 street. And it was in 1965 that another Standard Oil heiress, Rebekah Harkness, bought the even larger 50-foot wide mansion across the street for her Harkness House for the Ballet Arts, the home of her personal ballet company which she funded at a cost of $20M for 10 years.

Designed by Trowbridge, Colt & Livingston this French-Renaissance mansion was originally constructed in 1896 for shipping magnate Nathaniel McCready, who was ensconced in 1900 with his family and seven ... [more]

Widest Mansion In New York at 50 Feet.

The fortunes of the Harkness Clan improved substantially in 1867 with Stephen V. Harkness' investment in John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, when rather than providing a loan of $100,000, Harkness instead requested stock in the company. From this investment, among others, his descendants, Edward S. and Mary Stillman Harkness, created the neo-Renaissance palace at 1 East 75 street. And it was in 1965 that another Standard Oil heiress, Rebekah Harkness, bought the even larger 50-foot wide mansion across the street for her Harkness House for the Ballet Arts, the home of her personal ballet company which she funded at a cost of $20M for 10 years.

Designed by Trowbridge, Colt & Livingston this French-Renaissance mansion was originally constructed in 1896 for shipping magnate Nathaniel McCready, who was ensconced in 1900 with his family and seven servants, including three coachmen. Since then, the 20,000 square foot masterwork has been home to an array of notable New Yorkers. Blue-blood Stanley Mortimer, an expert rider and polo player, was the second owner of 4 East 75th, acquiring the mansion in 1919, when the present entrance hall was an open driveway leading to a five-stall stable in the rear. Mortimer had the driveway filled and added a bronze gate commissioned by Carrere & Hastings, the designer of The New York Public Library.

Mortimer sold the property in 1939 to Thomas J. Watson, the chairman of IBM from 1915 to 1956. Watson lived there until his death in 1956 when the home was sold to Mrs. William Fox, the widow of the founder of Twentieth Century Fox Film Studios. In 1965 Rebekah Harkness, heiress to the Standard Oil fortune, purchased the home for her soon to be world renowned Harkness House for Ballet Arts. Landmarked in 1982, the home's interior was remodeled after the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg by the firm Rogers, Butler & Burgun. From 1965 to 1977 this fifty-foot wide private residence and its ballet school hosted numerous performances, events, and New York social gatherings.

The Harkness Mansion, as it has come to be called, with its fourteen foot ceilings and elegant, grand staircase, expansive living spaces, elegant 1200 sf terrace and stunning atrium with views of the sky, has retained all of the grandeur which has attracted so many luminaries throughout the years. Whether this magnificent piece of New York history becomes a elegant school, a trophy non profit foundation, home for an ambassador or international government office, or is restored to a private residence, the stature and elegance and provenance of the Harkness Mansion will live on and be redefined by its new owner.