Celebrity Homes Design

Inside Design Legend Sister Parish's Fifth Avenue Maisonette, Asking $3.5 Million

By Michele Petry April 28, 2020

The former Fifth Avenue home of legendary interior designer Sister Parish is on the market.

If you’re an interior-design buff, then you certainly know the revered Sister Parish. And even if you think you’re not familiar, you probably are. The legendary Parish was the mother of American Country style, and the decorator of the Kennedy White House. Parish passed away in 1994, but her influence is still felt to this day. The posh Fifth Avenue maisonette she called home is currently on the market for $3,495,000.

Who Was Sister Parish?

Dubbed the First Lady of American Decorating by Architectural Digest, Sister Parish was the decorator a young First Lady named Jackie Kennedy trusted to revamp the White House’s staid interiors for a new generation. Parish — her given name was Dorothy, Sister was a childhood nickname used by her brother — even helped Kennedy found the White House Historical Association.

Parish captured in New York in 1960 by famed photographer Slim Aarons. (Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

She co-founded the widely influential Parish-Hadley design firm with Albert Hadley. Together they created homes for families with names like Rockefeller, Getty, and Astor, and launched the careers of countless celebrated designers.

Inside Parish’s Fifth Avenue Home

Toward the end of her illustrious life, Parish lived in this maisonette, a private-entrance abode within the Rosario Candela–designed 960 Fifth Avenue co-op. Its Central Park–facing address, just blocks from the Met and Museum Mile, is one of Manhattan’s most prestigious locations.

The home’s opulence belies its 1-bedroom size. The light-flooded space boasts impossibly high ceilings, rich wood paneling, and views across the avenue into the park. It’s been redecorated since Parish lived there, but her charming hand-painted kitchen cabinets still remain intact, a whimsical reminder of her unique style. (Who would dare to redo Parish’s work, you might wonder? Only another legendary designer, the late Mario Buatta.)

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This listing is one of two maisonettes in the building, completed by Candela with Warren & Wetmore in 1928. It occupies the southwest corner of the building at East 77th Street, with exposures in each direction from astounding double-height windows. The listing agent is Dolly Lenz of Dolly Lenz Real Estate.

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