The grand drawing room at 820 Fifth Avenue #3, overlooking the treetops of Central Park.
It’s easy to throw around the word “palatial” when referring to luxury New York City apartments. But we’ve never seen anything to rival this 6-bedroom, 7-bath, 5-fireplace home that occupies a full floor at 820 Fifth Avenue, an exclusive and imposing limestone co-op facing the southeast corner of Central Park. The former residence of Jayne Wrightsman, a high-society grande dame and Metropolitan Museum of Art trustee who passed away in 2019 at the age of 99, this truly is a palace.
Inside Jayne Wrightsman’s Fifth Avenue Home
With an asking price of $50 million, it goes without saying that each space in this 7,000-square-foot apartment is more opulent and grand than the next: There are Louis XV and XVI marble fireplace mantels, rooms that resemble Versailles, and elegant wood flooring that is literally called “Parquet de Versailles.” And with 100 feet of frontage directly facing Central Park from the third floor, the treetop views are unrivaled.
The private elevator entrance opens into a 45-foot gallery, which provides access to the grand drawing room, formal dining room and library. The south wing of the apartment is the bedroom wing, with five suites, each with its own ensuite bath, and a study that can easily be used as a sixth bedroom. Every south-facing bedroom has its own fireplace. The north wing houses more than 700 square feet of kitchen space, including a room for casual family dining and two “staff bedrooms.”
Who Was Jayne Wrightsman?
According to the New York Times, Wrightsman and her husband, an oil baron (naturally), purchased the apartment in the 1950s from the Baroness Renée de Becker (of the Rothschild family — again, naturally) and decorated it with the help of legendary Paris decorating firm Maison Jansen. The Wrightsmans were great patrons of the arts, and this is where the power couple curated their noteworthy art collection. The collection, which included works by Monet, Delacroix, Vermeer and more, was almost entirely donated to the Met upon Wrightsman’s death, along with an $80 million gift for good measure.
See the Listing
Apartment #3 at 820 Fifth Avenue is on the market for $50 million. (If you’re curious, this makes the minimum 20% down payment a whopping $10 million, to say nothing of the $23,729 monthly maintenance!) The listing is represented by John Burger of Brown Harris Stevens (and again, if you’re curious — no, this is not even Burger’s most expensive listing.).
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