Wednesday, 3 April 2013
LOCATION: New York City, NY
PRICE: $125,000,000
SIZE: Big with 6 bedrooms and 6 full and 3 half bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: As expected and previously reported by Your Mama and just about every other property gossip on the planet, the decadently decadent triplex penthouse of late financier Martin Zweig has finally arrived on the open market with a publicity ensuring $125,000,000 price tag and eight lush listing photographs but—alas—nary a floor plan.
Mister Zweig purchased the palatial penthouse in 1999 for a then record breaking $21,500,000.
Current online listing details confirm Mister Zweig's epic, quixotic and downright legendary three floor building topper has: 16 rooms on three floors linked by a private elevator; an impress-the-guests 5-star style staircase plus a private rear staircase for family and staff; a grandiose, hangar-sized living room and several more intimate but still grand reception rooms plus separate private family quarters; five en suite bedrooms and a total of six full and three half bathrooms; five fireplaces; four terraces with 360-degree city and park views; and two dedicated building staffers who provide daily maid service partially paid for by the astronomical $31,908 monthly maintenance charges.
Mister Zweig, a man of almost unlimited means who made a fortune when he predicted the 1987 crash of the stock market, was also an author of books on how to win in the financial marketplace, a television pundit and well-known collector of cultural memorabilia. One of the many children who contacted Your Mama about this triplex listing over the last few days—let's call him Ernie Eagle'eyes—pointed out that within one of the many glass display cases that line the towering walls of the exceedingly capacious mid-floor living room (and can be seen in current listing photos and those published by The Old Gray Lady herself last weekend) there appears to be a white suit that once belonged to Elvis Presley.
Mister Zweig's extensive collection also includes gold records by the Beatles, several athletic jerseys worn by iconic professional athletes, a few electric guitars and—as again pointed out by Ernie Eagle'eyes—the famous and famously skin tight beaded gown that Marilyn Monroe had to be sewn into in May 1962 before she gave her breathy and historic rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song at Madison Square Garden for President John F. Kennedy. It appears Mister Zweig may have purchased the dress at auction in 1999 for more than $1.26 million.
One of Your Mama's contacts who toils within the high nosed and rarefied air of the uppermost end of the Manhattan real estate milieu told us that he thinks this place could easily fetch $90,000,000. We shall see. What do the children think? Discuss.
UPDATE LATER SAME DAY: All the children can thank a little birdie name Tony Newyawk who told Your Mama about a December 2006 article in The New York Times—when Mister Zweig has his titanic triplex on the market at $70 millions—that gives an extensive and thrilling history of the so-called "Chateau in the Sky." A must read for anyone who gives a single real estate whit about this apartment.
listing photos: Sotheby's International Realty
