There are houses once owned by icons, and then there’s the house once owned by Holly Golightly, the naive heroine of Truman Capote’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s and its 1961 film adaptation. Ignore the fact that Holly was a fictional creation – the sumptuous townhouse at 169 East 71st Street will always remain the abode of Audrey Hepburn-as-Holly, as it was in the film. And now, it’s up for sale for a snappy $15 million.
The landmarked, turn-of-the-century house is located on one of New York’s Upper East Side’s most storied blocks, and is every inch as cinematic as one might imagine. Sitting long and narrow over five storeys on a tree-lined street between Lexington and Third Avenues, the house has a lift, a fully excavated and built-out basement, and roughly 4,460 square feet of interiors, which were recently renovated in a project which took some three years to complete.
Four bedrooms, four (full) bathrooms, three powder rooms and a 30-foot landscaped garden are among the listing’s highlights, along with period detailing in the form of custom latticework and ceilings ten-plus feet high. White herringbone floors incorporate ebony inlay while period mantels, beamed ceilings and custom millwork almost float overhead. As any half-decent luxury New York dwelling should be, the house is equipped with two gas fireplaces, central air conditioning, two laundry rooms and a wine cellar with twin Liebherr wine and food fridges.
The listing for the house, which is on the market with luxury U.S. estate agent Corcoran, helpfully takes a potential buyer through the building floor by floor. In the parlo(u)r, “a statement in elegance”, designer lighting from Porta Romana and antique chandeliers light the oak floors, while a connected living room features a ceiling burnished with silver leaf and a television concealed behind an antique mirror. At the back of the house, a chef’s kitchen is equipped with Calacatta Gold marble countertops, a six-burner Wolf range and fridge and dishwasher. A central island has its own seating, while the backsplash in the kitchen is made from a mosaic in the same marble, imported from Italy.
Marble runs throughout the house almost as a theme, and the two bathrooms on the third floor boast Thassos marble and Carrara respectively. On the fourth floor, a king-size primary suit is similarly grand, with wood veneer wallpaper and a terrace of just under than 250 square feet to the north. A floor up is a den with a bar and wine fridge, custom cabinetry and Juliet balcony, as well as a south-facing terrace with views over 71st Street.
The building is currently set up as two separate family residences, with the second at street level and with its own private entrance. Here, exposed brick, built-in bookshelves, a den and a large, bright bedroom give the house something of a different feel to the rooms upstairs, though it is no less liveable. Here, an open kitchen with a dining banquette opens directly onto a 460-square-foot landscaped garden.
“Whether you’re hosting in the grand parlor,” says Corcoran’s listing, “sipping espresso on the terrace, or simply enjoying the rarefied character of this home’s history and craftsmanship – 169 East 71st Street is more than a residence. It’s an experience.”
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