Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A Little Floor Plan Porn

SELLERS: William (Bill) and Clementina (Tina) Flaherty
LOCATION: 1040 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
PRICE: $43,000,000
SIZE: 3 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms (plus staff room and bath)
DESCRIPTION: Seventeen stories above Fifth Avenue this duplex penthouse crowns a notable building designed by Rosario Candela in 1930. With most every room opening onto terraces, the apartment has incomparable views over the reservoir, spanning the entire breadth of Central Park. From an English pine paneled library to an expansive master suite this apartment is a piece of perfection.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Your Mama knows how all the children love a little floor plan pornography, so we thought we'd let y'all spend the afternoon hours poring over the luscious layout of the palatial penthouse at Manhattan's 1040 Fifth Avenue, one of Manhattan's most expensive and difficult to get into buildings.

The doo-plex penthouse, perched atop the same quietly ritzy and obscenely expensive white glove building where American icon Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis lived (and died), is currently owned by zinc tycoon and bizness baron William (Bill) Flaherty and his wifey Clementina (Tina) Santi Flaherty, a sassy and accomplished bizness executive turned authoress. The high powered pair have put their 3 bedroom and 4.5 bathroom aerie (plus a staff room and bath located behind the gore-may kitchen) on the market with an eye popping asking price of $43,000,000 presumably as part of what the NY Observer recently called their "intricate divorce" proceedings.

The juicy and delectable layout is perfect for a couple who prefer not to share bathrooms, closet space or even bedrooms and given that overnight guests need to be wedged into the somewhat small guest room improbably tucked up behind the kitchen and adjacent to the dining room, they might prefer to be booked into the posh Pierre Hotel down the street.

Now then, before Your Mama leaves y'all to salivate, sweat and go green with financial envy, let's run through the penthouse by the numbers: 2 floors; 12 rooms; 3 bedrooms; 4.5 bathrooms (plus 1 itty bitty staff room and bath); 4 fireplaces; 5 terraces; 20+ closets; and an almost inconceivable 21 points of access to the 5 terraces. The monthly maintenance is listed at $10,858 and any buyer who wants to be considered a buyer will need to fork over the entire purchase price in cold hard cash. That's right puppies, no mortgages allowed at 1040 Fifth.

According to reports and records, the filthy rich Flahertys also own posh properties in Palm Beach, Pebble Beach (CA) and the Hamptons. Presumably each of these properties are up for grabs in the couple's dee-vorce.

18 comments:

StPaulSnowman said...

Mama............strong work these past few days. It is too easy to forget that things may not be happening in the world of realeporn and we depend too much on the pleasure your posts provide. Thanks for the great work you do!

StPaulSnowman said...

Having said that...........does anyone know who bought that wonderful Jennifer Connelly house in Brooklyn?

Anonymous said...

I need:

1. To wash my hands
2. A cigarette.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

msma your're starting to spoil us!

I was tempted to decry the pitiful laundry and hallway of a kitchen until I realized that folks with 40 mill in cash to drop on a house can't be bothered by such things.

Alessandra said...

I think I might rearrange things a little and turn the bedroom off the dining room into the library and turn the library on the floor above into a master suite.

Or not. Because it's fairly fabulous as it is.

Anonymous said...

historically, 1040 was not a numero uno building. and the point is jackie could have cared less. she just found a nice family apartment there. it met her space/location requirements at the time. just a good waspy, haute bourgeois building. david koch bought her apartment because it was her apartment. now he has moved on to the big time at 740 park. . .

Anonymous said...

Jackie O's grandfather was the developer of 1040 Fifth, so I think that mattered to her.

I don't understand this floor plan at all. As the penthouse of 1040, which apparently had 2-3 bedrooms, there should be 3-5 maid's rooms. Is there a floor missing? Was this originally a triplex? I would love to see the original floor plan.

Anonymous said...

Waspy?..........Jackie was a mackerel-snapper not a protestant.

Anonymous said...

Now that's some hot, kinky porn! Any word on how long they've owned the apartment or what they originally paid?

"mackerel-snapper"...that's a new one to me, what race or religion is that a slur on?

lil' gay boy said...

BDJ:

Irish Catholic.

Lovely plan porn ––– I'm with Alessandra in making the top floor an obscenely sumptuous master suite (what could be better than a morning repast in one's own pergola with a southern exposure?)

I'd also swap the staff & breakfast rooms (one should not have to traverse the domain of the staff, i.e. the kitchen, to break one's fast ––– lose the 3/4 bath & break through to the powder room); especially in the presence of a washer & dryer. And one's staff could then, surreptitiously, enjoy a breath of fresh air from the parsimonious end of the balcony when one was not in residence, as well as sneak out the service entrance for a smoke.

Let's face it; it's the 21st century ––– having more than one live-in staff member is vulgar. We not talking just white glove, but white elbow-length opera gloves.

;-)


But where, oh where, is the service elevator? And just what is that mystery space behind the curved stair ––– the panic room, perhaps?

Anonymous said...

Mama - This is the best porn ever. I've always wondered what the PH at 1040 looked like. Who would have thought it was a two bedroom with only two maids room?. The funny BR w/bath space was most likely the pantry with a walk in room sized 'booze safe' behind it, each with a window. During prohibition, a room sized liquor cabinet was the ultimate status symbol.

pinyc said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

My God, I think this apartment surpasses 740 Park for pure envy inducing real estate lust. And it has one thing 740 Park can never offer a potential buyer; front row, unobstructed views of Central Park.

Excuse me while I put my head between my knees to fend off hyperventilation...

Anonymous said...

Is this unit the actual Jackie O unit or did she live on a lower floor.

Yes,I remember a story years ago that she moved there because of her Grandfather's design.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Jacqueline Onassis and her two adolescent children resided on the (entire) fifteenth floor. From south to north, her master bedroom, library, living room and dining room all fronted Fifth Avenue. The apartment had multiple fireplaces, French doors, terraces, and four exposures. A later resident, remaining nameless, gutted and reconfigured the apartment, and then moved to 740 Park Avenue, as he found "it impossible to put a third child in the (5000 square feet) apartment."

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I'm ga-ga over the public area sight lines. The openness of both levels is sooo yummy ... the greenhouse and atrium above is such a wonderful indulgence. Bloody fantastic.

Little Buddy, sometimes minor elements are inferred but not fully detailed on these wildly intricate NYC extravaganzas.

Look here to see Koch's amendments to Jackie-O's identically sited former residence, including the service elevator exactly where it should be yet -- is missing on the Flaherty unit's drawings.

As for the cavity behind staircase, storage seems a fair guess, as panic rooms often include at least a biffy for creature comfort.

I too noticed the rather oddly placed bedroom via the dining room. It's not ideal, but plausable as an office or study / guestroom arrangement?

Love it Mama! You rock!

Anonymous said...

Oops ... Look HERE!