Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Juan Pablo Molyneux Puts N.Y.C. Pad Up for Grabs

SELLER: Pilar and Juan Pablo Molyneux
LOCATION: New York City, NY
PRICE: $48,000,000, allegedly
SIZE: 5 bedrooms and bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Since we're feeling in a New York State of mind today let's continue from a contemporary, art-filled Union Square area loft owned by a Pulitzer Prize winning writer we discussed this morning to an opulent Upper East Side townhouse owned by the impeccably refined Chilean-born interior decorator Juan Pablo Molyneux and recently heaved on the open market with an asking price that may or may not be $48,000,000.

Mister Molyneux's classically rigorous, decidedly decadent and elegantly eccentric designs are really only available to corporate kingpins, potentates with limitless funds and other super rich sorts who can afford a much lauded and applauded decorator of international renown. We do not, of course, have an inkling of intel about Mister Molyneux's fee structure or net worth but its seems safe to say whatever he earns doing up the palatial dachas and voluptuous villas of the global elite is sufficient such that he and the missus, Pilar, are able to maintain a substantial townhouse mansion in New York City and am equally, if not more substantial office and residence in a very serious, 17th-century hôtel particulier in Paris'  4th arrondissement (Marais).

In additional private residences in South America, Russia and the Middle East Mister Molyneux's budget busting—or, more likely, budget free—projects span the globe and include (but are not limited to), as per his website, a garrett in Paris, a chalet in Colorado, several chateau in France, a penthouse in Manhattan, and "An approximately 150,000-square-foot manoir in northwest Quebec [Canada] on a property almost as big as Belgium that is inspired by the Kuskovo Palace." Sheesh. Wonder who's "house" that is?

Anyhoo, property records indicate Mister and Missus Molyneux picked up the east-of-Madison/west-of-Park Avenue townhouse way back in 1990 for an undisclosed amount of money. If they did a traditional 20% down purchase, based on the mortgage they secured (available through public property records) Your Mama guesstimates they shelled out somewhere right around $3,000,000.

When Mister and Missus Molyneux's Manhattan mansion first popped up on the interweb a few days ago, we were sent a link to the listing by the ever-industrious aide de camp Hot Chocolate. At that time, the listing showed the price tag set at $48,000,000. Current listing information has gone all mysterious and now shows the price as "Upon request."

Current listings available online skimp on the photographs and no floor plan was provided that we could locate. What it does show is the six story, limestone-faced townhouse has 15 rooms, five "serene" master bedroom suites and seven bathrooms (plus staff quarters), eight working fireplaces, four planted patios and balconies, a fitness facility, media room and, outdoor lovers will note, a duplex roof terrace with a "therapeutic pool."

The interior spaces shown in the few listing photos are positively palatial. Mister Molyneux speaks a hyper-sophisticated, upper crust kind of decorating language that, quite frankly, Your Mama just does not understand. None-the-less, we can understand that every scrap of fabric and French polished piece of pedigreed furniture is absolutely correct. It's museum quality Ming this and Han Dynasty that, a few Louis the Whatever fauteuils thrown around, and miles and miles of prodigiously passamenteried brocades and velvets woven with golden thread from Clarence House and/or Stroheim & Romann, every precious yard of which is so ludicrously expensive the drapery in the formal sitting room alone could probably break the bank of a lesser millionaire.

We're not sure if Mister Molyneux's townhouse interiors were photographed for one or another of the gloss shelter publications but we'd be surprised if it had not. The bi-continent couple's Parisian residence and studio/showroom, however, was photographed twice for Architectural Digest and once for the high-society chonicling blog New York Social Diary.

It's a good time, it seems, to float homes on the market with extraordinary price tags. There seems an almost endless supply of buyers looking to spend tens upon tens of millions to acquire trophy properties around the world only to spend another ten or twenty million on extensive renovations and customizations. If we've said it once we've said it a trillion times, such are the wacky and wildly profligate real estate ways of the rich and/or famous.

listing photos: Stribling

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous!!

Carla Ridge said...

The black and white checkerboard is fine for a Foyer, but turns a Drawing Room into a Waiting Room. Throw some rugs down, Pablo!

Anonymous said...

It looks very gay to me. A bit TOO gay.

StagerLinda said...

Endless details to take in....awesome.

Anonymous said...

Heavy duty luxury from one so light of loafer

Anonymous said...

I think the colorado chalet was theirs (hard to tell), as they had a place in Vail at one time. I know that the chateau near Paris is theirs, as it was published in Architectural Digest - it's an annex to the main chateaux (they might lease it). Very opulent interiors. The Canadian manoir has been on the website for a while - I would be so curious as to where it is...

If anyone can figure it out, it would be Mamma...

Anonymous said...

The Canadian Manoir is the Desmarais' house. Google it and you will see. They also have a nice place in PB, although not as large. Decorated by Valerian Rybar, I believe. Signed, The Social Butterfly

Jean-Claude Henri de la Gauchetière said...

The Quebec "manoir" belongs to Canadian billionaire Paul Desmarais:


http://www.idesignarch.com/billionaire-paul-desmarais-stunning-estate/

Anonymous said...

Mamma, the owner Canadian Manoir is Paul Desmarais, industrialist and king maker.

Desert Donna said...

Juan must come from Money I would guess? Wonder if their going splitsville. He always seems to try to hard to butch it up with motorcycles in the foyer etc...

Anonymous said...

Juan is a complete poofter and everyone knows it except for his wife!

Anonymous said...

Desmarais Estate:

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2012/02/09/la-chambre-noire-de-paul-desmarais

Anonymous said...

Maybe his wife knew he was gay and didn't care at the time? Beard, no?

Anyhoo, Candy S. this is what one call's fine decorating. Juan would have had a massive coronary attack if he crossed your former threshold.

Ingrid Casares said...

Does someone know the right address for this one ? I'd like to give it a try...

Anonymous said...

if Peter Marino can have a wife and kids....
anyhoo JPM as far as I know redid from studs up the Tom Gores estate on Siena in Bel-Air——maybe the only West Coast project in his lavish portfolio, much of which will never see light of day.
it had already been done-to-the-19s by Carl Parmer who unloaded it for $38 million.

Anonymous said...

I need to aim for a Pulitzer.

Anonymous said...

Soo beautiful. Great taste and knowledge!

Anonymous said...

Just perfectly beautiful. Good taste cannot go further.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant work! It shows global cultural and architectural understanding .

Anonymous said...

Save the Tigers

Anonymous said...

How very rude and homophobic some of these comments are,seems success to bring out jealousy to a great extent.

Anonymous said...

It reminds me of Jan's French Antiques showroom in Los Angeles