Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The Jolie-Pitts Take Manhattan

Although Miz Angelina Jolie has long owned a condominium at the historic and swank Ansonia building on the Upper West Side, celebrity real estate gossip Braden Keil at the New York Post reports today that the a-list couple and their multi-cultural brood are shacking up at the uber luxe and hyper secure Waldorf Towers on the east side of Midtown Manhattan.

Everyone who is anyone with any power or real money has bedded down at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and/or the Waldorf Towers, where talent free hotel heiress Paris Hilton grew up roaming the halls and where her family still maintains a residence. But the Hiltons are only the bottom of the barrel of rich, famous and powerful people who have temporarily called the hoity toity hotel home.

Not only has every US President since Herbert Hoover checked in to the aristocratic and extremely dignified digs, so have just about every other head of state including Winston Churchill, Nikita Khruschev, Queen Elizabeth, and shoe ho Imelda Marcos.

Mister Keil reports that the gargantuan, freshly renovated and fully furnished suite the Jolie-Pitts have leased for a "nearly $100,000" a month sprawls over 6,000 square feet with five to six bedrooms, and a huge gourmet kitchen and "up to six baths." Hmm.

While Your Mama can not be sure, we think Mister Keil's description sounds suspiciously like the old Cole Porter suite. Mister Porter occupied a huge suite on the 33rd floor of the Waldorf Towers for a couple of decades before he passed. That unit, as the children can see below on the floor plan, has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. Also noted on the floor plan is that the "garden room" which could easily be converted to a bedroom, and a half bathroom which could easily be converted to a full bath. Voila!
After Mister Porter came the sublime singer Peggy Lee who reportedly leased the place for a short time before crooner Frank Sinatra and his wifey Barbara leased the monster apartment for nearly a decade.

A little birdie named Timmy Tattletale tells Your Mama that in the Spring of 2007, the contents of the suite were put up for auction. Timmy also provided us with a number of photos of the suite BEFORE the recent renovation (see below) of the Porter/Sinatra suite. Now children, please, remember that the photos below are BEFORE the recent renovation, so while Your Mama expects the current decor reflects a similar sort of Upper East Side sumptuousness, the photos do not reflect the suite in its current configuration and decor. Also, Your Mama would like to again say that we do not have confirmation that the Jolie-Pitts have leased the Porter/Sinatra suite. We've simply put two and two together and come up with plausible gossip and speculation.
Does all this mean that the Jolie-Pitts have relocated to Manhattan, or is this just another of their short term living situations? Remember when they bought that big house in New Orleans and "lived" down there?

Your Mama would like all the children to keep in mind that security at the Waldorf complex is extremely tight, tight enough to shelter visiting heads of state comfortably and safely. So if any of you ignorant fanatics think you're going to get up in the place and knock on the front door of the Jolie-Pitt's pad, expect to be unceremoniously escorted to the nearest police station by big and brawny security guards or, depending on who is in town, man-handled by Secret Service agents who have the ability to make you disappear like you were never born. Seriously kids, don't let Your Mama catch you even thinking of trying to bother these people.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I can't even imagine what a luxury 6,000 square foot apartment looks like, it's so out of my realm of reality!

I love Brangelina and their cute kids! They are probably well attended to at the Waldorf!

Anonymous said...

There are many nicer hotels in Manhattan - the Waldorf merely gets business b/c of it's pedigree - it is just a Hilton at the end of the day! When it comes to heads of state etc... it's one of the closest to the United Nations I guess.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, mama, you may be right about the Cole Porter suite. The Post is saying it's a 5 BR but a library was converted into a 6th BR. Maybe they're mistaking library for garden room? Or maybe the garden room was turned into a library?

There's also plenty of room for the growing family, considering the sprawling apartment features five bedrooms plus a library that they have converted into a sixth, up to six baths and a huge gourmet kitchen.

In addition, the pad boasts terraces with sweeping views of the city.

"It's actually grander than the [Towers'] Presidential Suite," one broker said.

Anonymous said...

I could force myself to live there, even if it is just a Hilton.

Anonymous said...

Ummm... the Hilton properties do NOT offer the amenities that the Waldorf does. That is just a different class of hotel.

According to this article, the Waldorf has strict dress code, 24-hour concierge, top level security, tailor on staff, marble furniture, antiques, original artwork pieces,... you just can't even compare.

Anonymous said...

Geez! I know it's not similar to a regular Hilton but it is just a Hilton ... Here in N.Y it's not even considered in the top 5 ... It's amenities are the same you'd find at any other large hotel ... Actually, the Waldorf isn't even really a 5 star property, more a 4 star though the Waldorf Towers is 5 star ...

Anonymous said...

It may not be in the same class as other top end luxury hotels in manhattan but none can even come close to the Waldorf in term of the super high level of security they provide. That is probably the main concern for them. When the UN met there a couple weeks ago you could not even get near the place. Between the nydp and the secret service, they blocks around that place shut down when anyone important was coming and going. Made vehicular and pedestrian traffic complete hell if you get somewhere in midtown east.

Anonymous said...

I can say that the only reason they would live here is because of security. But their Los Angeles digs in Malibu and Los Feliz are so unpretentious that this chintz and rococo-ism must be really uncomfortable for them.

Anonymous said...

i realize that these are before pics but why does luxury always mean uncomfortable chairs.

. said...

Caveman, you can line those chairs up in a row, throw a couple rugs and tapestries over them and make a tunnel to crawl through. They're going to need an army of nannies to keep four kids from tearing that place up. I suppose there was a damage deposit.

Anonymous said...

That is NOT a child-friendly apartment.

Anonymous said...

another site claims its the royal suite- photos here http://www.mrpaparazzi.com/index.aspx?postID=892

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking the stay in these digs will be short term. He's filming a movie in NY and I'm guessing they'll vacate once the shooting moves elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

i am going to swing by today and check it out mama!!

wish me luck.. (i will go undercover as a tourist)

Anonymous said...

Very top drawer, if you like that sort of commode. Caveman & I prefer to hold up (as it were) at the Plaza Athenee. Stuffy but far superior to the Wal-Dorf. Can you imagine the Brangies running amuck, dropping their Dean & Deluca snacks on the Aubusson, then grrrrinding it in with their Nikes? And all that racket from the kids screaming with those high ceilings, knocking over the help, breaking a lamp or two. Its no wonder Brad keeps away so much.

so_chic_darling said...

Oh Hippie Canyon loving your comments always!Once again it's a single word for me that sums up this whole thing,that word is sumptuousness.

Anonymous said...

This place is awful. Looks just like a soulless hotel. Why not just buy an apartment?

Anonymous said...

The Waldorf Towers offers big apartments that one rents for months at a time. The Waldorf Astoria is the conventional hotel.

As a traditional grand apartment hotel, the Waldorf Towers is comparable to the Pierre, the Sherry Netherland and the Carlyle, all of which have been converted to co-ops.

I believe that there are quite a few very large suites so the Brangelina party is not necessarily living in this one.

Anonymous said...

It may be nice, in a hotel kind of way, but I can't imagine why anyone with kids would live in that location.