Park Avenue Duplex Fit for a Francophile Offers $27.5 Million of Stately Elegance

While many New York City apartments are all about stark minimalism, there is also a faction of folks for whom more is more when it comes to the finer things in life. Many of these folks live on Park Avenue, where this sumptuous flat is located.

The condo’s previous owners engaged super- Francophile decorator Juan Pablo Molyneux to give the apartment that je ne sais quoi. The 5,000-square-foot duplex has four bedrooms and four full bathrooms, plus a couple of powder rooms, and the sale also includes a 653-square-foot guest or staff apartment on a lower floor, as well as a private wine cellar and two storage rooms in the basement. The unit is repped by Louise Beit at Sotheby’s International Realty.

The building was only completed in 1998, but it was built in the old-fashioned style, with a handsome limestone  and beige-brick exterior and all manner of white gloves services that people who pay tens of millions of dollars for an apartment want. Past residents of the slim 43-story tower include L.A. Reid and Francois Pinault, while Alice Walton — yes, the Wal-Mart heiress — paid $25 million for her duplex condo back in 2014. Amenities available to residents include: full-time concierge and valet services, a windowed private sitting room off the lobby, a fitness center, a dining salon with catering kitchen, a conference room, and 24-hour security.

Visitors to the high-floor apartment are greeted with floors of marble and onyx in the entry. Then they’ll enjoy the 11’5” ceilings and huge windows that frame fantastic views of Park Avenue, the Manhattan skyline and, beyond Central Park, the George Washington Bridge.

The 30’ x 20’ living room was designed in the elegant French Moderne style, with parquet de Versailles flooring, Venetian plaster walls, and a 19th century French scagliola wood-burning fireplace as a centerpiece. Off the living room is a corner library, and then there is a 20’ formal dining room with more parquet de Versailles and windows with views to the Pierre Hotel and the park beyond.

The kitchen is huge by Manhattan standards, and offers a marble floor, center island, marble counters, a breakfast area and a staff bathroom. Upstairs are four bedrooms, including the large master, with views of Central Park. The en-suite master bath is lined with luxurious onyx, while there are two walk-in closets for the apartment’s owners. Don’t worry, the other en-suite bathrooms are kitted out in onyx as well.

Asking price for all this luxury? $27.5 million. Considering the place last sold five years ago for just over $22 million, that doesn’t sound out of the ballpark. Well, that’s assuming the new owner likes a lot, and we mean a lot of onyx.