Sold for $42million - the Gilded Age New York City mansion with seven floors and its own servants' quarters (butler not included)




A landmark townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a rare example of the opulent Gilded Age, has been sold for a staggering $42million.

The mansion, located on a tree-lined block of Fifth Avenue, was designed by famed architect Stanford White and built for the banker and railroad tycoon Henry H. Cook.

Though it was sold to an undisclosed buyer for $7million less than the asking price, the new owner bought a mansion full of history - much of the property has remained unchanged since its construction more than a century ago.



Gilded Age masterpiece: The seven-story mansion on Fifth Avenue at 79th Street has sold for $42million to an undisclosed buyer

Opulence: The many rooms in the mansion have all retained their original detail - including crown moldings, floors, and original fireplaces

Grand entrance: The townhome was part of Millionaire's Row, where wealthy tycoons lived at the turn of the century and Manhattan's Upper East Side was much less urbanized

Accord ing to Brown Harris Stevens bro ker Paula Del Nunzio, who had the exclusive listing, the 15,225 square-foot, seven-level building is one of the premier examples of Beaux-Arts architecture.

Mr White’s firm, McKim, Mead & White, was behind the redesign of the White House, the former Pennsylvania Station (which was in turn knocked down to make way for Madison Square Garden), and the Boston Public Library.

The mansion –located at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue – was once part of Millionaire’s Row, where the genteel aristocracy retreated after work each night. At his death, the sprawling Manhattan property was passed onto his family.

Parlour tricks: The unique property comes with original furnishings, and looks nearly identical to how it did when it was completed in 1907

Masters of the house: Famed architect Stanford White, left, designed the incredible town house for railroad tycoon Henry H. Cook, right; Mr White would later be shot dead by the jealous husband of his mistress, actress Evelyn Nesbitt



It was one of the last buildings Mr White built, as he was sensationally shot dead by the husband of actress Evelyn Nesbit. The architect, a known womanizer and 31 years her elder, had seduced her and led her into an affair.

According to the listing, the mansion comes with all of its turn-of-the-details in-tact, including a full servant’s quarters in the basement, cellar, living room, dining room, galleries, several bedroom suites, a library, and a massive roof overlooking Central Park.

The mansion is unusual in the sense that it has many features original to its construction, including the crown moulding, fireplaces, and even lead-glass windows. The floor plans remain true to the 1907 construction.

Ms Del Nunzio told the New York Times i n 2011 that only two other mansions perched on Fifth Avenue had changed hands in her 25-year tenure as a real estate broker.

Sprawling: The 15,225 square-foot, seven-level building is one of the premier examples of Beaux-Arts architecture, and has - among other things - a library, several bedroom suites, and servants' quarters

The lion's share: The impressive building, left, is located next to the French Embassy; right, the detail can be seen on the ornate lion door knocke



Going up: A gracefully arching staircase leads to yet another floor of the home

View from the top: The mansion is steps away from the world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as Central Park; here, looking west into the park, with the Upper West Side in the distance



