Rare Gilded Age mansion on Upper East Side hits market for $65M
An opulent relic from a bygone era has listed for sale.
Less than a block from Central Park on the Upper East Side, a 123-year-old limestone Beaux Arts manor is seeking a new owner — one with $65 million to spare, Robb Report first reported.
Constructed in 1901 for the financier and philanthropist Elias Aisel at 15 E. 63rd St., the Gilded Age stunner boasts a wealth of ornate original details, including a winding marble staircase, multiple cartouches, sculptural motifs, intricate ceilings and wall moldings galore, plus plenty of wood paneling.
The heavily ornamented townhouse was built by the late, great architect John H. Duncan, best known for designing Grant’s Tomb.
In all, the 25-foot-wide, 100-foot-deep home has 28 rooms — including seven bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, four half bathrooms, a library, a gym and a conservatory. There are also 14 fireplaces, three terraces (two of which are on the roof), two entrances and eight stories (two of which are underground) — spread out over approximately 18,000 square feet.
As well, there is a sitting room with dramatic double height ceilings that is open to the floor above, arched windows, a uniquely circular dining room and herringbone floors.
In addition to Aisel, the property has also been home to Oleg Cassini, a fashion designer to stars including Joan Crawford and Jackie Kennedy, who passed away in 2006, aged 92.
The abode is currently being brought to market by Cassini’s widow, Marianne, and Peggy Nestor, his sister-in-law, who share ownership of the property, according to Robb Report.
The residence is a “glistening survivor, one of the few remaining and most architecturally intact of its Gilded Age splendor on the Upper East Side,” many of which were torn down in the 1920s, states the listing, which is held by Louise C. Beit of Sotheby’s International Realty — East Side Manhattan Brokerage,