Late Designer-to-the-Stars David Collins Worked on This Elegant Manhattan Co-op in His Early Career

Listing of the Day

Location: Sutton Place, Manhattan

Price: $5.6 million

This duplex two-bedroom apartment in one of the coveted pre-war co-op buildings by Manhattan’s East River was designed by the late Irish architect and designer David Collins, who was best known for his work on some of the world’s most glamorous restaurants, bars and boutiques.

The 3,330-square-foot apartment on the sixth and seventh floors offers two wood-burning fireplaces and a double-height living room with 14-foot-high French casement windows.

“It’s one of the finest pre-war buildings in the city of New York,” said listing agent Maria Torresy, of Brown Harris Stevens. 

“Our signature features are the double-height living rooms and the neoclassical limestone facade,” said Ms. Torresy, who has lived in the building at 322 East 57th Street since 1970. 

More: Taylor Swift’s Former NYC Home to Rent for $45,000 a Month

The 1929 building has only 18 apartments, all of which are duplexes except for a triplex on top, she said. It was designed by the architect Harry M. Clawson of Caughey and Evans, the same architects who designed and built another exclusive co-op, Hampshire House, on Central Park South. It was originally built as a 22-story hotel and converted to a co-op in 1959. 

Many people call it the Mr. Chow building, after the long-standing restaurant on the ground floor, Ms. Torresy said.

This apartment, which has a monthly maintenance fee of $8,849, was the one-time home of New York magazine founder Clay Felker and his wife, Gail Sheehy, the best-selling author, according to Brown Harris Stevens.

“The building has a roster of prominent people who have lived here,” Ms. Torresy said.

The architect Peter Marino lives there now, and previous residents have included New York Sen. Jacob Javits and his wife, Marian, the actor Orson Welles and the soprano and actress Lily Pons, according to published reports.

More: Starchitect-Designed Hamptons Estate, Once Asking $27.5 Million, to Sell to the Highest Bidder

For the current owners, Collins created the interiors of the apartment more than two decades ago and then his studio refreshed the apartment in 2017, four years after his death.

The original design, which was done when Collins was in his twenties, was among his first residential projects, according to the listing agents. The sellers brought him over after dining in London’s La Tante Claire restaurant, which he famously decorated.

Also in London, Collins created interiors for such institutions as The Wolseley, Claridge’s Bar, Nobu Berkeley, J Sheekey and The Connaught’s bar. He also designed retail interiors for Jimmy Choo, Bergdorf Goodman, Alexander McQueen and Harrods, as well as his friend Madonna’s New York and London apartments. 

The apartment features a large entry foyer that opens to a gallery dining room (with a concealed wet bar) and the grand 27-by-28-foot living room with 18-foot ceilings and the two dramatic casement windows that flood the room with natural light. The living room also features restored wide-plank wood floors and a wood-burning fireplace with an Emile Jacques Rhulman-inspired mantelpiece and built-in bookcases on either side.

More: Photographer Barbara Bordnick Lists Manhattan Loft for $1.8 Million

The kitchen offers Carrara marble countertops, stainless steel Boffi cabinets with walnut finishes and an integrated double sink.

The upstairs level, which can be accessed by either a staircase or a private elevator, features a mezzanine/media room that overlooks the living room. A long hallway leads to the bedroom wing.

The primary suite has southern and eastern exposures and a green marble bathroom with heated floors, a heated towel bar and a steam rain shower with massage jets.

The spacious second bedroom features a wood-burning fireplace with its original marble mantelpiece and a windowed bathroom with marble mosaic floors, a Jacuzzi bathtub and heated floors and towel bars.

“Unlike many pre-war buildings, these bathrooms are quite substantial,” Ms. Torresy said.

The apartment also comes with a 150-square-foot room on the second floor, she said. The owners “have it set up as a very complete beautiful gym.”  

The building allows 50% financing, she said. “Everybody pays cash. I don’t know of anyone who has gotten financing,” she added.

Stats 



The 3,330-square-foot co-op has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms and one partial bathroom. There’s a 150-square-foot bonus room on the second floor.

Amenities 



Amenities include two wood-burning fireplaces, a concealed wet bar, a private elevator, custom Lutron lighting and central HVAC. The building has a full-time doorman.

Neighborhood Notes 



The co-op building, which is between First and Second avenues, “is extremely centrally located, convenient to everything and walkable to everything,” Ms. Torresy said. “It’s a Midtown jewel.”

Also known as Billionaires’ Row, 57th Street is close to great shopping on Fifth Avenue.

Agents: Maria Torresy and Juliana SImmons of Brown Harris Stevens and Julie Ann Johnson of CORE

View the original listing. 

Write to Listing of the Day.