Socialite Susan Gutfreund Cuts Fifth Ave. Ask to $96M

Published: October 6, 2016 | By: American Luxury Staff

Susan Gutfreund, the flight attendant-cum-socialite and widow of Wall Street magnate John Gutfreund, cut a $24 million chunk from the exorbitant asking price of her Fifth Avenue duplex, bringing the asking price to a still-imposing $96 million, but for 12,000 square feet on Central Park, no one’s expecting a fire sale.

The house includes four bedrooms, five full baths, three half-baths and staff quarters totaling three separate bedrooms. At the home’s front entrance sits a foyer whose rigidly turning staircase and vertically cut walls offer a logical, geometric counterpoint to the censer-like chandelier and opulent stair runner.

Two fireplaces sit in the 50-foot-long living room, with views facing the park and a wall of built-in bookshelves. There’s also another formal living area decked in gold and a delicate green, which features a mirrored chimney and a gorgeously detailed ceiling with a ringed sky mural.

The formal dining room’s curtains were reportedly given to Gutfreund by fashion heavyweight Karl Lagerfeld, while the walls of an ornately appointed library are wrapped in 1600s-style leather.

The master suite sits at 1,600 square feet and includes an enormous sitting room and a bathroom with fittings from the ‘30s.

Located in perhaps the most exclusive building in Manhattan, with neighbors like mall impresario Alfred Taubman, philanthropist Laurie M. Tisch, Greek shipping magnate George Livanos and Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife—the filmmaker Wendi Deng—the home is sure to be a tough buy for some well-heeled buyer. They’ll have to pay cash and get through what’s reportedly a grueling review from the building’s incredibly discerning board.

5770 October 6, 2016 Real Estate October 6, 2016