Earlier this week, news broke that the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute would be selling the stately townhouse it calls home at 684 Park Avenue, adding itself to the litany of nonprofits who can no longer afford to stay in Manhattan. There's officially a listing now, and it's asking $48 million.
The six-story, 11,000-square-foot Neo-Federal mansion has four wood-burning fireplaces, high ceilings, and ornate plaster molding. There's also a garden terrace and an enormous "grand parlor" with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Park Avenue. The building was designed as a private residence by McKim, Mead & White (the firm behind the main campus of Columbia University, the original Penn Station, and other New York landmarks) back in 1926, but in 1965, philanthropist Margaret Rockefeller Strong bought and donated the building to the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, a nonprofit founded to promote Spanish language and culture. The building was granted landmark designation in 1970 and is located within the Upper East Side Historic District, so exterior alterations are a no-no.
· Listing: 684 Park Avenue [BHS]
· "The Flavor of Spain" [NYT]
· All 684 Park Avenue coverage [Curbed]
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