Now that he's put the Picasso curtain drama behind him, real estate bigwig Aby Rosen is moving onto his next conquest: making himself a megamansion. The Daily News reports that Rosen has selected the stately 19,000-square-foot 1025 Park Avenue as his desired abode, and the fact that the building is a co-op is apparently no problem. Rosen reportedly plans to buy 75 percent of the buildings shares from Mary Wilder, ex-wife of screen actor Gene Wilder, oust her from the position of co-op board president, and then kick out buy out the rest of the shareholders. All told, Rosen will likely spend about $60 million to acquire the property, and then he'll drop several million more on renovations. "This ratchets up trophy home buying to a whole other level," broker Donna Olshan told the News.
Architect John Russell Pope (of the National Gallery and Jefferson Memorial) designed the Jacobean mansion in 1911 for composer Reginald DeKoven and his wife. Daytonian in Manhattan elaborates on the design:
While the neighboring mansions would be Italian Renaissance, English Regency or French-inspired, the DeKovan house would be unique, or according to some opinions, "out of place." An English country estate on Park Avenue, it featured a double-height room at the front for large social gatherings. The plaster ceiling of the music room (which doubled as a ballroom) was a copy of that in Haddon Hall. Pope used the magnificent Hatfield House in Hertfordshire as inspiration for the minstrel gallery, the stone doorways and the great carved stone mantle. Two-story bays small-paned windows with stained glass coats-of-arms visually dominated the exterior, contrasting starkly with the rusticated stone base.In 1945, the house sold and was chopped up into 11 units the following year. Now Rosen will be returning it to its original grandeur and filling the home with his extravagant art collection, which is, apparently, what these rich art-loving dudes like to do.
· Real estate honcho Aby Rosen wants the largest private mansion on Park Avenue: sources [NYDN]
· The 1912 DeKoven Mansion - No. 1025 Park Avenue [Daytonian]
· All Aby Rosen coverage [Curbed]
Photo via PropertyShark
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