Greta Garbo's Midtown East apartment is for sale, asking $5.95M

The Campanile, a very high-end (and very exclusive) co-op building on Manhattan’s east side, has been home to many a famous resident over the years, including English actor Rex Harrison and members of the bajillionaire Heinz and Rothschild clans. But its most famous resident was, without question, Greta Garbo, who bought a fifth-floor residence in 1953 and lived there until her death in 1990.

And for the first time in 64 years, that apartment is coming on the market: The New York Times reports that Garbo’s family has decided to sell the place, listing it with Halstead for $5.95 million. True to the building’s ultra-exclusive nature, buyers who are interested in the place must be willing to pay cash—no financing deals are allowed at the Campanile.

The apartment itself is a 2,855-square-foot three-bedroom, with three bathrooms, a home office, and stunning views of the East River. “It’s very reminiscent of where she grew up in Stockholm—close to the water and with lots of sunlight,” her great-nephew, MarketWatch founder Derek Reisfield, told the Times. (He and his siblings are selling the place after inheriting it from their parents.)

Halstead

According to the Times, the apartment hasn’t changed all that much since when Garbo lived there. The pink-and-green color scheme that she chose for the space is largely intact, and many of her decorative touches (including salmon-colored Fortuny silk living the bedroom walls) are still in place.

The living room, with its built-in bookshelves and knotted pine walls, was reportedly her favorite room in the house. “She decorated her home in a way that was very comfortable,” Reisfield explained. That much is evident—though it remains to be seen if, or how, a buyer would transform the space. (The kitchen and bathrooms were renovated more recently.)

Throughout her career, and well into her retirement, Garbo earned a reputation for being something of a recluse, and occupying an apartment in one of the city’s most private buildings (the Campanile has just 16 apartments) probably didn’t help that. But Reisfield says that she simply wanted to “live life on her own terms”—something that was easy to do in NYC. “She loved New York and found she could go out with relative anonymity,” he said.

Now, that same ultra-private lifestyle can be yours—assuming you’ve got $6 million sitting around for an all-cash deal, anyway.

• Listing: 450 East 52nd Street 5FL [Halstead]
• Greta Garbo’s East Side Co-op Goes on the Market [NYT]