Palatial Midtown townhouse in tony Sutton Square wants $16M

Much like the 13 other townhouses that make up the enclave that is Sutton Square, this house too has a storied past. It was built in 1921 for Henry Sprague, who earned his fortune by creating the Sprague Gas Meter.

Over the years, this five-story building, with views of the East River, has been home to Elizabeth Arden, who founded the namesake cosmetics empire, and the grandson of J.P. Morgan. For several years, the townhouse was also home to Vira Hladun-Goldmann. She is perhaps best remembered for a 1998 divorce settlement from her banker husband, which shattered records at the time for equally dividing a couple’s assets post-divorce.

Hladun-Goldmann sold the home to Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 2005 for $10.96 million in 2005, according to the Daytonian. He brought on noted interior designer Daniel Romualdez to renovate the house. Romualdez worked on the project for three years between 2005-2008, and restored many of the original elements of the townhouse.

Now the townhouse, which shares a sprawling communal garden overlooking the East River, with the rest of the townhouses in Sutton Square, may likely be scooped up by another big-wig. The house was first listed by Brown Harris Stevens last fall for $19.5 million. But with no buyers in nearly a year, the listing has now been taken over by Douglas Elliman and is asking $16 million.

Now on to some of the standout features of the house: the four-bedroom, four-bathroom home comes with seven wood-burning fireplaces, floor-to-ceiling paneled windows, a two-level, wood-paneled library on the top floor, a host of swanky appliances (think: Miele, Viking, and Sub-Zero) spread throughout the house, and ceilings heights that range between nine feet five inches, and go up to nearly 15 feet. Will this price cut make a difference for the townhouse?

• Listing: 4 Sutton Square [DE]