Friday, January 25, 2013

Big Time Banker John J. Mack Lists Duplex Penthouse

SELLER: John J. and Christy Mack
LOCATION: New York City, NY
PRICE: $22,500,000
SIZE: 3,650 square feet, 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms (plus a staff suite)

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Back in the fall of 2009, former Morgan Stanley CEO John J. Mack and his wife Christy (reportedly and allegedly) coughed up $13,500,000 for a tired but still stunning 33-foot wide Beaux Arts style carriage house with private garage on the Upper East Side owned by high society horticulturist Bunny Mellon who used the 100-plus year old building as a storage facility for her pricey gew-gaws and doo-dads.

Whatever upgrades and renovations Westchester County-based Mister and Missus Mack made to the comely carriage house must be complete—or nearly complete—because they've recently tossed their duplex penthouse pied-a-terre atop an historic pre-war condo building on East 63rd Street on the market with an asking price of $22,500,000.*

The floor plan included with online marketing materials shows the approximately 3,650 square foot penthouse has four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, plus a prison cell-sized staff room with attached bathroom.

The main living spaces are on the lower level and include a 26-foot long room with fireplace that Mister and Missus Mack use as a living/dining room combination. The original dining room is set up in listing photos as a library/den that connects directly through to narrow but recently renovated kitchen.

A long corridor off the entrance hall connects to a small guest/family bedroom with large private bathroom and a large master bedroom with decorative fireplace, three closets and a bidet-equipped bathroom.

Upstairs there are two more guest/family bedrooms, both with two closets and private—not to mention properly windowed—en suite bathrooms. Also upstairs are laundry facilities, a 27-plus foot long all-glass solarium with city views and built-in wet bar and an approximately 625 square foot private terrace furnished with what appears to be a whole lotta high-priced patio furniture designed by Richard Schultz.

Listing information suggests the Mack's duplex spread was decorated "in the spirit of" the very proper and 5-star Dorchester Hotel in London. As far as we can tell that means it's all a bit frou-frou, decidedly traditional and a wee bit stuffy but very correct if not exactly exciting.

Property records show Mister and Missus Mack's property portfolio also includes an 8,512 square foot house on 3-plus acres in Rye, NY, at least five bay and ocean properties—three with houses, two vacant—in the upscale seaside community of Wilmington, NC.

*For the record, property records show this penthouse owned by a corporate entity that links directly back to a residential address in Rye, NY owned, according to property records, by Mister and Missus Mack.

exterior photo: Nicholas Strini for Property Shark
(interior) listing photos and floor plan: Sotheby's International Realty

15 comments:

lil' gay boy said...

Nice layout, killer terrace...


...but it looks like it smells like my Nana.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic layout and terrace, and I'd love that solarium.

Shopgirl said...

you it the nail on the head lil' gay boy --Nana all the way!

I would have thought "Mack the knife" would have had better a much better decorator. Love the sunroom and patio areas.

nursedeb said...

very correct....but gee whiz. no excitement either....why don't I like black in that kitchen....and that one bedroom...horrors...so packed with stuff....and tiny.

Anonymous said...

Ditto, lil' gay boy.

Mama, Remodelista has a post on the trendy bookshelf wallpaper:
http://remodelista.com/posts/walls-windows-floors-bookshelf-printed-wallpaper-roundup

Lady J

Gated Communities in Georgia said...
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Anonymous said...

A bit stodgy compared to the present Dorchester, I would say. I have fond memories of the Dorchester. When I was at Cambridge in 1952 and the UK was cheap, cheap in dollars I arrived there worse for wear with rucksack on my back after a hitchhiking tour of Ireland, asked for a room for a good bath and night's rest. A flunky in tails escorted me to one of the suites on the top floor, drew my bath for me and there I spent the night. I always thought they must have admired my eccentricity, unusual in an American. As for Mack, nothing to admire there. He presided over Morgan Stanley when it almost went bust in the financial crisis, surviving only through a massive infusion of money from a Japanese bank. He was ousted as a result. Like most of the higher echelons of Wall Street his punishment was negligible.

Anonymous said...

Now if this place looked like Claridges, instead of the dowager Dorchester.
I've seen their place on Figure 8 Island and it is very well done.

Rosco Mare said...

LGB, I agree. With a few orchids and some more Chinoiserie, the place would resemble the home of my wonderful late grandmother. However comfortable this place looks, I have to "just say 'no'" to the day-core.

Anonymous said...

I think this is probably priced to reflect needed updating. The terrace alone will sell it.

Anonymous said...

Great terrace and solarium (could be better design, but still great in NYC). Strange use of dining room in living room, when they have a dining room (simple furniture revision). Hate the kitchen - simply demolish the maid's prison-sized cell and make a new decent kitchen. Very handsome possibilities - I'm not buying the grandma furniture. Seems quite expensive, though.

Mama, I understand the need for the security to keep the DB form posting.

Anonymous said...

Yep that terrace seals the deal for out there. Primo property. If you are in this league you can and will throw a few million in there and get it up to date no problem.

Unknown said...
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sesilia said...
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Anonymous said...

The "home" shows not one sign of originality. It looks like the reception areas at MS old headquarters at 1251 Ave Americas. Sort of trying to pretend at being old time WASP but getting the recipe from too many stays at upscale hotels and furniture makers in the Carolinas. Take a look at photos of Parker Gilbert's home at Mulberry Plantation and you'll see the difference between an original and this "paint by numbers".