The Duke Mansion Up for $40 Million

The Duke Semans mansion, one of just a handful of mansions remaining on the Gold Coast of Fifth Avenue, is about to sell for $40 million. If it goes through, the sale would be the biggest townhouse sale since the beginning of the recession. Along with the talk of an impending sale of Brooklyn’s Clock Tower penthouse, is this an indicator that the luxury market is coming back to life?

The 19,500-square-foot mansion has 11 marble fireplaces, 12 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, three elevators and a long history of storied owners. It was originally built in 1901 with tobacco money by ancestors of Doris Duke, and current owner Tamir Sapir, a native of the Republic of Georgia, bought it for $40 million in 2006 after working his way up from a taxi driver to an oil billionaire. The rumor mill says that the buyer is an unidentified Russian, but not Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

According to the NY Post, the mansion needs major renovations, and that Sapir’s plans to turn it into an art gallery for his exotic collection never made it to the canvas. The building has been Landmarked since 1974 so whatever is going to be done to the interior the exterior will remain a reminder of NYC storied past.

Photo Credit: NYPost

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