Palatial Prewar Candela Masterpiece at New York’s Famed 740 Park Avenue

New York, New York — Rarely do any of the 32 residences change hands at 740 Park Avenue—one of New York City’s most glamorous and sought-after apartment buildings for more than 75 years. Built in 1929, designed by Rosario Candela, and constructed by James T. Lee—grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who lived in the building as a child—this exceptional prewar property offers sophisticated living spaces with unparalleled light and scale. 

Two sprawling C- and D-line apartments are now available in the building. Combined, these large duplexes result in an exceptionally rare residence featuring eight bedrooms and ten baths. This superb 30-room home is being offered for sale at US$60 million by Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales, with international marketing services provided by Christie’s International Real Estate.

A private elevator entrance on the 12th floor, elliptical staircases, parquet floors, lengthy galleries, walnut-paneled rooms, and windows precisely placed to take advantage of the abundant sunlight complement this high-rise masterwork. A southern exposure and Central Park views enhance many of the interior areas, such as the living rooms, dining rooms, and sumptuous master suites.

The options in this enormous entertaining space are practically limitless and include a great room, a salon, a gymnasium, formal and informal dining rooms, two intimate libraries or studies, home offices, and game and spa rooms—all accentuated with high ceilings and wide hallways. Seven woodburning fireplaces create a sense of warmth and grandeur. Six terraces are beautifully positioned to provide harmonious outdoor and indoor sitting areas that afford breathtaking city vistas.

Separately, the D-line faces southwest with magnificent Central Park views from many of its rooms. High ceilings are combined with three terraces reached through floor-to-ceiling French windows, which makes this one of New York's finest apartment offerings. 

Glorious light and a sense of space pervade the C-line residence, which opens to a gracious 34- by 10-foot gallery and classic staircase extending to all of the public rooms. Living room area is over 35 feet long and more than 19 feet wide. The sun-flooded duplex features one of the largest and most gracious living rooms on Park Avenue is ideal for entertaining, an ample south-facing library, and a magnificent dining room offering stunning vistas of the New York City skyline through floor-to-ceiling French doors that open onto a lovely terrace.

Located on the corner of 71st Street and Park Avenue, the co-op building boasts an unrivalled provenance—for nearly a century it has been home to some of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the United States including the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Chryslers. The property has the world’s most famously attentive staff, who cater to a resident’s every whim, and features graciously proportioned rooms designed by Rosaria Candela, whose homes are highly prized among New York society. “Nowadays, to own a 10- to 20-room apartment in a Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural as well as social cynosure,” noted architectural historian Christopher Gray in 2002 in the foreword to The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter.