A decadent 1920s New York townhouse once owned by cosmetics entrepreneur Elizabeth Arden has hit the market for $16m.

Number 4 Sutton Square was originally built in 1921 for gas metre inventor Henry Sprague. Arden – whose real name was Florence M Lewis – bought it in the 1930s and sold it around a decade later.

The five-storey New York property has been gently modernised by architect Daniel Romualdez, who added a chef grade kitchen, but the standout features remain its most historic. The parlour-level living room and fifth floor library feature polished mahogany-panelled walls and crown mouldings, and the latter is set over two levels with a carved staircase and bookshelves.

Rooms are between 9.5 ft and 14.8 ft tall, with floor-to-ceiling bay windows, marble and wood-burning fireplaces and hardwood floors.

Currently owned by Abercrombie and Fitch’s former CEO Mike Jeffries, the four-bedroom brick townhouse has also been home to JP Morgan’s grandson in the past.

Listing agent Michael Passaro of Douglas Elliman adds: ‘The most unique aspect of the property is that it is one of the 18 homes equipped with exclusive access to the Sutton Square park, overlooking the East River.’

Sutton Place and Sutton Square were pioneered by entrepreneur W Seward Webb Jr and architect Eliot Cross in the 1920s as an exclusive community for Manhattan’s ultra-wealthy – including members of the Morgan and Vanderbilt families.

[Via 6 Sqft]

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