“Decorating is autobiography,” said Gloria Vanderbilt, the late designer, artist, and heiress whose Manhattan apartment has just been listed for sale. The home is an artifact of her keen appreciation for art and home decor and as such has largely been kept the same as it was upon her death in 2019 at the age of 95.
The building, located on Midtown East’s Beekman Place, was constructed in 1931 and was Vanderbilt’s home from 1997 to the time of her death. Her son, the CNN journalist Anderson Cooper, insisted to the New York Times that this long occupancy is a testament to her love for the place — in his childhood their family moved every four years as she’d often grow restless and want to find somewhere new.
“It’s a constant laboratory for her,” said Wendy Goodman, a friend of the multi-hyphenate and author of The World of Gloria Vanderbilt, “She’s always repainting and redecorating. It’s like a tonic for her.” The space has numerous unique design elements that would only be found in a former residence of Gloria Vanderbilt, all of which are visible in the listing photos Take, for instance, the mirrored walls, the unique light fixtures, or the mantel she hand-painted with a quote paraphrased from Albert Einstein: “The distance between past, present and future is only an illusion, however persistent.”
The 3 bedrooms 2.5 bathroom residence has been listed for $1.125 million by Ileen G. Schoenfeld and Aracely Moran of Brown Harris Stevens. The apartment has beautiful high ceilings with tasteful beams throughout, ample closet space, and natural light, though the unit has not been renovated since Vanderbilt’s arrival in 1997 and is in need of some updates. The ground floor space she used as a studio is also being considered for sale.
