The stately brick and limestone apartment building at 101 Central Park West has been home to many high-profile residents over the years, including actors Harrison Ford and Rick Moranis and equestrian Georgina Bloomberg.
Some of the residents have stayed for decades. Irwin Segelstein, a television station executive who also ran Columbia Records just as Bruce Springsteen's career was taking off, moved into one of the co-op's duplexes in 1976 and lived there with his wife Bernice until his death in 2008. The unit remained their home , until she died last year.
Now this apartment will come on the market for the first time in almost half a century. According to Roberta Golubock of Sotheby's International Realty, which is listing the property for sale, the asking price is $8.75 million, with monthly maintenance at $9,246.
The Segelsteins purchased the duplex, located on the 16th and 17th floors of the 18-story prewar building between West 70th and 71st streets, in October 1976 for $115,000. (The sellers were the family of Meyer Davis, a prominent society bandleader.) They settled about a year later, after spending several thousand dollars more on much-needed renovations.
“They had to completely redo the place,” said her son, James Segelstein, a retired television journalist and documentary producer who lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut. “There were so many bizarre things. The stairs had a great jungle wallpaper with birds and trees. And there were weird chandeliers with fruit on them and these wrought iron gates.”
His parents toned down the decor, opting for a more monochromatic midcentury aesthetic. They renovated the bathrooms and enlarged and modernized the kitchen by removing one of the two staff rooms. But since then, apart from some painting and general maintenance, little else has been done to the unit.
“It’s in condition of the property,” Ms. Golubock said, adding that the new owners will be buying “size and light and such a good building and a fabulous location” in the historic Central Park West neighborhood.
The main entrance is on the lower level, where a gallery leads to the dining and living rooms.Credit…Andrew Frasz for Sotheby's International Realty
Mr. Segelstein also noted that “the rooms are huge, airy and bright and, in my opinion, larger than the rooms in many other buildings.”
The apartment is approximately 3,825 square feet and features three large bedrooms and a staff room, as well as four full bathrooms and a powder room. Ceilings are 10 feet or higher and the original hardwood floors remain. There is also 125 square meters of outdoor space, which includes two terraces – adjacent to the living and dining rooms – with park and city views.
The main entrance is on the lower level. A spacious gallery with guest toilet and service access to the kitchen and staff quarters leads to a large dining room and an even larger living room with a wood-burning fireplace.
Near the dining room is an eat-in kitchen, although dated, equipped with wood and laminate cabinets, laminate countertops, and vinyl flooring.
“My parents were sitting at the table in the kitchen, where they sat down and read the newspaper,” Mr. Segelstein said. “Plus, they loved being in the living room.”
The bedrooms are located on the upper floor, each with its own bathroom. The master suite has a spacious sitting area that was previously used as a dressing room. An adjacent bedroom has been converted into an office.
“My father had built wall drawers for records,” Mr. Segelstein said of the office space. “He also had audio and video equipment there.”
Irwin Segelstein served in top roles at CBS and NBC. But perhaps most memorable was his time as head of CBS Records, which included the Columbia Records label. During his tenure, the label released Springsteen's third studio album, Born to Run, which became a major commercial success.
But without James Segelstein, then a student at Brown University, it might not have happened. In April 1974, he saw a Springsteen show on campus and described it to his father, who was reportedly not thrilled with “Born to Run,” as “the greatest concert I had ever seen.” He also read him parts of a Springsteen interview with the school newspaper, in which the singer complained about how the record company treated him and his music. The album was finally released – and promoted – the next year.
Columbia Records had also signed other well-known artists such as Bob Dylan and Billy Joel. But Mr Segelstein said it was unlikely that any of them ever showed up at the apartment.
“There were no celebrities around,” he said. “My parents hosted holiday dinners, but they didn’t host many parties there.”