Home / Real Estate / REAL ESTATE…with a difference: Frank Sinatra Manhattan Penthouse Sold
REAL ESTATE…with a difference: Frank Sinatra Manhattan Penthouse Sold

REAL ESTATE…with a difference: Frank Sinatra Manhattan Penthouse Sold

Now under contract, the new owner can walk out on Frank Sinatra’s penthouse terrace overlooking the East River and know he’s standing where Sammy Davis, Jr. used to enjoy tossing champagne glasses down on FDR Drive.

Still the number one “Frank” on Google search, Mr. Sinatra is still just as popular since his death in 1998 as ever. His songs and images of his glamorous, if mischievous, lifestyle have endured since before World War II and the messages in both his music and his life will continue to influence the more sophisticated in generations long into the future.

In the 1940s, Frank Sinatra was the #1 New Yorker. Born and raised in an Italian family in nearby Hoboken, New Jersey, Frank’s singing career began with his Hoboken high school glee club which led to his job as lead singer with the Hoboken Four and night club gigs throughout the New York area. His band won the Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour on New York’s CBS Radio in 1935 which led to more radio performances that were broadcast throughout the metropolitan area.

By the early 1940s, Frank had been the lead singer with both the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras and a frequent performer at New York’s Paramount Theater and the New York based Lucky Strike Hit Parade radio show.

In 1943, Frank’s teenage girl fans turned out in droves to see his performance at New York’s City College with the New York Philharmonic. That same year, he went solo with his debut performance at New York’s Madison Square Gardens.

An October, 1944 encore concert at the Paramount drew 35,000 fans causing the Columbus Day Riot that was quelled by New York City police. Between 1940 and 1943, Frank recorded 23 Billboard Top 10 hit songs. He was the most popular singer in America, the biggest star in New York City.

In the 1950s, Frank was doing television and movies in Hollywood and leading the Rat Pack in Las Vegas. By the 1960s, Frank owned his own film company, a record company, a private airline, a missile-parts firm, had real-estate holdings across the country and a personal staff of seventy-five. Although he was spending less time in New York, he still wanted a place to live there that identified with the energy of the city.

In 1961, Frank moved into a brand new 3,200-square-foot Manhattan triplex penthouse with East River views. He was able to design the apartment his own way with 18′ ceilings and 2,000 square feet of wrap-around balconies where Sammy Davis, Jr. used to enjoy tossing champagne glasses down onto FDR Drive.

In 1966, 21-year old Mia Farrow married the 50-year old Sinatra and moved into his bachelor apartment as a full time wife. They were the “it couple” of the mid 1960s, grandly entertaining East Coast and West Coast royalty. Frank’s Rat Pack buddies were joined in the partying by the likes of President John F. Kennedy, Andy Warhol and Marilyn Monroe. Warhol called it the “glittering grotto in the sky.”

However Mia soon became bored and returned to her acting career. When Mia’s movie Rosemary’s Baby production time ran over and she refused to quit the film to be in Sinatra’s film The Detective, Frank threw a temper tantrum, handing Mia divorce papers in front of her cast crew. Sinatra sold the apartment in 1972 to Andy Warhol’s doctor. In 1979, Frank recorded the song he made popular celebrating the city, New York, New York.

Now totally updated, the home has glass walls, four bedrooms, six baths, putting green and a replica of the floating glass staircase in New York City’s Apple Store. It went on the market in late 2013 at $5.6 million and just sold through Douglas Elliman Real Estate for $4.9 million.

Source: toptenrealestatedeals.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Scroll To Top