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A stunning and iconic Upper East Side townhouse–and site of an early 20th-century murder–has sold for $56 million, according to a Crain’s New York Business report.
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The 15,000+ square foot home at 4 East 79th Street, just steps from Central Park, was built in 1898 by James Nichols, a grocery wholesaler who purchased the property from banking and railroad magnate Henry Cook. Nichols’ wife Elizabeth was strangled to death by her former butler in the home in 1915, a year after Nichols’ passing. The incident, which involved a complex plot to steal jewelry from the Nichols residence, is recounted on architectural history site Daytonian in Manhattan.
Aso O. Tavitian, a Bulgarian business leader and philanthropist, purchased the property in 1997 for $11.5 million. Tavitian came to New York in 1961 as a Cold War refugee. He founded the data integration company Syncsort in 1969, serving as its CEO until 2009. The seven-story, six-bedroom home was moved into a trust following Tavitian’s death in 2020.
Details around the purchasing party are scarce, but Crain’s reports the home was sold to a private limited liability company. The property went on the market for $65 million in early 2024.
The mansion had been converted to offices in 1940 by the French Mission to the United Nations, so Tavitian hired architects Peter Pennoyer and Theodore Prudon to restore the building to a residence in the early 2000s. The result was an opulent UES icon and landmark that Robb Report describes as “by-every-standard lavish.” The home includes multiple kitchens including one in the basement of commercial grade, a private security office, top-floor gym, elevator, temperature-controlled wine cellar, rooftop terrace, a self-contained living space complete with its own kitchen, and more.
Tavitian may have been born in Bulgaria, but I’m pretty sure he was Armenian.
Another hidden billionaire parking assets?