Greta Garbo’s Former NYC Home Hits the Market for $7.25 Million — Here’s What It Looks Like Inside
She may have been the epitome of old Hollywood glamour, but Greta Garbo’s taste for high-end real estate thrived in New York City. Now, the Midtown East co-op the Swedish stunner called home from 1954 until she died in 1990 is officially on the market for $7.25 million.
Built in 1927, the three-bed, three-bath property is located inside the Campanile, a 16-unit prewar building. It sits on a hill overlooking the East River from its prime location on a cul-de-sac. (In fact, Garbo said the passing boats reminded her of her native Stockholm, according to the listing.)
Comprising the entire fifth floor of the luxe building, the home features a private elevator lobby that opens into a spacious formal central gallery. The home has had several recent renovations, including the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and HVAC system. But it’s the grand, L-shaped living room that will stop you in your tracks. Filled with drama and natural light that cascade in from the urban landscape, the elegant space has a cozy den area and a working gas fireplace, surrounded by timeless wood paneling. Oversized windows highlight the city’s exquisite surroundings, which include everything from buildings and bridges to the dramatic river. French doors open out to a balcony that allows a cool breeze to blow in off the water.
Leave the living room and move into the gallery hallway, where you’ll find extensive closet space disguised in the walls as you move from room to room. Immediately after the living room is the primary bedroom, which is covered in Garbo’s favorite rose-hued Fortuni silk, as is the headboard. It boasts extraordinary river views and an elegant private bath. On the opposite side of the hallway is a home office tucked behind elegant pocket doors. The two additional bedrooms are equally as stunning spaces with unique views of the waterfront. The third is currently functioning as a study, with elegant bookshelves and a comfortable spot to sit by the window.
At the opposite end of the co-op, the renovated kitchen features a new Miele side-by-side refrigerator/freezer and five-burner oven. There’s also a big, custom maple-top center island with a deep sink, and plenty of counter space surrounded by storage. Next door, the dining room is as elegant as be, and streams in natural light from the picture windows. There’s a separate laundry and utility room, as well as a storage room in the basement.
At every turn, you see beauty,” said Brian K. Lewis of Compass, who shares the listing with Will and Woody Kerr of Corcoran. “At every turn you see passion. And at every turn you see drama. But inside, completely, calm, completely beautiful, and completely unique. There’s a magic here that’s very special.”
The apartment actually stayed in the Garbo family until 2017, when John McGraw and Marjorie McGraw of the famed publishing house McGraw-Hill purchased it.