Main Image: The Belnord, 225 West 86th Street (Google Maps). Inset: Alexis and Martha Stewart (cropped) by Flickr user Kona Gallagher
Martha Stewart is a modern jack of all trades. Over the years, she’s been known as a media mogul, M. Diddy (if you ask her prison pals) and even the reigning queen of Instagram selfies. No matter how you slice it, though, being a domestic goddess with a pristine home is forever at the top of her agenda — and based on recent real estate transactions, it seems Alexis Stewart, the billionaire’s only child, is equally interested in palatial pads.
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According to The New York Post, Stewart is currently in contract to purchase an enormous Upper West Side duplex at The Belnord, the iconic Italian Renaissance Revival building at 225 West 86th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. The penthouse spread, which spans a staggering 4,637 square feet, was most recently listed for an eye-watering $13.195 million.
The limestone and brick behemoth has been a neighborhood staple since it was completed in 1909, when it became known as one of the premiere apartment houses on the UWS. Its most recognizable feature is unquestionably the massive archway, leading to a sprawling courtyard complete with landscaped gardens and a famous fountain.
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Though The Belnord has amassed a slew of A-list residents since its inception (think Marilyn Monroe and Walter Matthau), its current gig is perhaps its most prominent to date: serving as the inspiration (and exterior) for The Arconia, the building at the center of Hulu’s smash-hit series Only Murders In the Building. Season three of the star-studded show — fronted by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez — will add Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd to its prestige-packed cast.
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Stewart’s journey uptown is likely a relief for the entrepreneur, as her glamorous triplex on Charles Street in the West Village finally sold after four years on and off the market. The mom-of-two’s new digs feature six bedrooms, six-and-a-half-bathrooms, courtyard views, an open kitchen dripping with Calacatta Gold marble and custom-designed vanities throughout from Robert A. M. Stern, the go-to architect for New York’s wealthiest residents.
We can only assume this news means Martha will be making the trek in from her 156-acre Westchester estate.
Douglas Elliman’s Maya Kadouri and Sabrina Saltiel have the listing.
No CP views, definitely beneath The Martha.
Also way too…. even it if has a very nice interior courtyard.
Robert A. Stern, not technically an registered architect–therefore a really a ddesigner working with an NY licensed architect. But much worse, his building designs, and I assume his interior designs, are infamous for overlaying vaguely 1930s “deco” facades onto boring boxes.
He also supposed to an NY Times real estate “reporter” that Zabar’s is a destination for a bagel and a shmear, so pretty ignorant of the UWS be Mr. Stern.
How apt that a Stewart spawn is buying an apartment rejiggered by Mr. Stern.
Let’s hope that convicted felons moving in to the neighborhood doesn’t drive down the property values.
What’s felony has the daughter been convicted of?
Isn’t this where that woman was clocked in the head?