You might expect the first penthouse apartment ever built in New York City to seem modest by today's standards, but it actually surpasses the expectations set by modern penthouses.
According to 6sqft.com, the distinction of being NYC's first ever penthouse belongs to a 54-room triplex built in 1925. The apartment was crafted specifically for the heiress to the Post cereal fortune, Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton, who was asked to give up the land where her then-mansion sat in order to make room for the 14-story building that exists today.
Post Hutton agreed to give up her former property, as long as the construction company could create a comparable apartment on the top three floors of the new building, and provide the heiress with her own private entrance and lobby. They readily agreed and the first Manhattan penthouse soon arrived at 1107 Fifth Avenue.
The opulent apartment became the gold standard for luxury living, with its wraparound terrace, 17 bathrooms, two kitchens and dining room with space for 125 guests. According to City Realty, the architectural historian Andrew Alpern described the space as "certainly the largest and very possibly the most luxurious apartment ever created anywhere."
The unit had everything a socialite and heiress could need, including a storage room specifically for flowers and furs, a wine room, a gown closet and several sitting rooms. But after leasing the palatial penthouse for 15 years for $75,000 a year, the family decided to move on.
The penthouse then sat empty for 10 years, after which it was broken up into six units in the 1950s, when the building became a co-op.
Take a look at one of the units built out of the city's first penthouse in the photos below.
