New digs for Ivana - Ivana Trump acquires townhouse in New York, New York

Real Estate Weekly, Nov 11, 1992 by Lois Weiss

Ivana Trump has found herself some new digs in the form of an East Side townhouse.

The property was placed on the market in Oct. '91 at $3.5 million and was purchased last month for $2.8 million in cash, brokers say, although New York City records show the price as $2.468 million, a discrepancy attributable to brokers fees or city error.

The 20-foot wide, five-story brick and lime home is located steps off Fifth Avenue in the tony East Sixties. The 20-foot wide property also has a small 35-foot garden just in case Ivana, as she is now known professionally, gets a green thumb.

The former owner, the wealthy Francois DeMenil, never lived there. He purchased the townhouse for a mere $1 million in December of 1979 intending to renovate, but never did so. The property has been empty ever since and one townhouse expert noted that the house will probably need complete renovation but will be worth much more afterward. That should be good news to Ivana who once faced the daunting task of renovating Mar-A-Lago's 118 rooms in Palm Beach.

The new home boasts a two-story double kitchen extension, while the second floor is a completely open kitchen/pantry dining room/living room with beautiful high ceilings and a two-story semi-circular staircase, said Corcoran Group broker Anna B. Snee.

"There is a lovely master bedroom floor with built in closets and a terrace," she said, as well as a library. The third floor has three children's bedrooms and two baths while the fifth floor includes rooms for five servants who share one bath. It also contains an elevator while New York City steam heat and several fireplaces will keep it all warm.

"The Georgian style house made a statement," Snee said, adding that Ivana made an excellent buy. "It's superb to pay under $3 million at that location."