990 Fifth Avenue, Residence 8/9
13 Rooms | 4 Bedrooms | 5.5 Bathrooms | 5 Fireplaces

Ideally located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 80th Street, this extraordinary and architecturally important 13-room pre-war duplex residence of rare provenance is being offered for the first time since the building was built in 1927, and remarkably with the original floor plan and details intact. Formerly on the site of the F.W. Woolworth Mansion, 990 Fifth Avenue, designed by Rosario Candela, the foremost architect of luxury pre-war apartment houses, consists of only six grand residences, five duplexes, and one penthouse triplex, offering unique intimacy, privacy, and exclusivity as well as the highest levels of service and security.

While the apartment needs a full renovation, it maintains the marvelous bones and details of Candela’s original design. A private elevator landing opens into the apartment with its soaring 11 foot ceilings, and one enters the foyer from which all the entertaining rooms radiate. The grand corner and light-filled living room features antique parquet floors, exquisite moldings, a fireplace with a stunning marble mantle, and boasts breathtaking views of Central Park, Central Park West, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the midtown skyline. The inviting panelled library also has a wood-burning fireplace with marble mantle, as does the formal dining room, which has magnificent inlaid marble floors. A kitchen, butler’s pantry, three staff rooms, and a bathroom complete this floor.

The exquisitely ornate and regal wrought-iron staircase with gold leaf accents leads to the private quarters upstairs. This floor has 9’4″ ceilings and features an enormously grand corner Primary Bedroom Suite complete with a large dressing room, fireplace, and ensuite bath, which enjoys the same sensational light and views as the living room immediately below. Down the long corridor lined with walk-in closets are three large bedrooms, each with an ensuite bath, with one essentially serving as a Second Primary Suite with its own wood-burning fireplace and dressing area, which could also easily function as a study area.

This special residence has an extraordinary history. It was originally purchased by George Crawford in 1927, where he lived with his wife, Annie Laurie, and their daughter, Martha “Sunny” Sharp Crawford, the American heiress, who grew up in this apartment and went on to marry Prince Alfred von Auersperg of Austria and later Claus von Bülow. Sunny’s mother, Annie Laurie, later married Russell Barnett Aitken, a celebrated ceramic sculptor, sportsman, author, and big game hunter. Together, they pursued their shared interests in houses, English and French furniture, arms and armor, and fine decoration, as well as many philanthropic causes. The Annie Laurie Aitken English Galleries and The Russell Barnett Aitken Arms and Armor Galleries, both at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, represent their generosity to that institution located across the street from their home. After nearly 30 years of marriage, Annie Laurie died in 1984. Years later, Russell Aitken married Irene Boyd Roosevelt, the widow of John Aspinwall Roosevelt, the youngest son of Eleanor and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who lived in the apartment until her passing in the spring of 2025.

The proceeds from the sale of the apartment will be donated to the Frick Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Morgan Library & Museum, continuing the tradition of cultural philanthropy embodied by its former residents.

A legacy apartment like this very rarely comes on the market and is an opportunity not to be missed.

Apartment Highlights:
-13 rooms, 4 Bedrooms, 5.5 Baths, 3 staff rooms plus an external room on ground floor and large s