Most Expensive Homes in America 2005: Northeast

 

The Duke Semans mansion has much more than just the distinction of being the most expensive townhouse in New York: It is owned by the same family that bought it as a Gilded Age spec home back in 1901, and is nearly pristine. Located on Fifth Avenue, on a corner across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 19,000-square-foot mansion has a restored Beaux Arts brick-and-limestone façade. The interior has been gently divided into apartments, but most of the original features are intact, including bathroom fixtures, bay windows and the grand curved staircase. A planted rooftop terrace tops the cake. The Duke Semans mansion is listed with Sharon Baum at The Corcoran Group, and Paula Del Nunzio and Shirley Mueller at Brown Harris Stevens.