Frank Woolworth was the king of retail in the late 19th century. He was big enough to commission Charles Pierpont Henry Gilbert who was known and respected as the architect of mansions in the French Gothic style. He had built an extraordinary mansion at Fifth Avenue and East 79th Street to re affirm his position. The building is known today as the Ukrainian Institute. Woolworth got him to build a grand mansion on 80th and Fifth Avenue. Between 1910 and 1915 Woolworth built several houses starting with a skyscraper at Broadway and again got CPH Gilbert to build houses for his daughters.
Woolworth had three daughters and the town houses were built on East 80 Street. The mansion on 4 East 80 Street was the grandest and is a 35 feet wide astounding building flanked by two 25 feet wide sister buildings. The central mansion was put up for sale for an asking price of $90 million. This neo-French Renaissance mansion was completed in 1916. It has a limestone façade and features a central foyer opening to a grand entry hall. The front drawing room spans the entire 35 feet of the building.
The third floor’s highlight is the 35 foot-wide wood-paneled library. The fourth floor has a master suite with a grand bedroom, two sitting rooms and two full baths with dressing rooms positioned on opposite ends of the master suite. The fifth floor features two large bedrooms with full baths and a gym. The fifth floor has two bedrooms. The five floors are capped by a stained glass skylight positioned above the grand staircase. The mansion has been renovated in a traditional prewar style. It has been listed for an asking price of $90 million but is also available for a monthly rental of $165,000.
