A would-be love nest that two star-crossed lovers ultimately never shared — or finished renovating — can now be yours for less.
Just two days after French banker Olivier Sarkozy dined VIP at Soho’s see-and-be-seen Balthazar brasserie on Monday, the 52-year-old re-listed his combined Turtle Bay townhouse for $10.5 million — $1 million below its August 2021 asking price — following a broker switch, according to a Wednesday StreetEasy listing update.
Otherwise known as the Hunnewell Mansion, Sarkozy — through a limited liability company — purchased the 38-foot-wide property at 226-228 E. 49th St. in April 2014 from the artist David Deutsch for $13.5 million. That was about a year and a half before he wed the former child actress Mary-Kate Olsen — whose reception, which included “bowls and bowls filled with cigarettes, and everyone smoked the whole night,” appears to have been held in this same property.
Just before their wedding, the couple began a full renovation of this home. But according to the New York Times, which reported news last summer of the 8,700-square-foot spread asking $11.5 million, that process stalled. What’s more, Sarkozy — the half-brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy — and Olsen, 35, finalized their divorce in early 2021.
The pair never moved in. But now, someone can — specifically, someone deep-pocketed enough to afford the asking price, more than $100,000 in annual property taxes and, yes, a renovation for the “architect ready” offering, as the listing describes it.
The home has five floors of living space and just as many wood-burning fireplaces. The listing images, though notably empty, show a painted — and 22-foot — coffered ceiling. Elsewhere, there are also dark wood panels, mirrored walls, a skylight and arched windows that lead outside. As for the private outdoor spaces, they include a 38-foot garden, according to the floorplan. There was once a roof-level pool and an elevator, but they were reportedly removed.
This property dates to 1921 and, at one time, was home to a woman named Charlotte Hunnewell Sorchan (whose last name later became Martin after she remarried that same year). She created Turtle Bay Gardens, a shared greenspace surrounded by townhouses between East 48th and East 49th streets, and Second and Third avenues.
She bought the 21 surrounding townhouses in 1919, and initially had a goal among wealthy friends to create a community by renovating the homes and sharing a backyard between them, according to the Times, though that never came to fruition. She did it herself — and ultimately sold off most of the other homes after construction wrapped in 1921.
They attracted the artsy set. Over the years, residents included actress Katharine Hepburn and composer Stephen Sondheim. But Martin kept this one, now Sarkozy’s, as her own.
Other listing images show the gardens, which homeowners share the cost of maintaining — as well as a common walk. Other features of the home include a garage and six bedrooms.
Catherine Juracich, Thomas Ventura and Alexis Godley of Douglas Elliman have the listing.