Rupert Murdoch’s real estate broker, Dolly Lenz, probably has some idea but today’s news that Murdoch’s new home at One Madison Ave. is actually larger than was originally announced reminds us that Murdoch has fair amount of art. But what does he collect?
The five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath triplex, which has a 568-square-foot wraparound terrace on its north and east sides, fulfilled Mr. Murdoch’s enthusiastic appetite for panoramic views and demand for total privacy, but it lacked the abundance of square footage — 10,000 square feet — he deemed appropriate to house himself and his extensive art collection. To remedy that, in an accompanying and not-yet-closed transaction, he has also bought the entire 57th floor, just below, to combine with his penthouse — in aggregate an impressive $57.25 million commitment to his accustomed master-of-the-universe lifestyle. The reason the three-bedroom, 3,318-square-foot downstairs unit has not closed in city records is that unlike the triplex, it is being delivered to its new owner fully finished and is not quite done.
Dolly Lenz, Mr. Murdoch’s broker, said the penthouse was the only property that met her client’s numerous requirements: “I was brought along to satisfy a complicated and extensive wish list, but from everything we looked at, this apartment was the star. There was an instant attraction, and it was also important to Mr. Murdoch that there is a very credible developer behind the property.”
Big Ticket | Rupert Murdoch Pays $43 Million for Bachelor Pad (NYTimes.com)