Lower than a month after hitting the market, Invoice Cosby’s longtime Higher East Aspect townhouse has already landed a purchaser, The Put up has discovered.
The limestone-clad property at 18 E. 71st St. — listed for $29 million with Corcoran — went into contract on Thursday, Oct. 16, in accordance with StreetEasy data.
The sale worth stays below wraps, however the deal marks the newest twist in a turbulent chapter for the disgraced entertainer and his spouse, Camille.
Courtroom paperwork filed earlier this yr accused the couple of defaulting on $17.5 million in loans tied to the residence.
The 13,000-square-foot mansion, designed in 1899 by architect John Duncan — the thoughts behind Grant’s Tomb — stands among the many Higher East Aspect’s grandest Gilded Age holdouts.
Its ornate limestone façade, copper mansard roof, and proximity to Central Park give it a permanent attract, at the same time as its possession story turned fraught.
Cosby acquired the house in 1987 for $6.2 million in the course of the top of his NBC fame, reportedly as a shock for his spouse.
Then referred to as the Luyster Mansion, the property exemplifies the stately neo-French Basic model that when dominated Manhattan’s wealthiest streets.
Just a few doorways away sits the previous townhouse of Jeffrey Epstein, which offered in 2021 for $51 million — a reminder that even scandal hasn’t dulled the block’s market enchantment.
Nonetheless, the itemizing made no point out of Cosby or the monetary entanglements surrounding the property.
In keeping with a Manhattan Supreme Courtroom submitting, the couple allegedly stopped making mortgage funds in June 2024 and owe greater than $300,000 in property taxes. The lender, First Basis Financial institution, initiated foreclosures proceedings final yr — claims the Cosbys have denied in court docket.
Inside, the house displays its turn-of-the-century grandeur.
A marble-lined vestibule opens right into a hovering central corridor with 15-foot ceilings. A 500-square-foot parlor options inlaid mahogany flooring and one in all 11 fireplaces. French doorways overlook East 71st Road, whereas a restored mahogany-and-bronze elevator providers a number of ranges.
A double-height drawing room showcases herringbone parquet flooring and 20-foot ceilings, whereas the eating room beneath can host as much as 30 company. The adjoining chef’s kitchen — as soon as a part of the previous Lycée Français — consists of terracotta tile, beveled glass cabinetry and a restaurant-grade rotisserie oven.
Upstairs, the first suite provides twin bogs beneath vaulted skylights. The highest ground homes a quiet examine and a visitor suite with entry to a non-public terrace.
Above all of it, a 500-square-foot roof backyard gives uncommon outside area in one in all Manhattan’s most unique enclaves.
Public data hint a fancy possession historical past: Cosby’s preliminary buy was dealt with via an lawyer earlier than being transferred to Camille’s mom and finally into the couple’s names.
In 1990, the Cosbys accused their former lawyer, Mary Waller, of embezzling funds from that transaction — an early signal of the monetary disputes that might comply with them for many years.
The East 71st Road mansion isn’t the one property tied to the couple’s mounting debt.
In December, CitiMortgage filed a separate swimsuit alleging default on a $4.2 million mortgage related to a different townhouse at 243 E. 61st St., which the Cosbys bought in 1980. That four-story property was listed in April for $7 million and later diminished by roughly $250,000 over the summer time as authorized battles intensified.
Cosby, now 88, continues to stay within the shadow of his 2018 sexual-assault conviction — overturned three years later by the Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom — and the accusations of greater than 60 girls.
A spokesperson for the Cosbys declined to touch upon the sale.
