In the 1920s, when Gilded Age plutocrats reigned in Manhattan, an heiress agreed to an unheard-of deal. She traded her Fifth Avenue mansion for an apartment atop a new building.
But she had her demands. A private entrance with its own driveway. And a private elevator.
She got them, along with a 54-room apartment, including a dining room that could seat 125 and a cold storage room for her furs and flowers. An architectural historian described it as “the largest and very possibly the most luxurious apartment ever created anywhere.”