Greta Garbo’s longtime apartment is on the market for the first time since the Swedish star bought it in 1953.
The notoriously reclusive actress resided in the full-floor co-op at 450 East 52nd Street from 1954 until her death in 1990. Garbo left her entire estate, including this three-bedroom, three-bathroom abode, to her niece, Gray Reisfield, per the New York Times.
Encompassing the entire fifth floor of the Campanile, this home is an exclusive Beekman co-op. Garbo was drawn to the space “partly because the passing boats reminded her of her beloved, native Stockholm,” per the listing shared by Halstead brokers William A. Kerr II, William A. Kerr III and Brian Lewis.
Swedish-born actress Greta Garbo was partially attracted to the home because it reminded her of her native Stockholm. General Photographic Agency/Getty Images
Reisfeld and her son, Derek, maintained the apartment after Garbo’s death, and it is “largely unchanged.” This includes the master suite, where the walls are “adorned in Garbo’s favorite rose-hued Fortuny silk, as is the headboard,” as seen in the slideshow above.
The home, listed for $5.95 million, was partially renovated in the nineties, but retains much of Garbo’s touch and aesthetic, including her “signature palette of pink and green hues.”
A private elevator entrance opens in to the formal entry gallery, and the living room includes a working gas fireplace—apparently, Garbo displayed once displayed much of her extensive art collection on the wood-paneled walls, and some of her artwork and French antiques remain in the 2,855-square-foot apartment.
Garbo retired from all cinema at the age of 35, and retreated from the public eye as much as she could—the famously private star used this home as her “resplendent refuge.”
Interested parties should come prepared—the building, where Rex Harrison and Ethel Barrymore also once resided, doesn’t allow financing, so buyers should expect to pay all cash.