Suddenly Sutton Place: An Old-World Enclave on the East River Returns
by David Hay
May 2025
Sitting in the expansive living room of the Sutton Place apartment that was once home to Jean Kennedy Smith, I can’t help but feel transported to another era in the country’s history.
The younger sister of both John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Smith was a member of an American dynasty known for its extraordinary commitment to public service, its enduring hold on the public imagination, and its undeniably sense of style.
Smith herself was appointed the U.S. ambassador to Ireland by President Clinton in 1993. A diplomatic novice and in her mid 60s, she played an integral role in the acrimonious peace talks that led five years later to the pivotal Belfast Agreement.
Smith passed away in 2020, and her extraordinary apartment in this storied East Side enclave is now for sale.
I was invited inside by Diane Johnson, the longtime agent for Douglas Elliman who represents the listing. Johnson is busy these days with many other listings. But I could tell immediately that the Smith apartment spoke to her in a very personal way.
As I toured the home, the many framed photographs that documented both public and private moments in her famous family’s life (since removed for showings) still felt very personal. And the chintz-covered sofas and decorative curtains in the dining room spoke of a luxurious and industrious by-gone era. It also captures the enduring charm of Sutton Place, a sleepy, somewhat off-the-beaten-track part of Manhattan—and one that suddenly seems to be reawakening.
The two-floor, 5,000-square-foot, six-bedroom residence is on the upper floors of a compact apartment building on a corner of Sutton Place. Designed by Italian-American architect Rosario Candela in 1928 and comprising only 10 apartments, the building is taller than the homes across the street—including the townhouse owned by the designer Thom Browne—and affords a clear view of the East River beyond.
At just under $5 million—a reduction of $1.5 million from when it was listed two years ago—the asking price is strikingly modest by Manhattan standards. A much less expansive townhouse in the West Village would be valued at millions more. That it’s been on the market for some time hints at the challenges involved.
And yet Johnson embraces them with humor and determination. She has the experience and a block-by-block knowledge of the neighborhood (she and her husband live very close by, when they are not spending summers at their home in Montana, near Glacier National Park).
“It’s going to be someone special who buys this—someone who appreciates its heritage and also that it presents a rare chance to live in a magnificent home of their own making,” she tells me, adding in her charming but persuasive way, “It is large, quiet, has views, and a presence that few other apartments in the city can match. And it has such character.”
It also requires a purchaser with resources. If the asking price is relatively low, the carrying charges are conversely high: maintenance is $22,500 per month. Johnson acknowledges this may make first-time buyers apprehensive but suggests “anyone coming over here knows that is hardly unusual in this area.” Besides, she adds, “fees, mostly property taxes, on a townhouse downtown—if you can find one—can also be very high.”
Resources will also be required to bring the apartment up to date—a challenge for some but a dream for others. At minimum, the windows and French doors that open to the Juliet balconies will need to be replaced and the large kitchens modernized. But the payoff will be immediate. And unlike many building on the Upper East Side, there are no summer work rules.
What makes Johnson more confident is the renewed appeal of buying in Sutton Place. She reels off the neighborhood’s advantages: the express buses to downtown, the ease of getting across 57th to the theatre, the new park on the river whose expansion included part of the garden from 1 Sutton Place. Alongside Thom Brown’s house is the residence of the U.N.’s Secretary General, and another young family recently purchased another of the townhouses overlooking the East River.
“For all its charm and nostalgia for a by-gone era, there is nowhere else in the city you can buy apartments of this size for this amount of money,” she asserts. “To put it plainly, there is such value here.”
And all of a sudden, there’s more to do here. Recently, a host of new smart and fun restaurants have popped up. Johnson points to Jean Claude and Nubiani, the Korean BBQ place where it’s almost impossible to get a table, saying, “It’s so much more fun here now.”
For the moment, at least, the value argument is holding true. News of Sutton Place’s next act has yet to effect pricing here.
“All the more reason to act now,” Johnson says.
David Hay is a well-known architectural writer and playwright. His stories have been featured in The New York Times, Dwell and New York.
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