Lawyerly Lairs: A Cadwalader Castle in the Sky

Partners at high-powered Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where profits per partner in 2010 clocked in at almost $2.4 million, appreciate the finer things in life. Thankfully there are some CWT partners who are kicking it old school. They live in exclusive prewar coops on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Let's look at the Lawyerly Lair that a senior Cadwalader lawyer recently acquired -- on Park Avenue, one of the world's legendary thoroughfares -- for just a shade under $6 million....

Partners at high-powered Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where profits per partner in 2010 clocked in at almost $2.4 million, appreciate the finer things in life. These include $6 million houses in the Hamptons and the company of former Playboy models (who used to date movie stars like Matt Dillon).

Now, fabulous though they may be, beach houses in the Hamptons and Playboy model girlfriends sound… a bit flashy, a trifle arriviste. Some might view them as not very white-shoe, and not what you’d expect from partners of the oldest continuing Wall Street law practice in the United States. (Sure, some old-money people have places in the Hamptons, but these days the locale appeals more to celebrities.)

Thankfully there are some CWT partners who are kicking it old school. They live in exclusive prewar coops on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. No lofts in Tribeca or Soho — or, God forbid, Brooklyn — for these genteel types.

Let’s look at the Lawyerly Lair that a senior Cadwalader lawyer recently acquired — on Park Avenue, one of the world’s legendary thoroughfares — for just a shade under $6 million….

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The apartment in question is Penthouse B at 1112 Park Avenue. News of the $5.9 million purchase was broken by the New York Observer, which reported on the property’s WASPy provenance:

In terms of real estate, the Frick Collection occupies one of New York’s most enviable residences. The museum, housed in Henry Clay Frick’s former mansion at 1 East 70th Street, represents a largely bygone era when New York’s industry titans lived like kings in lordly city estates. Unbeknownst to most, however, the Frick Collection was, until very recently, in possession of another abode: a Park Avenue penthouse.

While the apartment cannot be compared to the Frick’s primary homestead, it is a substantial home nonetheless. The two-bedroom, two-bath penthouse sits atop 1112 Park Avenue, a pre-war co-op at the corner of 90th Street—making it just two blocks from The Guggenheim, it so happens.

Two bedrooms, $6 million. I ♥ NY.

In defense of the ultra-luxurious apartment, it has so much to offer beyond the two bedrooms:

Listing agents Sharon Baum and David Enloe, both of Corcoran, boast of the apartment’s covetous components. Chief among them is an immense 1,520 square-foot wrap-around terrace with outside sitting space and wide city views. It looks almost as big as the Frick’s own grounds.

The home also boasts a private elevator landing, a wood-burning fireplace in the living room, a solarium, and a library, all details which “epitomizes the glamour and drama associated with a Manhattan penthouse,” according to Ms. Baum and Mr. Enloe’s listing.

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So who’s the Cadwalader attorney who will be curling up with fund-formation documents next to that wood-burning fireplace? Or reading draft merger agreements while sunning himself on that vast terrace?