Monday, July 1, 2024 – It has been a curiosity for years, now learn some history
The CUTE PINK HOUSE
ON TOP
OF AN EAST 52nd STREET
CO-OP
WHERE A BEATLE ONCE
LIVED
MONDAY, JULY 1, 2024
ISSUE # 1263
When next you are in Southpoint Park, stand across from the Smallpox Hospital and look west to 434 East 52nd Street. Perched on top of this building the the pink house. I have seen it for years and only managed to take blurry photos of it! It’s current occupants remain a mystery.
Judith Berdy
Three years ago, a post popped up on Reddit that caught my attention. It contained an image (below) shot from Roosevelt Island of a pretty, candy-pink house on the roof of an East Side apartment building.
Turns out this storybook-like, brightly colored house with two chimneys and a greenish peaked roof is the penthouse on top of 434 East 52nd Street, a prewar Bing & Bing apartment residence designed by Emery Roth that opened in 1930.
The house, which looks like it belongs on a suburban street or country lane rather than an urban canyon near Sutton Place, boasts three floors, 4,000 square feet, and wraparound terraces. All this comes from its Streeteasy listing, which says that it was on the market for $4.5 million in 2021.
As if living in your own house in the Manhattan sky wouldn’t be enough of a thrill, this penthouse was home to a famous resident. In 1974, it was the “lost weekend” residence of John Lennon and May Pang, according to various real estate and home decor sites.
Is it the same penthouse? I’m not so sure. In her book Loving John, Pang recalls the “small penthouse” with a wood-burning fireplace plus tiny kitchen, which ran Lennon $750 per month in rent. Maybe the rooftop house seemed small to a couple used to the oversized chambers of the Dakota?
According to Pang, this is where she and John spotted a UFO from their terrace—perhaps the UFO memorialized in the lyrics “There’s a UFO over New York, and I ain’t too surprised” from the song “Nobody Told Me.”
“’Look up there!’ Pang recalled John saying one August night, pointing to the sky. ‘Tell me what you see.’ I looked up and couldn’t believe my eyes. ‘There was a saucer-shaped object surrounded by blinking white lights gliding through the sky.’”
The pink house is also reportedly where photographer Bob Gruen took the iconic images of Lennon wearing a New York City T-shirt. From the view of the terrace, it really could be the same adorable home.
It’s not visible from the street, but from the river or another penthouse, it must look pretty sweet.
If you are really curious, checkout the Streeteasy posting:
https://streeteasy.com/building/434-east-52-street-new_york/phtower
CREDITS
Top photo: Reddit; second photo: Bob Gruen via New York magazine; third photo: Streeteasy.com]
Tags: Cool Unusual Penthouses in NYC, John Lennon 434 East 52nd Street, John Lennon Lost Weekend 52nd Street Penthouse, John Lennon Penthouse 52nd Street, John Lennon UFO Penthouse 1974, Penthouse That Looks Like a House 52nd Street, penthouses in New York City, Penthouses That Look Like Regular Houses on NYC Roofs, Pink Penthouse 434 East 52nd Street NYC
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