CELEBRITY REAL-ESTATE NEWS

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The longtime New York City apartment of TV reporter-and-personality Barbara Walters has come on the market, priced at $19.75 million. Located on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue adjacent to Central Park, Ms. Walters lived there from 1989 until her death in 2022 at age 93. The five-bedroom, 5.5-bath apartment takes up the entire 6th floor in a 14-story building designed in 1925 by architect Nathan Korn.

Located in the Upper East Side, the Italian Renaissance-style, limestone-clad building ranks as one of the city’s premier buildings and upscale locations. Just as colorful and interesting as Barbara was, the 11-room apartment includes the living room with a wood-burning fireplace, tall ceilings and postcard views of the park. Next to the entrance gallery and living room is a red lacquer-painted library with a dressing table, seating area, and floor-to-ceiling mirrors that reflect some of Barbara’s favorite books and mementos. The primary bedroom suite includes built-in wardrobe cabinets with floral motifs, another fireplace, and more views of Central Park. There is a large dining room and an eat-in kitchen. The apartment is left mostly as it looked when Barbara died at the end of 2022, with its light-filled rooms and an abundance of seating areas - perhaps where she interviewed some of the fascinating people that she covered in her 65-year journalism career.

Ms. Walters began her work in the early 1950s with the NBC affiliate WNBT-TV and moved up to “The Today Show” in the early 1960s as a writer and weather reporter. She hit the big time in the 1970s as the co-anchor of the “ABC Evening News,” the highest-paid news personality and the first female network news anchor. Barbara interviewed a Who’s Who list of celebrities and world leaders from Katharine Hepburn and Sean Connery to Fidel Castro and Donald Trump, and every US president and their wives from Richard and Pat Nixon to Barack and Michelle Obama. She was most recently seen as the host of the ABC daytime news-and-talk show “The View.”

Since their first date in 2008, their 2010 wedding at George Clooney’s home in Italy, and first baby in 2014, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski have been one of America’s favorite celebrity couples. In addition to their wonderful marriage, Emily and John have owned some equally wonderful homes, including their current home in London, a Brooklyn townhome they sold in 2018, a full-floor apartment they still own at the Standish in Brooklyn, and one of their first homes, a mid-century modern in the Hollywood Hills they sold in 2016 for $3.5 million. The Hollywood Hills home is back on the market for $6 million.    

Emily and John bought the 3,657-square-foot Hollywood Hills home in 2014 for $2.57 million and spent the next two years adding their own unique style to the four-bedroom home. Located above Mulholland Drive at the end of a private cul-de-sac and hidden behind tall trees, the home was built in 1965 but looks showroom new. On a double lot, the lush yard includes a huge partially covered flagstone patio, a fountain and extensive landscape lighting, a gazebo, saltwater pool, beautiful green grass, topiaries, and views of the mountains, canyon and city skyline. Most special are the large-leafy oak and olive trees, some of which appear to pre-date the 58-year-old home.

The inside of the home is just as inviting as the outside with glass walls throughout and motorized skylights and retractable blinds to bring in the bright Southern California sunshine. A brilliant foyer leads into the timeless open-concept floorplan with hardwood floors throughout. The sunken living room with a gas fireplace and beamed ceiling, and dining room replicate the outside views. There is also a courtyard, indoor/outdoor speakers, closed-circuit cameras, a study, and a chef’s kitchen with custom cabinets, colorful island, Subzero refrigerator and wine fridge, Wolf range and double Miele dishwasher. There are four bathrooms, including a marble-clad en-suite bath with soaking tub and steam shower. 

Hollywood Hills is the ideal location for both visitors and locals near the film studios, Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive, the Los Angeles Zoo, and Griffith Park. Celebrities who have lived or do live in the Hills include Katy Perry, Kevin Costner, Jennifer Aniston, and Justin Timberlake.

The listing agent is Ruben Perez of Compass.