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Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s Manhattan retreat has entered contract after less than three weeks on the market — and a fierce bidding war involving multiple interested parties, Gimme Shelter can reveal.
The tony penthouse, at 1126 Fifth Ave., was asking $9.95 million. Maintenance fees are $13,078 a month.
The final purchase price is not yet known, but all offers were above the apartment’s asking prices, sources said. The beloved Hollywood legends — both won Oscars — bought the two-bedroom prewar home in the early 1980s and “minimal” changes have since been made.
Newman — a screen star, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur and a race car driver — passed away in 2008. Woodward, now 94, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2007 and lives quietly in Westport, Conn., where the couple raised their three daughters.
It’s the first time the dwelling, which spans close to 3,000 square feet, has been available for purchase in more than four decades. The ritzy residence also features two terraces, with sweeping Central Park views, totaling 2,300 square feet. I was often used to host glamorous parties for stars such as Tom Cruise and Cher, and presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
It’s all at the top of a grand, 15-story limestone building designed by James E.R. Carpenter and built in 1925.
The sellers are Newman and Woodward’s daughters, Nell, Melissa and Clea. They described the residence as a true retreat for their parents, who loved to enjoy all that New York has to offer from their penthouse perch.
“It was their oasis in New York,” Clea Newman Soderlund, their youngest daughter, told the New York Times, when the apartment first went on the market.
“They would spend weeks at a clip there. They would go to the theater or the opera or out to dinner with friends,” Clea said.
“My mother wanted a terrace for the dogs, so they could go outside — that was the prime objective,” Clea added. “They ended up getting this extraordinary property that overlooks the park and reservoir, and they got the sunrise and sunset.”
Original details include close to 11-foot-high ceilings, herringbone wood floors and woodburning fireplaces. The home opens to a foyer that leads to a library/bedroom with built-in bookshelves.
There’s also a formal dining room with built-in shelves and window seats. It heads to the open, windowed kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a breakfast nook, butcher block counters and original metal cabinets.
A large living room comes with a woodburning fireplace, its carved wood mantel, Newman’s baby grand piano and a separate dry bar. A terrace facing Central Park is accessed via the kitchen and living room.
Meanwhile, the main bedroom features two large walk-in closets, an ensuite bath with hand-painted tiles and terrace access.
Most of the beloved Hollywood couple’s furniture and art were removed, with some sold at auction — although some “old photographs, books and personal belongings” remain, according to the Times.
Woodward still owns a second two-bedroom apartment on the ground floor, used as an office, a gym and guest space — and it’s also available to purchase.
Newman is known for multiple films including “The Color of Money,” which won him an Oscar for best actor, while Woodward won a best actress Oscar for “The Three Faces of Eve.” As philanthropists, they also founded the SeriousFun Children’s Network and Newman’s Own Foundation.
Listing brokers Noble Black and Jennifer Stillman, of Douglas Elliman, declined to comment.