River House (New York City)

The River House was constructed in 1931 on the site of a former cigar factory.[3] Originally, the building featured a pier where residents could dock their yachts, but that amenity was lost with the construction of the FDR Drive.[3] The building has a gated cobblestone courtyard featuring a fountain.[3] The building's 26 story tower is decorated in an Art Deco style.[4]

Historically, the co-op board was notorious for turning away applicants who failed to meet strict liquidity requirements or those whose "comings and goings would attract unwelcome publicity to the River House".[3] Famously, Gloria Vanderbilt was rejected by the board in 1980.[3] She accused the board of racism (she was in a relationship with African-American singer Bobby Short), while the board claimed she had been rejected on her merits.[5] Other celebrities alleged to have been rejected by the board include Richard Nixon, Diane Keaton, Joan Crawford[3][5] and, in 2014, the French Ambassador to the United Nations.[6][7]

Parts of the lower levels of the building are leased to the River Club, a private club that counts slightly more than half of the building's shareholders among its 900 or so members.[3][4] As of 2013 the members, who include David H. Koch and Aerin Lauder, pay approximately $10,000 in annual membership fees.[3] The club includes a restaurant, an indoor pool and tennis courts.[3]

After several years of negotiations where the club attempted to negotiate the purchase of its space, the co-op board listed the club's space for sale as a private residence.[4] Featuring approximately 62,000 square feet (5,800 m²), five floors and a private entrance, the board set an asking price of $130 million.[4] If the asking price is met, it would be Manhattan's most expensive residence.[4]

• Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, businessman, film producer, philanthropist, polo player, and government official, owner thoroughbred racehorses.[8]
• Edwin Howard Armstrong, inventor of FM radio[2]
• Helen Bonfils and George Somnes, Broadway producers[9]
• Catherine "Deeda" (Gerlach) Blair, wife of ambassador William McCormick Blair, Jr.[3]
• Donald M. Blinken, ambassador[3]
• Philip Bobbitt, author, academic[10]
• Barbara Taylor Bradford, author[3]
• Henry Kissinger, United States Secretary of State[3]
• Joshua Logan, writer and director[5]
• Alexandra Penney, author and magazine editor[3]
• Holly Peterson, author[3]
• Peter George Peterson, businessman and United States Secretary of Commerce[3]
• Kermit Roosevelt, explorer and son of Theodore Roosevelt[3]
• Robert Rosenkranz
• Uma Thurman, actress[3]
• Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, businessman[11]