In 1929 a NYC-based writer visited a penthouse for sale in Manhattan after hearing these dwellings were all the rage. Originally he believed penthouses were nothing more than "a little shack on a dingy roof," until visiting one himself.
When I stepped off at the 13th floor and into the vacant penthouse, it also was cool as compared to the street. Delightful breezes, which never touch street level, carried the heat away. The roar of heavy traffic below was greatly subdued. So was I, for that matter, when the “little shack” turned out to be a ten-room mansion in the sky. On the roof level were three large, high-ceilinged living rooms, each with fireplace, cavernous closet and French doors to the tiled roof outside. There was a solarium for sunbathing. And on the floor below were three master and four maids’ bedrooms.
The penthouse was in a co-op and he was told by the realtor, "I could let you have it as is for $142,000, not including upkeep... I think you can get a larger one up the avenue, with four rooms more, for $181,000." (This would be about $2-3 million at present day.) A smaller penthouse at the time would have cost around $20,000, and for renters, "$400 to $2,000 a room per year, in a modern building."
Another realtor in the article explained, “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Several of the new penthouses on Fifth Avenue have sold for $300,000 each. Most of these are sold on the plans, before the building is started, and finished to suit. And we can’t finish them fast enough. On the east side alone there are probably 100 under way, on about 65 new apartments. Every building of this type now has from one to four penthouses.”
Penthouses were born in "The Roarin' Twenties," when the economy and construction were booming in the city. One of the earliest penthouses in the city belonged to publisher Conde Nast—his duplex in the sky was located at 1040 Park Avenue. Here's an entire illustrated history of luxury, and penthouse, living in New York—as if you need to feed your real estate envy beast.
