The residence is replete with stunningly preserved old-world details. Evan Joseph/ Sotheby's International Realty It’s a fashionable home — but the backstory behind its dramatic sale is anything but stylish.
The House of Cassini — a Gilded Age mansion owned by designer Oleg Cassini’s widow and her sister — has finally sold for $34.5 million in a judge-approved bankruptcy sale, according to city records filed this week. Cassini, best known as First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s favorite designer for her signature suits and pillbox hats during the Camelot era, was also linked to some of the world’s most beautiful women — from ex-fiancée Grace Kelly to Marilyn Monroe.
The buyer, as listed in the records, is shielded by an anonymous shell corporation.
The limestone mansion at 15 E. 63rd St. was first asking $65 million in 2024, and the subject of an epic court battle. It sold over the objections of the sellers: Cassini’s widow, Marianne Nestor, a former model who secretly married the dapper designer in 1971, and his sister-in-law, Peggy Nestor.
Both women fought the sale for years — refusing to let brokers, photographers, lawyers and others into the home before they were forcibly, and, they say, “wrongly,” evicted two years ago, according to Business Insider. The outlet reported that there was more than “$30 million owed in foreclosed mortgages and other liens against the property.”
The listing broker, Sami Hassoumi of Brown Harris Stevens, could not be reached for comment.
The sisters bought the 25-foot-wide, 18,000-square-foot mansion in 1984 for an unknown price.
Back then, it had been carved up into seven rental units. The sisters wanted to return the building to its original single-family mansion status. But there was a rent stabilized hold-out: interior designer Thomas Britt, who had moved into a massive 3,000-square-foot triplex in the building in 1971, paying $700 a month. That sum had jumped to $3,025 a month in 2017 — still far below market value.
The home features seven bedrooms, eight full baths, four powder rooms, 14 fireplaces and an elevator. Design details include elaborate crown moldings, millwork, herringbone and white marble floors, wood paneling and magnificent hand carved details. There’s also a marble staircase, floral garlands, arched French windows, three terraces — and Central Park views.
It’s easy to get lost in the spacious, old world-style rooms, which include a wood-paneled library, a gym, a conservatory, a circular dining room and a sitting room with double-height ceilings. The home is topped by a copper mansard roof. Two of the eight stories are below ground.
Cassini kept his atelier there until his death in 2006 at age 92. While the sisters later returned to the home to remove some possessions, many remained.
Bill Roland, co-owner of Roland Auction, told Gimme Shelter exclusively that he purchased “the whole treasure trove of items” from bankruptcy court, adding that his team had a mere 12 days to clean out the house. He is now auctioning what remains in three separate auctions. The first was held on March 28. The second will be held on April 11 and the third on May 2.
“I’m still going through the boxes,” Roland said.
“It’s no small undertaking. His life’s achievements are there — awards, photographs with Grace Kelly, a framed invitation to [JFK’s] inauguration,” Roland said, adding that he will also be auctioning Cassini’s sketchbooks and perfume bottles from his fragrance business, as well as “beautiful paperweights, frames and his library.”
The collection also includes private correspondence between Cassini and people including Kelly and Kennedy, as well as pieces from his personal art collection.
“I’ve barely scratched the surface,” Roland said, adding that he believes he has not heard the last from Marianne Nestor: “I’m not looking for a fight with that woman, but I know I’m going to get one.”
Marianne Nestor owes more than $133 million in civil judgments, according to a 2024 court filing cited by Business Insider — a claim that, the outlet reported, Nestor denies. She was also jailed at least once for six weeks for refusing to comply with court orders. Separately, she fought Cassini’s four children over his $55 million estate, which included other property.
By 2022, Marianne Cassini filed a $350 million lawsuit against Nassau County officials whom she accused of trying to loot the estate through “corrupt” and “illegal” actions, according to The Post’s reports.
The following year, in 2023, Peggy Nestor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Next, in 2024, the sisters listed the home for $65 million and the price has been dropping ever since.
Not many Gilded Age mansions have survived in such pristine conditions. This one was built in 1901 for financier and philanthropist Elias Asiel — and features one of the city’s most architecturally significant limestone facades, with sculptural garlands over the windows.
