A piece of Upper East Side history tied to Bill Cosby has quietly changed hands.
Per The New York Post, the embattled entertainer’s longtime townhouse at 18 East 71st Street, a limestone landmark that dates back to 1899, went into contract this week after less than a month on the market. The listing price was $29 million, but the final sale figure has not been disclosed.
The sale comes after years of legal battles over the property. Court filings accused Cosby and his wife, Camille, of defaulting on $17.5 million in loans connected to the residence, in addition to owing more than $300,000 in property taxes.
The couple disputed those claims, but the dispute escalated into foreclosure proceedings brought by First Foundation Bank.
What sold, however, was not just a home but an artifact of New York City’s Gilded Age. Known as the Luyster Mansion, the property was designed by John H. Duncan, the architect behind Grant’s Tomb and Brooklyn’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch.
Built in 1899, the seven-story structure was one of the era’s defining examples of the neo-French Classic style that once lined Manhattan’s wealthiest blocks.
Spanning more than 13,000 square feet, the townhouse retains its original grandeur. Inside are 11 fireplaces, inlaid mahogany floors, a marble vestibule with 15-foot ceilings, and a restored mahogany-and-bronze elevator.
The formal dining room seats 30, while a double-height drawing room stretches upward with parquet floors and soaring windows. Even the kitchen speaks to the property’s history: terracotta tile, beveled glass cabinetry, and a restaurant-grade rotisserie oven remain from its past life as part of the Lycée Français.
Above the private quarters—where the primary suite holds vaulted skylights and dual bathrooms—the building opens up to a guest suite, study, and rare roof terrace. The 500-square-foot roof garden offers outdoor space that few Upper East Side properties can match.
Cosby bought the mansion in 1987 for $6.2 million at the height of his television fame, reportedly as a surprise for his wife. The ownership trail that followed was complicated.
The deal was first managed through an attorney before being transferred into Camille’s mother’s name and eventually into the couple’s hands. Disputes followed soon after: in 1990, the Cosbys accused that same lawyer of embezzling funds tied to the original purchase.
The townhouse is not the couple’s only Manhattan property to face financial trouble. A second townhouse at 243 East 61st Street, purchased in 1980, was also tied to a multimillion-dollar loan default and put on the market earlier this year.