The New York apartment of the late entrepreneur and former CEO of Dole Food Company, David H. Murdock, has come onto the market for $15 million. This marks its first sale in over four decades. Murdock, who passed away in 2025 at the age of 102, acquired the Fifth Avenue duplex in 1984 and used it as a pied-à-terre for business trips to New York from his Southern California residence.
The two-level cooperative apartment, designed by J.E.R. Carpenter in the style of a Renaissance palazzo, offers the space and separation akin to a traditional town residence.
Features and Layout
Upon entering the apartment, a stone-patterned floor leads to the entrance gallery, connecting the home's main entertaining areas. A red-carpeted staircase rises beside a mirrored wall. Light-coloured stone and brass appliques adorn the remaining walls. To the right, a deep red-painted library room opens up, featuring a wood-burning fireplace positioned between two built-in bookshelves. Along a window, the library extends to a small desk, framed by floor-length orange curtains with street views.
Across the hall is the formal dining room, furnished with a long rectangular table surrounded by black-framed wicker chairs. Beyond it lies another wood-burning fireplace beneath a tall mirror and between glazed china cabinets. The kitchen in the adjacent room is organised around a long central island, with white countertops between upper and lower wooden cabinets. Along one wall, a large Wolf range sits beneath an oversized metal hood, while the refrigerator and sink are integrated into the cabinets at the far end. Beyond the main workspace, the kitchen leads to a wine fridge and a separate breakfast room.
Upper Floor and Private Suites
On the upper floor, the apartment opens into two additional main living spaces before reaching the bedrooms. This begins with the drawing-room at the top of the stairs. Pale yellow paneled walls surround the room, complemented by matching console tables and oval mirrors placed on either side of the fireplace. A row of back-to-back sofas fills the centre of the room, while darker armchairs are positioned closer to the windows. Adjoining the drawing-room is the music room, where a grand piano stands in one corner, facing various chairs and a round card table.
The main suite is located directly opposite the drawing-room and music room. The bedroom features tall windows and a small seating area at the foot of the bed. The en-suite bathroom of the suite opens to dark mirrored walls, serving as a backdrop for the rectangular bathtub next to the entrance. Across the room, the vanity is positioned in front of one of the windows, with a large round mirror above a marble-effect basin.
The second floor also includes two more bedroom suites, each with a distinctly different colour scheme and its own en-suite bathroom. The first suite is painted in dusty rose, with patterned carpets. Two single beds face the floral-draped windows. Its en-suite bathroom features glossy brown wall cabinets framing a floating stone vanity and a large illuminated mirror. The second suite presents a lighter yellow colour palette, with built-in shelving along one wall and patterned curtains framing the window beside the bed. The yellow suite's bathroom combines the same pale yellow walls with a marble-topped vanity and mirrored cabinets.
- —Price: $15 Million
- —Location: Manhattan, New York City
- —Area: 5,600 square feet
- —Bedrooms: 5
- —Bathrooms: 6 full bathrooms, 1 half bathroom
- —Special Features: Central Park views, four wood-burning fireplaces, private entrance, library, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen, breakfast room, wine storage, music room, master suite with office, laundry room, staff entrance, 24-hour building service
Over the past century, the address has attracted numerous notable residents, including Nelson Rockefeller and William Randolph Hearst. With the sale of the apartment by Murdock's estate after his death, the next owner will acquire a residence shaped by both its long ownership and the building's location and history.
