Gianni Versace’s former Baroque-style townhouse in New York City hits the market for $70 million — take a look inside

A 17-room townhouse in New York City formerly owned by Gianni Versace is on the market for $70 million.

Versace bought the house in 1995 for $7.5 million, just two years before his death, per listing records. 

Gianni Versace was an Italian designer who founded his namesake luxury fashion house, Versace, in 1978. Currently run by his sister Donatella, the brand is known for bold prints and its iconic Medusa-inspired logo.

The New York townhouse remained in the possession of the Versace family until 2005, when the current owners, Swedish hedge-fund manager Thomas Sandell and his wife Ximena, purchased the home for $30 million, per property records. 

The couple “have been custodians of this piece of art,” real estate agent Nikki Field told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s going to be purchased by someone who has that same reverence.” 

The Sandells did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.

The townhouse on 64th St. has six floors and includes a rooftop terrace. Its interiors are lavishly decorated in an Italian Baroque style.

The house is on one of the most prestigious residential streets in Manhattan, close to Central Park and overlooking Madison Ave. and Fifth Ave., listing agents Nikki Field and Amanda Field Jordan with Sotheby’s International Realty told Insider.

Even though the neighborhood is known for its high real estate prices, the Versace townhouse is still an outlier on the price scale. According to real estate platform Realtor.com., the median listing home price for a house on the Upper East Side is $1.5 million. The former Versace home is the second most expensive listing in the area, the first being a Fifth Ave. townhouse with a price tag of $80 million.

The house still retains many of Versace’s original designs. Pictured below is one of the living rooms, the ceiling of which features 19th-century panels Versace sourced from a palazzo in Florence.

The first four stories of the townhouse retain Versace’s original designs, which Sandell and his wife carefully restored.

“We pursued extensive restorations and renovations with an incredible team of artists and artisans honoring the magnificent legacy left by Gianni Versace,” the Sandells told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. 

The Sandells redesigned the upper two floors with a more modern aesthetic. They also converted an empty room into an entertainment lounge with a billiards table and pinball machines.

Versace’s dining room walls are inspired by the famous hand-painted wallpaper found in Osterley Park’s Etruscan dressing room.

Osterley Park, a historic mansion-turned-museum in West London, is best known for its unique Neoclassical interiors designed by Robert Adam, a famous 18th-century British architect. Nearly everything in the Osterley Park house has been preserved from when Adam first remodeled it in 1762. 

There are seven bedrooms and seven full bathrooms in the 14,175-square-foot house.

“Some of the furnishings are from Versace, while others were crafted in his style,” the listing agents said.

The opulent bathrooms feature ornate details, including Italian marble floors and intricate gold moldings.

The master bathroom also comes with a marble Jacuzzi, steam shower, and double sinks.

The home office, which doubles as a library, comes with a fireplace.

Source: NikkiField.com

There are two full kitchens in the house. Unlike the rest of the home’s interiors, the kitchens’ designs are minimalistic.

Source: NikkiField.com

The lounge on the highest floor is an entertainment room, with a billiards table and pinball machines.

Source: NikkiField.com

A simple gazebo sits on the roof terrace, offering residents a view of the city skyline.

Source: NikkiField.com

Gianni Versace owned numerous properties prior to his death — including the Miami beachfront mansion where he was killed by serial killer Andrew Cunanan in 1997.

The Miami estate, known as Casa Casuarina, was listed for sale in 2012 for $125 million. It was eventually sold in 2013 for $41.5 million after numerous price cuts, per property listing records. It is now operating as a boutique hotel called The Villa Casa Casuarina.

Versace also had properties in Italy —  including a yellow four-story mansion on Lake Como in Milan called Villa Fontanelle — and a property in Milan called Via dei Giardini Milano. Russian restaurateur Arkady Novikov bought Villa Fontanelle in 2008 for £26 million ($27.4 million), per The Guardian.