Former Muppet house sells for $28M

The Lenox Hill mansion at 117-119 East 69th Street that was once owned by Muppet creator Jim Henson sold for $28.5 million. The 12,000-square-foot townhouse went into contract on June 23 and the sale closed on September 25, according to city records published today. The buyers’ identity was concealed by a limited liability company. The sellers are Bank of America global head of investment banking Brian Brille, and wife, Leslie Simmons Brille, according to the New York Observer. They were asking $32 million for the property in April. They paid $12.4 million in May 2005 for the neo-Georgian mansion. Henson’s company bought the property for $600,000 in 1977, and his children and heirs sold the building to the Brilles in 2005, property records show.