Mellon heirs’ townhouse enters contract

The former Lenox Hill home of the late Bunny Mellon, heir to Andrew Mellon and friend of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, has entered contract.

The current owners, Irish businessman Tony White and his wife Claire, purchased the 11,000-square-foot townhouse at 125 East 70th Street for $22.5 million in 2006, according to the New York Observer. The buyer and sale price have not been disclosed, but the property most recently listed for $41 million with Louise Beit of Sotheby’s International Realty, according to the news site.

The sellers sought $46 million when the home first hit the market last year.

The buyer gets an eight-bedroom mansion that includes a wine cellar and elevator. The piece de resistance might be the stone courtyard, which Bunny Mellon, who passed away in March at the age of 103, designed herself. Her hand also guided the layout of the White House Rose Garden, as the Observer notes. [NYO] – Tom DiChristopher