Less than a month after hitting the market, Bill Cosby’s longtime Upper East Side townhouse has already landed a buyer, The Post has learned.
The limestone-clad property at 18 E. 71st St. — listed for $29 million with Corcoran — went into contract on Thursday, Oct. 16, according to StreetEasy records.
The sale price remains under wraps, but the deal marks the latest twist in a turbulent chapter for the disgraced entertainer and his wife, Camille.
Court documents filed earlier this year accused the couple of defaulting on $17.5 million in loans tied to the residence.
The 13,000-square-foot mansion, designed in 1899 by architect John Duncan — the mind behind Grant’s Tomb — stands among the Upper East Side’s grandest Gilded Age holdouts.
Its ornate limestone façade, copper mansard roof, and proximity to Central Park give it an enduring allure, even as its ownership story turned fraught.
Cosby acquired the home in 1987 for $6.2 million during the height of his NBC fame, reportedly as a surprise for his wife.
Then known as the Luyster Mansion, the property exemplifies the stately neo-French Classic style that once dominated Manhattan’s wealthiest streets.
A few doors away sits the former townhouse of Jeffrey Epstein, which sold in 2021 for $51 million — a reminder that even scandal hasn’t dulled the block’s market appeal.
Still, the listing made no mention of Cosby or the financial entanglements surrounding the estate.
According to a Manhattan Supreme Court filing, the couple allegedly stopped making mortgage payments in June 2024 and owe more than $300,000 in property taxes. The lender, First Foundation Bank, initiated foreclosure proceedings last year — claims the Cosbys have denied in court.
Inside, the home reflects its turn-of-the-century grandeur.
A marble-lined vestibule opens into a soaring central hall with 15-foot ceilings. A 500-square-foot parlor features inlaid mahogany floors and one of 11 fireplaces. French doors overlook East 71st Street, while a restored mahogany-and-bronze elevator services multiple levels.
A double-height drawing room showcases herringbone parquet floors and 20-foot ceilings, while the dining room below can host up to 30 guests. The adjoining chef’s kitchen — once part of the former Lycée Français — includes terracotta tile, beveled glass cabinetry and a restaurant-grade rotisserie oven.
Upstairs, the primary suite offers dual bathrooms beneath vaulted skylights. The top floor houses a quiet study and a guest suite with access to a private terrace.
Above it all, a 500-square-foot roof garden provides rare outdoor space in one of Manhattan’s most exclusive enclaves.
Public records trace a complex ownership history: Cosby’s initial purchase was handled through an attorney before being transferred to Camille’s mother and eventually into the couple’s names.
In 1990, the Cosbys accused their former lawyer, Mary Waller, of embezzling funds from that transaction — an early sign of the financial disputes that would follow them for decades.
The East 71st Street mansion isn’t the only property tied to the couple’s mounting debt.
In December, CitiMortgage filed a separate suit alleging default on a $4.2 million loan connected to another townhouse at 243 E. 61st St., which the Cosbys purchased in 1980. That four-story property was listed in April for $7 million and later reduced by roughly $250,000 over the summer as legal battles intensified.
Cosby, now 88, continues to live in the shadow of his 2018 sexual-assault conviction — overturned three years later by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — and the accusations of more than 60 women.
A spokesperson for the Cosbys declined to comment on the sale.
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