Bill Cosby Avoids Foreclosure With $28 Million Sale of His New York Townhouse

Disgraced entertainer Bill Cosby has sold his second Manhattan townhouse for $28 million, giving him a huge profit as he faces mounting financial and legal troubles tied to foreclosure proceedings.

The 71st Street property, known as the historic Luyster Mansion, has served as the longtime primary New York residence for Cosby and his wife, Camille, for more than 35 years.

The listing came eight months after reports surfaced that the couple defaulted on a $17.5 million loan taken out against the home, in addition to falling behind on more than $300,000 in property taxes.

Property Highlights

Price: $28 million
Location: Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City
Size: 13,000 square feet
Bedrooms: 7
Bathrooms: 12
Year Built: 1899
Notable Features: Hand-carved limestone façade, seven floors, eleven fireplaces, original mahogany elevator, Carrara marble vestibule, formal dining room for thirty, terra cotta tile kitchen, multiple parlors with marble fireplaces, vaulted skylight hall, private terrace with roof garden, Central Park proximity

Inside Cosby’s 35 Year Home

Completed in 1899 by noted designer John Duncan, the Luyster Mansion is one of the Upper East Side’s last remaining neo-French Classic estates.

Built from hand-carved limestone and crowned with copper mansards, the seven-floor townhouse offers more than 13,000 square feet of Gilded Age craftsmanship as seen in the posts from Realtor.com and Curbed.

A Carrara marble vestibule opens into a grand hall with 15-foot ceilings, mahogany floors, and the first of the home’s eleven fireplaces.

Down the hall, the formal dining room can seat up to thirty guests, while the kitchen, originally designed by Swiss craftsman André Liardet, features terra cotta tile, wainscoting, and a restaurant-grade stove.

Additional upper levels include guest suites, offices, and cedar-lined storage spaces illuminated by vaulted skylights and large southwest-facing windows.

At the very top, the private level holds a study, a guest room, and access to a 500-square-foot roof terrace overlooking the city.

Financial and Legal Context

Cosby purchased the mansion on 71st Street in 1990 for $6.3 million and has used it as his New York base ever since.

According to court filings, First Foundation Bank alleges that the Cosbys ceased loan payments on June 1, 2024, and were formally served with a default notice that November.

The bank’s lawsuit seeks to force a sale of the home to recover the unpaid $17.5 million loan balance, as mentioned in the video from Justin Diamond.

A Gilded Relic Under Pressure

Once a symbol of prestige and permanence, the Luyster Mansion had become emblematic of Bill Cosby’s unraveling financial and personal empire, mirroring the strain seen at his Manhattan property in the Treadwell Farm Historic District.

Yet its recent sale, which closed well above the total amount owed on the property, marks a surprising turn in the narrative.

For years, Cosby’s once-formidable portfolio has been overshadowed by lawsuits, unpaid obligations, and mounting tax issues, with his properties increasingly entangled in legal and financial turbulence.

Now, with the mansion sold at a price that exceeded its outstanding debt, its future shifts away from the threat of foreclosure and toward its next chapter under new ownership.

And while the sale does little to reverse the broader decline of Cosby’s real estate legacy, it ensures that this rare piece of Gilded Age craftsmanship will continue forward as a preserved landmark in the hands of someone new.