Alicia Keys Snags Lenny Kravitz's Former Pad

Take a tour of the Manhattan penthouse that Lenny Kravitz is selling to superstar Alicia Keys.


Not only does Grammy winning singer Alicia Keys have a new fiancée and a gigantic new 7-carat diamond sparkler on her piano playing fourth finger, word on the real estate street is that she and music producer fiancée Swizz Beatz are also buying a new, multi-million dollar duplex penthouse in downtown Manhattan.

And guess who they're buying from? Rocker Lenny Kravtiz.



8 Years and a Slew of Celebrities
Selling his white elephant has been a little like Mister Toad's Wild Real Estate Ride for the musician turned actor who first listed his Crosby Street penthouse eight long years ago.

There were several price chops that took the asking price as low as $12,500,000 and a few price increases that saw the asking soar to an utterly optimistic $19,500,000.

During those eight years, former building resident Courtney Love irked her neighbors and a couple of famous folks took up temporary residence in Kravitz's sexed-up penthouse, including his ex-lady-pal Nicole Kidman and Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington. From Brown Shag to White Walls
After being ripped form the market in early 2009, Kravitz's Miami-based and eponymous design firm performed a decorating magic trick. They transformed the 5,818-square-foot penthouse from a brown shag rug extravaganza with a gigantic mural of his mother – actress Roxy Roker of "The Jeffersons" – into an open, airy loft-style aerie with gleaming white walls and acres of white and gray veined Carrara marble.

The newly rehabbed residence was given a new (and final) asking price of $14.9 million. Since the Kravtiz/Keys deal has not closed, it's unknown what Keys and Beatz have agreed to pay for the party-friendly penthouse.



Oodles of Bathrooms
The elevator opens directly into the penthouse's super spacious entrance hall where a suspended glass staircase ascends into a 30-foot high glass enclosed atrium space and the second floor bedrooms. Altogether, there are 4 bedrooms and 4 full and 4 half bathrooms including his and her powder rooms off the entrance hall. Thankfully, Kravitz's party guests never had to suffer the discomfort or indignity of waiting on line with a full bladder of booze.

The massive master suite has a wall of windows that open to a balcony, another wall of windows that looks into the penthouse's atrium space, several closets plus a bedroom-sized walk-through dressing room and a sybarite's paradise of a bathroom with twin vanities, a spa tub and his and her water closets that flank a shower built for two or more.



Party-sized Living Room
The dark wood floors in the entrance gallery extend into the leviathan living room that Kravitz's design team furnished with a huge rough wood coffee table, a couple of black suede sofas and – no doubt much to the chagrin of the peeps at PETA – a fur throw blanket or two. A long wall of floor to ceiling windows opens to a large terrace overlooking the building tops of SoHo.


Eat Under the Stars
The formal dining room not only has a wall of windows with mesmerizing city views but a high, sloping all-glass ceiling, perfect for gazing at the stars while the superstar penthouse owner and their famous guests graze at the dinner table.


A Cook's Kitchen
The well-equipped cook's kitchen has glossy white cabinetry, Carrara marble counter tops, dark wood floors, a walk in pantry, access to a slim terrace for the barbecue and a half bathroom for the cooking staff.



Media Room Moxie
Kravitz left the previous interior decorating scheme's deep dark brown shag carpeting in the media room, located directly off the living room. It remains to be seen how Miss Keys will do up the room, but Kravtiz's design team placed a plasma television set on the wall opposite a gigantic brown leather sectional sofa that will easily accommodate 8 or 9 of Miss Keys' friends for a private viewing of "Precious," Kravtiz's silver screen debut.


Outdoor Living
The penthouse's death-defying glass staircase continues up from the second floor to a 2,000+-square-foot roof terrace with 360-degree views of lower Manhattan. The sprawling and enviable outdoor space is equipped with a full barbecue center/kitchen for easy-peasy outdoor entertaining.