Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo is selling her longtime home—which she decorated herself in a personal, collected style—inside a storied pre-war building.
Linda Fargo well remembers her first impressions of Sutton Place after arriving from Midtown’s bustling core. “It felt unlike anywhere else I’d been in my 40 years in the city,” she recalls. “I had never been there, but as soon as I approached it, I knew Sutton was my place. I felt like I’d left the thrum of New York City and landed on a street in Paris.”
Bergdorf's longtime Fashion and Store Presentation Director carries a well-honed visual acuity, grounded in the classics while keeping apace with the latest trends. In her role, she helped reinvigorate an iconic New York brand, spent years designing its world-famous Fifth Avenue windows, and kept its interiors inviting. She also curates her own pop-up boutique within the store, Linda’s at BG, which showcases an array of her favorite things, all personally selected by Fargo based on their personality and spirit—like sandals with a broken egg for a heel.
Fargo viewed over a hundred listings before falling for unit 10D at 14 Sutton Place South, designed by Rosario Candela in 1929. The Italian-born architect is regarded as a defining force in uptown’s most timeless sensibilities, breaking and resetting the mold for what an apartment building could be. There wasn't a detail Fargo didn't like about 14 Sutton, from its “enduring and proper” materials to its impeccably-mannered staff. She compares the basement to the lower deck of an ocean liner, its shipshape corridors and annually-painted floors underscoring the co-op's top-to-bottom perfection.
10D’s workmanship and layout were an easy sell. “These Candela apartments are all genius,” Fargo remarked. “He always built the most sensible floor plans, with perfectly considered relationships between flow, storage, privacy, and ultimately the most gracious human living experience.”
Moldings accent the space with bygone elegance. The doors are thick, and their hardware pristine. In the living room, the ceilings are over nine feet high, the floors are original herringbone hardwood, and the fireplace is wood-burning. Adjacent is the kitchen, boasting tons of storage, and a charming nook for a table beside a south-facing window. Communal and private areas are deliberately divided; a long gallery hallway leads to a primary bedroom featuring an ensuite bath with a standing shower and dual walk-in closets. The second bedroom also has an ensuite—complete with original c.1929 faucets—and works as a den, as Fargo has utilized it. Perhaps the most livable aspect of the apartment, Fargo claims, is the number of spaces to sit and engage, making its 1,200 square feet feel infinitely larger.
“You have space, you have volume, and you have height,” adds Corcoran agent Doug McCullough, who represents the listing.
Fargo’s decorating approach for the apartment found natural synergy with her work at Bergdorf's, where the Beaux-Arts main floor and iconic rock crystal chandeliers effortlessly juxtapose with global fashion, mid-century Italian furniture, and works by Brooklyn contemporary artists—acting as if these parts were always meant to be together. “Renovating the store was a sensitive thing to do because it truly belongs to the city and our clients, so I felt I had to do something that was very respectful of its history. I feel that way at home,” explains Fargo. “Both have a lot of history that hasn’t been renovated for the sake of being renovated.”
Like at Bergdorf's, Fargo embraces a “collected over time” strategy in her personal habitat, introducing meaningful objects as she finds them rather than taking a more contrived route—a casual direction yielding visually-stunning results.
A TRENDSPOTTEr’s Nest Lists on
A Mott Schmidt
in Manhattan
Doug McCullough
Licensed Associate RE Broker
By JEREMY KLEIN
Bergdorf’s Linda Fargo is selling her longtime home on the East Side—painstakingly decorated by herself—in a storied pre-war cooperative.
By JEREMY KLEIN
A Trendsetter’s Nest Lists on Sutton Place
Sutton Place
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Fargo has made her home at 14 Sutton Place South, designed by noted architect Rosario Candela, since 2006. Photo: Carlos Andres Varela.
Portrait: Caroline Owens.
In decorating 10D, Fargo channeled her background as a found objects artist, curating and re-contextualizing individual pieces from various sources for a cohesive—and objectively stunning—whole.
Fargo believes strongly that a home in New York City should feel like nothing short of an oasis.
“I don’t like renovating when something is already done right. You can achieve a lot of updates just through furniture and decor.”
LINDA FARGO
DOUG MCCULLOUGH, LISTING AGENT
“Once you get east of First, it’s an enclave . . . like those incredible neighborhoods of France, Milan, or Rome.”
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Authentic details in the apartment—like original 1929 bathroom faucets—have been retained and carefully restored, true to Fargo's belief of not replacing what was already done right.
Furnishing the space, Fargo channeled her roots as a found object artist—the kind who might gold-gild tree branches to masquerade as an elaborate metal sculpture. She seamlessly wove elements like wild black coral and tiger-print pillows into her classic Candela canvas. Many pieces were sourced from a vintage shop near her North Fork home, where Fargo is a known regular. “I’m definitely not a white box person,” she comments. “I like things that have more character and layers of age, and I derive great pleasure out of upcycling—recontextualizing things.” The result is a master class in letting personal style shine while also not fixing what isn’t broken.
While Fargo has crafted a space inseparable from herself, a new personal relationship has inspired her move to new beginnings, though she’s not leaving the neighborhood—staying in Sutton was, in fact, a top priority in her home search. She cites Midtown Catch, Ideal Cheese, and the fabled Neary’s as among her unmissable spots, the latter being her favorite place to “duck in for good conversation and some great roast chicken.” This cluster of longstanding independent businesses, many family-owned, is an anchor for the community. “You can count on both hands the number of people here who would go out of their way and lend you a helping hand if you need it,” says Fargo.
Another benefit to living in the Sutton area is its accessibility, whether to other parts of the city or getting out of it entirely. The small enclave—encapsulated on 53rd through 59th streets between First Ave and the East River—is mere minutes from the Upper East Side, Central Park, or anywhere in Midtown, and the FDR Drive allows an easy escape to the Hamptons, Hudson Valley, or Connecticut. A series of riverside “vest-pocket” parks make up Sutton Place Park, and the area will soon fully link to the rest of the island-encircling Manhattan Riverfront Greenway with new green spaces and paths for pedestrians and bicyclists. Most east-west streets end in cul-de-sacs, and some homes have splendid back gardens.
“It all simply reminds me of being in Europe, like those incredible neighborhoods of France, Milan, or Rome,” adds McCullough, who carries a deep understanding and appreciation for the locale. “People are really starting to find Sutton’s true value.”
Branch-like forms—in this case, black coral—are a favorite element of Fargo's, who has used them both in Bergdorf store displays and her home.
Listing images by Carlos Andres Varela Photography.