Izgrađena 1866. godine, kuća broj 238 uzdiže se na pet katova iznad podruma. Ima približno 4.600 četvornih stopa na parceli veličine 19 × 100 stopa, novouređeno pročelje u tonu vapnenca te obloženo dizalo koje povezuje sve etaže. Njezine je interijere oblikovao stanar iz 1960-ih, Pierre Scapula, pariški dizajner čije su narudžbe uključivale interijere jahti za Stavrosa Niarchosa te njujorške i pariške domove princeze Lee Radziwill. Scapuli možemo zahvaliti francuskom ugođaju koji danas vidimo u kući. Kasnije je kuća postala njujorška rezidencija prvog predstavnika Europske unije pri Ujedinjenim narodima. Danas je obnovljena prema muzejskim standardima, u duhu osamnaestog stoljeća.

Pri ulasku dočekuje vas slijed prostorija obavezan za klasičnu gradsku kuću: predvorje, veliki salon i salon za primanje.

Najprije stižete u prostrani foyer, koji dizalom omogućuje pristup cijeloj kući, a pritom osigurava privatnost ostalih katova. Ovdje je oplata jednostavna, oblikovana prema Stražarskoj dvorani ispred privatnog apartmana Luja XV. u Versaillesu, dok su uzorak mramornog poda, bombé komoda, ogledala i zidne svjetiljke primjereni tom razdoblju. Iz njega se ulazi u garderobu za goste te u zlatni toalet s oniksom, uređen u raskošnom rokoko-stilu.

Zatim se uspinjete širokim stubištem koje nije u potpunosti zatvoreno zidovima i omogućuje vizualnu povezanost donjeg prostora s ogledalima i kristalnim lusterom velikog salona. Ovdje su stropovi visoki dvanaest stopa, kao i oplata u stilu Île-de-France stara tristo godina te kamin, koje je Scapula dopremio iz Francuske. Kamin na drva funkcionalan je. Veliko trumeau-ogledalo sadrži sliku Nicolasa Lancreta (1690.–1742.), a elektrificirani antikni kristalni luster potječe iz rezidencije barunice Albuquerque u zgradi Dakota. Dvokrilna francuska vrata vode na balkon s pogledom na spokoj vrta. Pod od parketa Versailles, antikni namještaj i integrirani zvučni sustav upotpunjuju ovu iznimnu prostoriju.

Uz njega se nalazi salon za primanje, koji je Scapula uredio kao Salle de Glace, odnosno zrcalnu sobu, ponovivši omiljeni stil osamnaestog stoljeća s panelima autentičnih proporcija i profilacijama od zlatnih listića. Ugrađene biblioteke, pozlaćena brončana rasvjetna tijela i veliki pisaći stol omogućuju da se prostor koristi kao ured, knjižnica ili dodatni prostor za primanje gostiju.

Kat iznad nalazi se glavna spavaća soba, obložena francuskim hrastom sa završnom obradom au cappuccine. Uvezeni francuski kamin nadvisuje zidna slika na platnu stara više od stotinu godina, „Izgradnja rimskog foruma“, koju je prvi vlasnik kuće broj 238 donio natrag u New York sa svog medenog mjeseca. Tu su dva garderobna prostora s mogućnošću ulaska, kao i ugrađeni spremišni prostor, a uz sobu se nalazi kupaonica od bijelog carrarskog mramora sa samostojećom kadom dugom šest stopa i dvostrukim umivaonicima.

Na istom katu, s prednje strane zgrade, nalazi se soba za goste, uređena poput male Chambre de Parade, osobito dojmljiva zbog zastora oko kreveta i zidne oplate. Zidovi su obloženi svilom Scalamandré, a soba je namještena u stilu Luja XV. Kupaonica s prozorom, povezana sa spavaćom sobom, završno je obrađena zelenim mramorom i ima veliki, rijedak umivaonik od ljubičastog mramora, dok garderobna kupaonica sadrži ormare i ugrađeni spremišni prostor.

Na katu iznad nalazi se venecijanski uređena spavaća soba s pogledom na vrt, kaminom, trima nagibno-zaokretnim prozorima, garderobom s bijelim umivaonikom te zlatnim armaturama i nogama, garderobnim prostorom s mogućnošću ulaska i kupaonicom obrađenom u pet vrsta mramora. S prednje strane nalazi se apartman za osoblje s dvije sobe i kupaonicom, koji se može odvojiti od ostatka kuće i do njega se može doći dizalom. Čak i ovdje ima brojnih čuda: uzglavlje je visokokvalitetni odljevak od bronce za koji se danas čini da potječe s nadvratne ploče davno srušenog sjevernog pročelja Grand Central Terminala.

Naposljetku, penthouse na petom katu uređen je u stilu modernizma sredine stoljeća, potpuno drukčijem od ostatka kuće…

Built in 1866, Number 238 rises five stories over a cellar. It has approximately 4,600 square feet on a 19 by 100-foot lot, a newly restored limestone-toned facade, and a paneled elevator serving every level. Its interiors were shaped by its 1960s occupant, Pierre Scapula, the Parisian designer whose commissions included yacht interiors for Stavros Niarchos and the New York and Paris homes of Princess Lee Radziwill. Scapula is responsible for the French ambiance we see in the house today. Later, the house became the New York residence of the first European Union Representative to the United Nations. At present it is restored to museum quality standard in the spirit of the eighteenth century.

Upon entering you are greeted by the sequence of rooms mandatory to classic townhouse architecture: Anteroom, Grand Salon and Drawing Room.

First, you arrive at the room-size Foyer, which provides access to the whole house by elevator while assuring privacy to the other floors. Here the paneling is simple, patterned after the Guard Hall outside the Louis XV private suite at Versailles, and the marble flooring pattern, the bombé chest, the mirrors and the sconces are all appropriate to the period. A guest closet and the Gold and Onyx Powder Room, in the flamboyant Rococo style, open off it.

Next, you ascend the wide stairway, which is not fully enclosed by walls and allows a visual connection from the space below to the mirrors and crystal chandelier of the Grand Salon. Here are twelve-foot ceilings and three-hundred-year-old Île-de-France style paneling and a fireplace, both brought from France by Scapula. The woodburning fireplace works. The large mirror trumeau contains a painting by Nicolas Lancret (1690-1742), and the electrified antique crystal chandelier came from the residence of the Baroness Albuquerque in the Dakota. Twin French doors open to a balcony overlooking the tranquility of the garden. Parquet de Versailles flooring, antique furnishing and an integrated sound system complete this exceptional room.

Adjoining is the Drawing Room, styled by Scapula as a Salle de Glace, or mirror room, in which he replicated an eighteenth-century favorite with authentically proportioned panels and gold leaf moldings. Enclosed bookcases, doré bronze lighting fixtures and a large desk allow the space to be used as an office, a library or additional entertaining space.

One floor above is the Primary Suite, paneled in French oak in an au cappuccine finish. The imported French fireplace is topped by a canvas mural more than a hundred years old, "The Construction of the Roman Forum," brought back to New York from his honeymoon by the first owner of 238. There are two walk-in closets and built-in storage, and adjoining is the white Carrara marble bath with a six-foot soaking tub and double sinks.

On the same floor, at the front of the building, is the Guest Room, styled in the manner of a small Chambre de Parade and notable for its bed hangings and paneling. The walls are covered in Scalamandré silk, and the room is furnished in the Louis XV style. The ensuite windowed bath is finished in green marble with a large, rare purple marble vanity sink, and the dressing bath contains closets and built-in storage.

On the floor above is a Venetian decorated bedroom overlooking the garden, with a fireplace, three tilt-and-turn windows, a dressing room with a white vanity sink and gold fixtures and legs, a walk-in closet, and a bathroom finished in five kinds of marble. At the front there is a two-room-and-bath staff suite which can be shut off from the rest of the house and reached by elevator. Even here wonders abound: the headboard is a high-quality bronze casting that now appears to have come from an overdoor panel of the long-demolished north facade of Grand Central Terminal.

At last , the fifth-floor penthouse, done in a mid-century modern style, entirely different from the rest of th