E wuru ya n’afọ 1866, Nọmba 238 na-arị elu okpukpu ise n’elu okpuru ala. O nwere ihe dị ka square feet 4,600 n’otu ala dị mita 19 n’obosara na mita 100 n’ogologo, ihu ụlọ e weghachiri ọhụrụ nke nwere agba yiri nkume limestone, yana igwe mbuli nwere panèl nke na-eje ozi n’ala ọ bụla. Onye biri n’ime ya n’afọ ndị 1960, Pierre Scapula, bụ onye chepụtara ọdịdị ime ya; ọ bụ onye nrụpụta si Paris nke ọrụ ya gụnyere ime ụgbọ mmiri okomoko maka Stavros Niarchos na ime ụlọ obibi Princess Lee Radziwill na New York na Paris. Scapula bụ onye kpatara ọnọdụ French anyị na-ahụ n’ụlọ ahụ taa. Mgbe e mesịrị, ụlọ ahụ ghọrọ ebe obibi New York nke onye nnọchi anya mbụ European Union zitere n’Òtù Mba Ndị Dị n’Otu. Ugbu a, e weghachila ya n’ọkwa ịdị mma kwesịrị ekwesị maka ụlọ ngosi ihe mgbe ochie, n’ụdị narị afọ nke iri na asatọ.

Mgbe ị banyere, usoro ime ụlọ ndị a chọrọ n’ihe owuwu ụlọ townhouse nke oge gboo na-anabata gị: Anteroom, Grand Salon na Drawing Room.

Nke mbụ, ị bịarutere n’Ụlọ Mbata buru ibu hà ka ime ụlọ, nke na-enye ohere ịbanye n’ụlọ ahụ dum site n’igwe mbuli, ebe ọ na-echekwa nzuzo nke ala ndị ọzọ. N’ebe a, panèl ndị ahụ dị mfe ma e mere ha n’ụdị Guard Hall dị n’èzí ụlọ nkeonwe Louis XV dị na Versailles; ụkpụrụ ala marble ahụ, igbe bombé, enyo na oriọna ndị a kpọgidere n’ahụ́ mgbidi niile dabara n’oge ahụ. Ụlọ nchekwa ndị ọbịa na Ụlọ Mposi Gold na Onyx, nke e mere n’ụdị Rococo na-adọrọ mmasị, na-emeghe site n’ebe a.

Mgbe nke ahụ gasịrị, ị na-arịgo steepụ sara mbara, nke mgbidi anaghị emechi kpamkpam, na-eme ka anya nwee njikọ site n’ebe dị n’okpuru ruo n’enyo na chandelier kristal nke Grand Salon. N’ebe a, elu ụlọ dị mita iri na abụọ, yana panèl na ebe ọkụ nke ụdị Île-de-France dị afọ narị atọ, bụ́ ndị Scapula si France bute. Ebe ọkụ a na-eji nkụ arụ ọrụ. Enyo trumeau buru ibu nwere ihe osise Nicolas Lancret (1690–1742), ebe chandelier kristal ochie e tinyere ọkụ eletrik sitere n’ebe obibi Baroness Albuquerque dị na Dakota. Ọnụ ụzọ French abụọ yiri ibe ha na-emeghe gaa na mbara ihu nke na-ele ịdị jụụ nke ogige ahụ anya. Ala parquet de Versailles, arịa ụlọ ochie na usoro ụda e jikọtara n’ime ụlọ ahụ na-eme ka ime ụlọ a pụrụ iche zuo oke.

N’akụkụ ya bụ Drawing Room, nke Scapula haziri ka ọ bụrụ Salle de Glace, ma ọ bụ ụlọ enyo; n’ime ya, o megharịrị ụdị a kacha hụ n’anya na narị afọ nke iri na asatọ, jiri panèl nwere oke ziri ezi na ihe ịchọ mma gold leaf. Akụkụ akwụkwọ ndị e mechiri emechi, ihe ọkụ ọla kọpa doré na tebụl buru ibu na-eme ka e jiri oghere a mee ọfịs, ọbá akwụkwọ ma ọ bụ ebe ntụrụndụ ọzọ.

Otu ala n’elu ya bụ Primary Suite, nke e ji osisi oak French kpuchie n’ụdị au cappuccine. Ebe ọkụ French e bubatara nwere eserese mural a na-ese n’akwa n’elu ya, nke karịrị otu narị afọ, nke a na-akpọ “The Construction of the Roman Forum”; onye nwe mbụ nke Nọmba 238 si njem ezumike alụmdi na nwunye ya bute ya laghachi New York. E nwere kọlọsi abụọ a na-abanye n’ime ha na ebe nchekwa e wuru n’ime mgbidi; n’akụkụ ya kwa bụ ụlọ ịsa ahụ e ji marble Carrara ọcha rụọ, nke nwere tub ịsa ahụ dị mita isii n’ogologo na sink abụọ.

N’otu ala ahụ, n’ihu ụlọ ahụ, bụ Guest Room, nke e mere n’ụdị obere Chambre de Parade ma bụrụkwa nke ama ama n’ihi ákwà ndị a kpọgidere n’elu akwa na panèl ya. E ji silk Scalamandré kpuchie mgbidi ya, ma hazie ime ụlọ ahụ n’ụdị Louis XV. Ụlọ ịsa ahụ dị n’ime ya, nke nwere windo, ji marble akwụkwọ ndụ rụọ, yana sink vanity nke e ji marble purple dị ukwuu ma dị ụkọ mee. Ụlọ ịsa ahụ ejiji nwere kọlọsi na ebe nchekwa e wuru n’ime ya.

N’ala dị n’elu ya bụ ime ụlọ ihi ụra e ji ihe ịchọ mma Venetian chọọ mma, nke na-ele ogige anya; o nwere ebe ọkụ, windo atọ na-atụgharị ma na-emepe, ime ụlọ ejiji nwere sink vanity ọcha na ihe ndozi na ụkwụ ọla edo, kọlọsi a na-abanye n’ime ya, na ụlọ ịsa ahụ e ji ụdị marble ise rụọ. N’ihu ụlọ ahụ, e nwere suite ndị ọrụ nwere ime ụlọ abụọ na ụlọ ịsa ahụ, nke a pụrụ imechi ka ọ kewapụ onwe ya n’akụkụ ndị ọzọ nke ụlọ ahụ, a pụkwara iji igwe mbuli ruo ya. Ọbụna n’ebe a, ihe ịtụnanya juru ebe niile: isi akwa ahụ bụ ihe ọla kọpa a kpụrụ nke ọma, nke ugbu a yiri ka o si na panèl dị n’elu ọnụ ụzọ nke facade ugwu nke Grand Central Terminal, bụ́ nke e bibiri kemgbe, bịa.

N’ikpeazụ, penthouse nke dị n’ala nke ise, nke e mere n’ụdị ọgbara ọhụrụ nke etiti narị afọ, dị iche kpamkpam n’ebe ndị ọzọ nke…

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