The listing photo showing the late hairdresser John Barrett’s dining room with a table from Bergdorf Goodman.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens
The nosy ladies of the Upper East Side may recognize a recently listed two-bedroom apartment at the Parc Vendome in Hell’s Kitchen as belonging to the late hairdresser John Barrett. Barrett, who passed away in August, presided over the penthouse salon and its buzzing social scene at Bergdorf Goodman for nearly 25 years, and styled celebrities from Princess Diana, Martha Stewart, and Hillary Clinton to the attendees of the Met Gala. His styling of his own apartment landed it a feature in Architectural Digest in 2019.
In the 1990s, Barrett was working at Frederic Fekkai’s salon when he got his big break after he cut the hair of Dawn Mello, the president of Bergdorf Goodman, without realizing who she was. Mello happened to be looking for someone to set up shop in the penthouse of Bergdorf at the time (Fekkai was not available), and Barrett got the space. In 2013, Barrett sold his apartment downtown to move to the Parc Vendome condo, which was just down the street from the Bergdorf salon. (Later, he opened his own shop on 57th Street.) According to the Observer, Barrett bought the apartment from the film composer Peter Fish and his wife, Diane Singer, for $1.8 million, which was a discount from the $2.37 million they originally had listed it at in 2008.
The listing photo shows the striking lime-green built-in bookshelves stuffed with coffee-table art books.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens
The bedroom in this listing photo is filled with art and a bed that Barrett once exclusively lined with Leontine Linens.
Photo: Brown Harris Stevens
The apartment, which is listed for $1.9 million by Brown Harris Stevens, looks much the same as it has since Barrett took it over with built-in lime-green bookshelves in a library nook and art covering all of the walls. Multiple pieces have stories behind them — the grand piano came from Tavern on the Green and the Indonesian wood dining table that can seat ten came from the seventh floor of Bergdorf Goodman. (The table likely isn’t going anywhere — “I had to bribe the movers with a lot of money because it wouldn’t fit in the elevator and is so heavy that it’s never leaving this apartment!” Barrett told Architectural Digest at the time.)
Barrett often hosted dinner parties in his home and told AD that Angelica Huston and Vanessa Redgrave had “heated” discussions on his bed. (About what, Barrett did not say.) Apparently Barrett managed to host as many as 50 to 100 of his friends in the 1,658-square-foot apartment. The open-plan main space, at 30 feet long, and the nearly 20-foot-long private terrace do look ideal for entertaining. Just make sure to get your hair done before you do.
