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On Yorkville's Cumberland Avenue, there's been a steel gate marked "Private residence" since the early 1960s. A strange thing to see on the side of an office tower, but the mystery wasn't explained until last year: This was the entrance, it turns out, to a unique penthouse apartment that may have been designed by the famous American architect Philip Johnson.

The apartment made the news in the spring when a developer, KingStreet Capital Partners, bought the building. The city and preservationists worried over the future of the penthouse, commissioned by the late businessman and philanthropist Noah Torno. Would it be divided up? Or demolished to make way for a taller structure?

Now, as it turns out, the 10,000-square-foot space will have some company in the sky. It's the crown jewel in an 11-unit condo development named for its private address, 155 Cumberland, and the Torno apartment itself can be yours — for just $15-million.

Builder Joe Brennan, who will create the interiors for the suites, says the apartment makes a powerful sales pitch for the building. "It's really of museum or gallery quality," Mr. Brennan says. "You feel like you've entered a serene, public space rather than a private space."

And this isn't just hype. From the private elevator, the penthouse's two-storey lobby makes quite the impression. Finished with travertine marble from floor to ceiling, the 25-foot-high space is a dead ringer for Mr. Johnson's famous Four Seasons restaurant in New York. And a series of grand, high-ceilinged spaces unfold from there, including an expansive living room and terrace with a killer view of the skyline.

According to the project's architect, the new suites, priced from about $4-million, will have the same height and grandeur, and they'll echo the style of the space as well. "We were very keen on reinforcing the existing penthouse and the existing building, so we used architectural details that were sympathetic to the building as it currently is," says Brian Curtner of Quadrangle Architects. "The modernist style, with large windows and large planes, we've attempted to repeat while building new stuff above and below it."

But while the building's stylistic pedigree is part of the sales pitch, Mr. Johnson's name is curiously absent. That's because, as Mr. Curtner admits, nobody's quite sure whether the architect himself actually created it. "We're still debating," he says. "We have different stories on that part of the puzzle. There's no record in his archives that he worked on it, but there are people involved who insist that he did.

This puts an interesting twist on the City of Toronto's heritage designation for the apartment, which claims a Johnson connection. Luckily, this seems to be a moot point; in the developers' view, as Mr. Curtner says, "the building is spectacular." And the architects' job, in adding 10 new apartments of 4,000 to 6,000 square feet, required them to save as much as possible.

Quadrangle created a highly unusual solution: in essence, 10 storeys of luxury condos on top of an office building. The penthouse on the 13th and 14th floors is being sold more or less intact, and the two floors below — previously office space — cut back to hold four residences with terraces. Stacked on top will be an irregular tower of six more storeys, faced in Indiana limestone, containing full-floor condos with balconies. The private entrance used by Mr. Torno and his wife, Rose, will connect exclusively to the residences and a private parking area underground.

The interiors, naturally, will be highly personalized. "For finishes, we're offering different styles," says Mr. Brennan, the builder to Toronto's elite here and in Florida.

"But lots of people like this look," he says, gesturing to the Torno apartment's library. "It's funny that this was done 40 years ago; it is very contemporary, but they put in a parquet de Versailles floor."

Indeed, the apartment has an interesting mix of classical French elements in a very modernist structure. Whether or not it's the work of Mr. Johnson, one of the 20th century's leading tastemakers, it's a fascinating time capsule.

The Tornos were society figures, and the grand public rooms (the 600-square-foot living room is bigger than some condos) suggest they liked to entertain. Elaborate built-ins offer a place for everything, including reel-to-reel tapes (the stereo speakers, built in, are still there). Upstairs are separate en suites: His offers a bathtub lined with travertine, while she gets a shower (and a dressing room with seven double closets). Even the original Moffat stoves (and a very early dishwasher) remain in the kitchen.

No doubt the new owners will want to see a few things updated, and Mr. Brennan is waiting for their input. Once they pay the price of $1,500 a square foot, that is, a figure that Mr. Brennan says is comparable to penthouses a block away in Yorkville. Considering that four of the 11 units sold before real estate firm Chestnut Park officially opened the doors, it seems the Tornos' way of living sends a powerful message. As Mr. Brennan puts it, "It'll be a lucky person to live in this suite."