When we were poor graduate students, Steve and I would walk through the West Village on the way back from visiting a friend who tended bar at a popular dive. At night, the brownstones would be all lit up and you could peep inside these million dollar homes. “Who lives here?”, we wondered. “Who can afford a million dollar apartment?” Then we swiped our metrocard and took the long subway ride to the affordable apartments in Northern Manhattan.

Actually, it wasn’t just the brownstones of the West Village that were unthinkable. It was pretty much most of Manhattan. The boxy, modern apartment buildings in Manhattan and the grand, turn of the century buildings by Columbia. The whole island with hundred of thousands of apartments was out of our range and continued to be untouchable, even after we found gainful employment.

Who lives in all those apartments? Who are the super-rich? Doctors and lawyers we can understand. Hedgefund managers, sure. We even know one guy who is living off a trust fund set up by an ancestor who made a fortune in the railroads in 1880’s. But where else does wealth come from?

The Style Section of the New York Times is my little glimpse into the world of the super-rich. Today’s Home Section features a couple who bought the $4 million Brooklyn brownstone from Jenna Lyons. Lyons is the creative director for J. Crew. This brownstone was already featured in tons of magazine articles. The article refers to a personal chef and decorators.

Who can afford a $4m apartment? I skimmed the article looking for clues.  The wife set up Mortuary Museum. OK, that’s the not source of their wealth. She wrote some YA novels. Well, maybe. Then finally at the end, they tell us. The husband was a founding member of Depeche Mode.