Doyenne of luxury market loves doing things her way.

In the words of Corcoran CEO, Pam Liebman, "Elizabeth Stribling exemplifies class in the residential real estate business."

Indeed, sitting across form this doyenne of the Manhattan industry, one is immediately taken with the poise and grace with which she conducts the interview.

Born in Georgia and raised in New York, Elizabeth Stribling has risen to the highest echelons of both business and society. She has distinguished herself as both a broker and a businesswoman in Manhattan's luxury residential market and is highly regarded as a knowledgeable business and civic leader.

Yet there, in the corner of her eye, is a twinkle that reveals a hint of the passion and excitement that carried her to the top of the most competitive real estate arena in the world.

"I always wanted to be an actress," admits Stribling, who attended Vassar College and completed her graduate studies in humanities and English literature at Girton College, Cambridge.

She said she returned from school in England knowing one thing: "I didn't want to teach and real estate seemed like a glamorous business to me."

A chance meeting at a party soon led her into a world where she recalls, "Tycoons would call up and I was dealing with incredibly successful people. In those days, no-one knew real estate brokers and people would simply answer ads."

Despite offers from larger firms, Stribling took a position as a broker at Whitbread-Nolan, Inc. It was 1967, and the biggest firm in the city at that time was the original Douglas Elliman, which had 25 agents.

"We had 10 agents and couldn't imagine a firm as big as 25," she said, recalling the heady days of negotiating deals directly. "There were no such things as exclusives or co-brokering, you just called up the owner who'd say he had given it to a couple of agents and, if you have someone, bring them along. We cut our listings out every day and Xeroxed them and made all of our corrections with an eraser. In those days you were the go between with the buyer and the seller, you really had to negotiate the deal yourself. There was something very rewarding and thrilling about that direct negotiation."

Her passion for her new-found career was all-consuming. The market was enjoying a peak and Stribling found herself racing between Fifth Avenue and Park, showing homes with price tags of $300,000 plus--staggering for the period.

On May 23, 1979, Stribling sold a home on her way to the hospital to deliver her daughter, Elizabeth Ann Kivlan, now 26 and a broker at Stribling's Chelsea office. "I was on my way to the hospital when the client called me. Although I told her to call a colleague of mine, she said 'No, I want you to give them the asking price, now.' I took it as a compliment--and she got the apartment."

In 1980, with some encouragement from her late husband, William, Stribling decided to open her own firm.

With founding partner Connie Tysen, and seven brokers who left Whitbread-Nolan with her, Stribling opened an office at 924 Madison on one floor, a building she now owns. She also has offices at 340 West 23rd Street in Chelsea and 246 West Broadway in Tribeca.

Although she worked as a broker for a year, Stribling soon realized she had to devote more time to managing her office and supporting her brokers. The company went against the trend at that time of also managing buildings, focusing instead on supporting its selling brokers. It was a decision that paid off for the firm as it built its reputation for moving luxury product.

She said she was fortunate to start her firm on a rising market and, in 1989, Stribling acquired the downtown offices of James N. Wells & Sons, the oldest real estate firm in Manhattan, dating back to 1819.

When the industry faltered in the 90s, Stribling & Associates' already illustrious reputation generated referrals which, she said, kept her company going.

"No-one called on the ads and the Internet didn't exist, so consequently, it was previous deals and good brokerage that kept the firm not only afloat, but doing well."

In the Spring of '94, she expanded her Madison Avenue offices and five years later, founded a separate division, Stribling Marketing Associates, to market new developments and conversions with the same dedication and expertise that her brokerage has been built upon.

Stribling Private Brokerage soon followed, servicing luxury properties selling for over $4 million and providing discrete private banking quality brokerage services to its clients.

Today, the company has some of the most high profile assignments in the city and is currently handling sales at The Plaza, 31 East 28th Street, 148 Waverly Place, 421 West 54th Street "The Hit Factory" among others.

While it's no secret that the firm handles more than its share of celebrity sales, Stribling said, "I think one of the reasons Stribling is a great success is the fact that we don't talk about our clients, whether they're movie stars, socialites or business tycoons. But I think most people would be surprised how many plain, old, ordinary, rich Americans there are out there. How many entrepreneurs, smart doctors who have invested their money, lawyers, financiers, high end buyers, who straight across fill this town with real estate sales."

Stribling has also established affiliations in the South of France, where she and her husband--retired banker, Guy Robinson, whom she married in 1997--also own a home.

Today, her firm employs some 200 brokers, a number Stribling herself seems happy with. "Growing enormously is not where I see the company going," she said. "We are known for luxury, high-end sales. We have created a niche market in the luxury arena--that's what we are known for and what we excel in."

She said she is "sanguine" about the state of today's residential market for two reasons: The good state of New York City and also the continued fact of supply and demand."

"In the mid 70s, when real estate plunged to an all-time low, that was due to the financial condition of New York City, we were in very perilous times--we had no financial rating for the city, it was not an attractive place and, certainly, businesses were floundering and the city was floundering. Consequently, we had an enormous amount of supply of property in the market which brought values down a lot.

"Since the end of the 80s, the city itself has rebounded dramatically. Today, it's an attractive place to live, people aren't fearful about crime, it's a clean city and it's in sound fiscal shape.

"In the late 80s and early 90s, we went into a national financial crisis and we had had a record conversion of what used to be white brick rental buildings into condo apartments, many of which were bought by investors. When times weren't going well, those investors couldn't carry the mortgages and flooded the market with inventory, which caused [prices] to go down.

"Today, we have an enormous lack of supply of large apartments and quality, sought-after listings. That, coupled with continued low mortgages--even if they go up they're not going to the 18% they were in the 70s--we are still at a lower point of supply in a city that's noticeably different from the 80s."

Stribling estimates some 19,000 condo apartments will come to market over the next several years. "These condos are not going to be dumped on the market at the one time so, with such a limited supply, I would think that they will be absorbed."

The increase in owner occupiers has also created a more stable market, according to Stribling. "If it appears that the market is going down, those folks don't move. This, in combination, will stand our real estate market in good stead."

She's also not a proponent of a residential bubble. "Reports indicated that flippers don't exist in any great numbers in New York City where a quick sale isn't economically viable right now. We have got them in Vegas and Florida, but they have widely different price structures than Manhattan and are areas where there has been a lot of speculative real estate."

Stribling, who recently turned 60, still works an unenviable 16 hour day, between both business and philanthropic obligations--she serves on the board of directors for the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Cambridge in America and The Foreign Policy Association.

She joked, "I always thought my work ethic was old fashioned and corny, but I recently read that it had come back into fashion. Work hard and be honest--that's what I tell my brokers.