Lefcourt Colonial Building was among the last buildings developed by Abraham Lefcourt, one of New York’s “rags to riches to rags” stories.
Now known as 295 Madison Avenue, the 45-story Neo-Gothic tower is an architectural landmark without the official title. The distinctive blue terra cotta medallions and gilded finials are visible from most of midtown. The street level retail space and lobby have been thoroughly modernized, but above that, the six-story base is richly decorated with terra cotta, false balustrades and layered brickwork.
Lefcourt Colonial was auctioned off in foreclosure just two years after it was completed, as the Great Depression demolished Abraham Lefcourt’s real estate and banking empire. And the day after the Lefcourt Colonial was sold – for $3.5 million – the Sevilla Towers faced the same fate. Sevilla Towers was the Lefcourt-built apartment hotel, completed but not yet opened, now known as the Essex House.
Lefcourt Colonial has something in common with the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and Statue of Liberty: You can buy a cast replica of the structure!
Lefcourt Colonial Building Vital Statistics
- Location: 295 Madison Avenue at E 41st Street
- Year completed: 1930
- Architect: Charles F. Moyer Co., Bark & Djorup
- Floors: 45
- Style: Neo-Gothic
Lefcourt Colonial Building Recommended Reading
- NewYorkitecture: Lefcourt Buildings
- Wikipedia entry
- The New York Times Buildings With Bows (October 23, 2005)
- The New York Times Streetscapes | Madison Avenue, from 38th to 41st Street | When Office Casual Was Unthinkable (February 6, 2009)
- The New York Times THIRTY-ONE COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS ERECTED BY A.E. LEFCOURT IN TWO DECADES (May 18, 1930)
- The New York Times SKYSCRAPER SOLD ON $3,500,000 BID; Plaintiffs in Foreclosure Action Get Lefcourt-Colonial Building on Madison Avenue (February 7, 1931)
- Emporis database
- Replica Buildings: Lefcourt Colonial