Tag Archives: neo-renaissance

101 Central Park West

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

101 Central Park West is a prestigious address, referred to as a “white glove” cooperative where apartments still include maids’ rooms, elevators still have operators, and price tags are in the millions. It’s plainer than some other famous Central Park West addresses – possibly because it was built during the Great Depression.

101 Central Park West Vital Statistics
  • Location: 101 Central Park West between W 70th & W 71st Streets
  • Year completed: 1930
  • Architect: Schwartz & Gross
  • Floors: 17
  • Style: neo-Renaissance
  • New York City Landmark: 1990 (Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District)
101 Central Park West Recommended Reading

Google Map

502 Park Avenue

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , ,

502 Park Avenue, aka Trump Park Avenue, is now in its fifth incarnation. Built in 1929 as the Viceroy Hotel, it was victim of the stock market crash and quickly became the Cromwell Arms, then Delmonico’s. It has been a hotel, rental apartments, a cooperative, back to hotel, and finally as a condominium.

Donald Trump’s conversion added a seven-story glass box to the top of the north side of the tower, adding floor space at the expense of the building’s appearance.

502 Park Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 502 Park Avenue at E 59th Street
  • Year completed: 1929; condo conversion 2004
  • Architect: Goldner & Goldner; conversion: Costas Kondylis
  • Floors: 32
  • Style: neo-Renaissance
502 Park Avenue Recommended Reading

Google Map

Mayfair House

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mayfair House was designed as a residential hotel by James Carpenter, one of New York’s premier apartment house architects. For a time, the building operated as the Mayfair Regent Hotel.

Colony Capital bought the building at a bankruptcy auction in 1998, and partnered with Trump International to convert the 210 hotel rooms and suites to 70 condominium apartments. At the same time the new owners expanded the ground floor restaurant, and swapped entrances: The restaurant entrance is now on E 65th Street and the residential entrance is on Park Avenue.

Thankfully, no glass boxes were added (as was done four blocks away, at Trump Park Avenue).

Mayfair House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 610 Park Avenue at E 65th Street
  • Year completed: 1925; conversion 1998
  • Architect: James Carpenter; Costas Kondylis & Partners (conversion)
  • Floors: 15
  • Style: neo-Gothic / neo-Renaissance
  • New York City Landmark: 1981 (Upper East Side Historic District)
Mayfair House Recommended Reading

Google Map

Beekman Mansions

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Beekman Mansions is a charming neo-Renaissance cooperative apartment building nestled among diplomatic missions and residences, three blocks north of the United Nations.

The upper floors are rather plain, but the four-story brick-and-stone base is enchanting, with the third-story arcade flanked by pseudo towers. The five Gothic-arched entryways reveal the building’s inventiveness: The center doors lead to a conventional elevator lobby; the flanking doors lead to maisonettes – duplex apartments with private entries from the street. (sample floor plan here)

Van Wart & Wein designed the similarly styled Campanile almost directly behind Beekman Mansions. Set at the end (450) of E 52nd Street, on a bluff overlooking FDR Drive, the 14-story building has unimpeded views of the East River, Roosevelt Island and the 59th Street Bridge.

Beekman Mansions Vital Statistics
  • Location: 439 E 51st Street at Beekman Place
  • Year completed: 1925
  • Architect: Van Wart & Wein
  • Floors: 10
  • Style: neo-Renaissance
Beekman Mansions Recommended Reading

Google Map

Beresford

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

The Beresford is among the most celebrated creations of one of New York’s most celebrated architects, Emery Roth. The building’s 200-foot-square, 22-story mass is highly visible, its three towers permanently etched in the skyline – the view protected by Central Park to the east and the American Museum of Natural History to the south.

Beresford was built just in the nick of time – completed just weeks before the stock market crash. Nonetheless, the Great Depression eventually claimed the grand building, and it was sold at auction in 1940. (See Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan: An Illustrated History for more details.) But Beresford bounced back, becoming a cooperative (1962) and attracting the rich and famous.

The Renaissance-style structure is built around a T-shaped courtyard that opens to the west, providing light and air to interior-facing rooms. There are four entries: Two on W 81st Street, one (the main address) on Central Park West, and a service entrance on W 82nd Street.

Emery Roth’s other major works include the San Remo and Ardsley, also on Central Park West; the Normandy (Riverside Drive), Oliver Cromwell (W 72nd Street), Ritz Tower (W 57th Street) and Hotel Belleclaire (Broadway).

Beresford Vital Statistics
  • Location: 211 Central Park West between W 81st and W 82nd Streets
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 22
  • Style: Renaissance
  • New York City Landmark: 1987
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
Beresford Recommended Reading

Google Map

75 Central Park West

Manhattan, , , , , , , ,

75 Central Park West is a lesser-known work of a master of New York apartment house architecture, Rosario Candela.

This building seems to have reversed the normal progression of older, luxury buildings: Apartments have been combined rather than divided; the original 55 units are now 48.

Over the years, many of the windows have been altered. Originally, all of the windows were pairs of three-over-three double-hung windows. Many of the pairs have been combined and/or changed to casement or fixed windows.

75 Central Park West Vital Statistics
  • Location: 75 Central Park West at W 67th Street
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Rosario Candela
  • Floors: 15
  • Style: neo-Renaissance
  • New York City Landmark: 1990
75 Central Park West Recommended Reading

Google Map