Tag Archives: residential

Friends House

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Friends House (originally the B.W. Mayer Building) seems Mayan-inspired in its brickwork, terra cotta snakes and skulls, and turquoise details. The architect, Herman Lee Meader, also designed the Cliff Dwelling apartments on Riverside Drive and the Mayan-inspired 154-160 West 14th Street.

As the B.W. Mayer Building, it was originally offices; then for many years it was a trade school. In 1994 the Quakers purchased the building and restored it, converting the structure to a group residence.

Friends House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 130 E 25th Street at Lexington Avenue
  • Year completed: 1916
  • Architect: Herman Lee Meader
  • Floors: 7
  • Style: Art Deco
Friends House Suggested Reading

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Lafayette Hall

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Lafayette Hall (originally Hallenbeck-Hungerford Building) is an attractive neo-Gothic industrial building built to accommodate heavy equipment such as printing presses. It was converted in 1999 to a residence hall for NYU students. The L-shaped building wraps around the seven-story landmark Ahrens Building.

There are interesting grotesques in the upper stories – including headless characters on the 13th floor. Unlucky for them.

Lafayette Hall Vital Statistics
  • Location: 80 Lafayette Street between Franklin and White Streets
  • Year completed: 1915
  • Architect: William E. Austin
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: Neo-Gothic
Lafayette Hall Suggested Reading

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Armeny Building

Manhattan, , , , , , ,

Nassau and Fulton Streets meet at a busy corner, architecturally speaking: The NYC landmark Fulton Building is on the SW corner; the NYC landmark Bennett Building is on the NW corner; and the Armeny Building is on the SE corner. The Fulton and Armeny buildings were both designed by De Lemos & Cordes, the architects who gave us the Siegel-Cooper Buildings and Macy’s.

If the building looks top-heavy, with an odd transition between the sixth and seventh floors, don’t blame De Lemos & Cordes. In 1893 the owner decided to add two floors, and he hired a different architect for the job. Soon after, pen-maker Gyulo Armeny bought the building.

See the wonderful Daytonian in Manhattan blog for more fascinating history about the building and its tenants.

Today, the ground floor is occupied by a cafe; the upper floors are rental apartments (see the Street Easy listing for details).

Armeny Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 90 Nassau Street at Fulton Street
  • Year completed: 1889
  • Architect: De Lemos & Cordes
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Romanesque
Armeny Building Suggested Reading

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84 William Street

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

84 William Street was originally the headquarters of Royal Insurance Company (before it moved to 150 William Street). Now, it’s a residence hall shared by The New School and Pace University.

The base of the building – three stories now clad in polished black stone – were originally rusticated white marble; the clock over the rounded corner entrance was originally surrounded by ornate terra cotta.

In the photo gallery above, the black & white photos are from bound copies of Architecture (May 1907) in the Princeton University Library, digitized by Google Books. You can get a pdf version here (pdf link at far right on Google Books page). The century-old issues of Architecture are fascinating. The bookplate in this volume says it was donated by Mrs. Michel LeBrun – whose husband was part of the eminent architectural firm Napoleon LeBrun & Sons.

84 William Street Vital Statistics
  • Location: 84 William Street at Maiden Lane
  • Year completed: 1907
  • Architect: Howells & Stokes
  • Floors: 17
  • Style: Classical with English Baroque
84 William Street Suggested Reading

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90 West Street Building

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

The 90 West Street Building is an extraordinary building – for its architecture, and for surviving 9/11.

But to begin at the beginning: The West Street Building was built as an office building for shipping and rail companies – West Street in 1907 was on the Hudson Riverfront. The architect, Cass Gilbert, was a master of the tripartite design commonly used for tall buildings, but the West Street Building was different. Gilbert de-emphasized the base, emphasized the vertical lines of the shaft, and finished with a “Gothic fantasy” capital, including a three-story mansard roof. (Gilbert’s initial plans included a five-story tower at the top.) Where Gilbert’s earlier Broadway Chambers Building used terra cotta ornament in its upper stories, the West Street Building was almost entirely clad in terra cotta. Even the inside of the building used terra cotta, for fireproofing.

The building changed hands in 1923, and was modernized in 1933 – including a new Gilbert-designed lobby. In 1998 the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the West Street Building a landmark. It was still in use as an office building on Sept. 11, 2001, when debris from the South Tower of the World Trade Center rained down on 90 West Street.

The north (Cedar Street) facade was gashed, the roof was destroyed, and eight floors of the building were gutted or heavily damaged by fire. Although the building changed hands several times and was in limbo until 2003, the new owners were able to restore the shell thanks to the terra cotta fireproofing.

The three-year restoration converted the offices to 410 rental apartments. Contractors had to replace 75 percent of the north facade’s granite, and 7,853 pieces of terra cotta. Explore the Suggested Reading links for the full story on the restoration.

90 West Street Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 90 West Street between Albany and Cedar Streets
  • Year completed: 1907
  • Architect: Cass Gilbert
  • Floors: 23
  • Style: Gothic Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 1998
  • National Register of Historic Places: 2007
90 West Street Building Suggested Reading

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Herald Towers

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Built as the Hotel McAlpin in 1912, Herald Towers began life as the world’s largest – and in some respects most innovative – hotel.

Today, the building’s most striking feature is the Beaux Arts crown – seven stories of lavish terra cotta. Two deep light courts face west (Broadway), but the 25-story building is now overshadowed by more recent towers.

The McAlpin’s owners converted the hotel to apartments in 1980, and attempted to go condo in 2005. The condo offering failed, and the building is now rental apartments.

Along the way, the hotel’s spectacular Marine Grill was dismantled. The restaurant was vaulted, like Grand Central Terminal’s Oyster Bar. Preservationists (led by Friends of Terra Cotta President Susan Tunick), rescued the restaurant’s terra cotta murals. Those panels are now on display at the Fulton Street (Broadway/Nassau) subway station. [nycsubway.org photos]

Herald Towers Vital Statistics
  • Location: 50 W 34th Street at Broadway/Sixth Avenue (Herald Square)
  • Year completed: 1912
  • Architect: Frank Mills Andrews
  • Floors: 25
  • Style: Beaux Arts
Other Herald Towers Resources

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Tracey Towers

Bronx, , , , , , ,

Tracey Towers* are the Bronx’s tallest buildings, at 38 and 41 stories. The concrete-block buildings are composed of tubes extended from squarish cores. Each brown-grey story is punctuated by a white concrete floor slab, so the effect is like 400-foot piles of neatly stacked asterisks. The Paul Rudolph-designed apartments were erected as a Mitchell Lama development in 1972.

Though appealing from a distance, the mass of ribbed concrete blocks [photo] seems oppressively somber close up. The term for this architectural style, brutalism, is derived from the French term for raw concrete, béton brut. You’re forgiven if you thought it was derived from brutal.

Oddly enough, the tubes’ interiors are all squared off and window free – unlike the glassed-in tubes of Manhattan’s Corinthian condominiums.

Love them or hate them, Tracey Towers’ design is a huge leap from the typical plain red-brick boxes associated with public or subsidized housing.

In recent years, Tracey Towers has been in the news twice: In 2005, a Chinese Restaurant deliveryman got trapped in an elevator for three days [The New York Times: Three Days Stuck in an Elevator]. In 2012, residents were hit with a 61.5% rent increase [New York Daily News: Record Rent Hike].

* Not to be confused with Tracy Towers on E 24th Street in Manhattan.

Tracey Towers Vital Statistics
  • Location: 20 and 40 W Mosholu Parkway
  • Year completed: 1972
  • Architect: Paul Rudolph
  • Floors: 41 and 38
  • Style: Postmodern / Brutalism
Tracey Towers Suggested Reading

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Trump SoHo

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After unveiling plans on prime time TV (The Apprentice, June 2006), The Donald’s Trump SoHo lurched from one controversy to another. Having survived the gauntlet, the 46-story mirror-glass box now commands the local skyline – almost daring other developers to match it.

Of course anything that wears the Trump name is a lightning rod for criticism, but Columbia University architecture professor Mitchell Joachim is quoted (Wikipedia) calling Trump SoHo “one of the ugliest buildings in New York.” Architectural Record‘s Michael Sorkin stated, “As urbanism, it’s vandalism.” Sorkin sides with Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and others who sued to block the building, claiming it violated zoning restrictions. Trump prevailed, claiming the building was for transients, not permanent residents.

Work was stopped briefly in December 2006 when the excavation unearthed human remains – graves from beneath the former Spring Street Presbyterian Church. Work stopped again in 2008 when a concrete form collapsed, killing a worker.

The condo/hotel’s developers and interior design firm sued and countersued over payment/performance issues, and some condo buyers claimed that they had been tricked into purchasing units.

The architect, Handel Architects, points out that guests will have fabulous views in all directions. “The intent of the building design is to express the internal, dynamic life of the hotel and its relationship to its urban surroundings. The public theater of the hotel public spaces are revealed through clear glass, while the more private functions are concealed behind translucent glass.”

Preservationists point out that 46-story Trump SoHo is blatantly out of scale with a neighborhood of six- to 15-story buildings.

On the other hand, it does provide an interesting kaleidoscopic effect for sky photos.

Trump SoHo Vital Statistics
  • Location: 246 Spring Street at Varick Street
  • Year completed: 2010
  • Architect: Handel Architects
  • Floors: 46
  • Style: Postmodern
Trump SoHo Suggested Reading

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The Wilbraham

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

The Wilbraham is a rare species: a “bachelor apartment hotel,” or “bachelor flats.” In the late 1800s, New York City had an unusually large concentration of single men. Yet bachelors were outcasts, of sorts, in the housing market: They couldn’t afford to live in rowhouses or hotels and were considered awkward in family-oriented apartment buildings (“French flats”) or apartment hotels. Bachelor flats were apartment hotels (each apartment included a suite of rooms with bathroom but no kitchen – a separate dining room served all residents) exclusively for single men.

The Wilbraham was considered among the most fashionable of bachelor flats, with its Fifth Avenue location, elegant architecture and amenities – including an elevator.

By 1929 the building had become a normal apartment hotel – women outnumbered men 15-10 according to the census. In 1934, new owners added kitchens to some of the apartments. Subsequent renovations converted the dining room and penthouse servants quarters to full apartments, as well.

The bottom two floors have always been a store.

The Wilbraham Vital Statistics
  • Location: 284 Fifth Avenue at W 30th Street (also 1 W 30th Street)
  • Year completed: 1890
  • Architect: D. & J. Jardine
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Romanesque Revival
  • New York City Landmark: 2004
The Wilbraham Recommended Reading

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Red House

Manhattan, , , , , , , ,

Red House is a rarity: A building designed by architects for themselves!

The building is a deluxe apartment house – larger, brighter and more elaborate than the “French Flats” designed for middle-class New Yorkers in the late 1800s. Elaborate ornamentation is one of the earmarks of luxury apartments; Harde & Short were particularly adept at the use of terra cotta in their designs (Alwyn Court on Seventh Avenue at 58th Street is a stunning example).

Harde and Short’s other New York buildings include the landmark Alwyn Court Apartments, Studio Building (44 W 77th Street), and 45 E 66th Street.

Red House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 350 West 85th Street between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue
  • Year completed: 1904
  • Architect: Harde & Short
  • Floors: 6
  • Style: French Gothic
  • New York City Landmark: 1982
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1983
Red House Recommended Reading

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