...wrought-iron grilles that echo the stylized motifs in the lobby to conceal modern...
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THE VENDOME PRESS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE T here’s a parlor game that sophisticated New Yorkers have been playing since the Gilded Age: What are the city’s best apartment buildings? Before the turn of the twentieth century, the Dakota was an obvious answer; by the s the list had grown to include McKim, Mead & White’s Renaissance-style Fifth Avenue and Starrett & Van Vleck’s ultra-soigné Fifth Avenue. e Roaring Twenties witnessed the construction of some of the most luxurious apartment buildings ever designed: Rosario Candela’s extraordinary One Sutton Place South, , , and Park Avenue, and and Fifth Avenue; Emery Roth’s monumental Beresford; and William Lawrence Bottomley’s Art Deco-inspired River House. Now, more than years after the Dakota’s cornerstone was laid, the New York skyline features numerous new palatial residential buildings, including Richard Meier’s glass-walled Perry Street towers, Robert A. M. Stern’s Central Park West, and Rafael Viñoly’s Park Avenue, the city’s tallest apartment building to date. In a new book, Life at the Top: New York’s Most Exceptional Apartment Buildings, Kirk Henckels and Anne Walker, real estate and architectural insiders, chronicle the fortunes and features of fteen outstanding apartment houses, bringing them to life with evocative vintage photos of exterior and interior architectural details, as well as photographs of chic New Yorkers at home in their elegant abodes by the likes of Beaton and Horst. Accompanied by Michel Arnaud’s expressive photographs and newly commissioned oor plans, Henckels and Walker tour some of the most beautiful apartments in these buildings as they look today, designed Life at the Top NEW YORK’S MOST EXCEPTIONAL APARTMENT BUILDINGS by Kirk Henckels and Anne Walker • Photography by Michel Arnaud I D, CP West, that signaled the beginning of luxury apartment living in New York. Built by Singer Manufacturing Company tycoon Edward C. Clark in the early s, it was constructed at a time when the Upper West Side was a relative no-man’s-land: remote, inaccessible, and undeveloped. When completed in , the Dakota occupied one of the highest points in the city—the West Side plateau. As its surroundings were entirely open, the apartments had expan- sive views of the entire island, from the Hudson to the East River, and the building was visible for all New Yorkers traveling up and down Manhattan. “Probably not one stranger out of fty who ride over the elevated roads or on either of the rivers does not ask the same of the stately building which stands west of Central Park, between seventy-second and seventy-third streets,” the Daily Graphic proclaimed.Indeed, the Dakota represented something entirely new, especially in an area still rife with shanties and barren, unleveled elds. e Ninth Avenue (now Columbus Avenue) ele- vated railway, established in , connected the Upper West Side to lower Manhattan, and the new American Museum of Natural History had opened on Central Park West in , but still the area was slow to develop because of its challenging and rocky topography. But, its pioneering location notwithstanding, the Dakota was remarkable: “the largest, most substantial and most conveniently arranged apartment house of the sort in the country.”At a time when small apartment buildings were just debuting, the Dakota’s developer, Edward Clark (–), was something of a visionary. A classically trained lawyer, he became associated with Isaac Merritt Singer, a rough-around-the-edges inventor who was seeking legal advice. With a keen business sense, Clark parlayed this connection into half ownership of Singer’s rm, the Singer Manufacturing Company, and built the business up to such a degree that Singer sewing machines became a household name. Clark accumulated a fortune and in the mid-s began to diversify his interests. Focusing on New York real estate, he bought a number of blocks in the West s, s, and s in the hope that “a new era in building [was] about to commence, in which intelligent combined eort will produce novel and splendid results.” He felt that the West Side “should be built so as to accommodate a great number of families, some Wood Ducks, , by Arthur Nahl hangs above a Kimbel and Cabus ebonized cabinet decorated with Minton tiles and ceramics by Christopher Dresser. The Dakota
Transcript of ...wrought-iron grilles that echo the stylized motifs in the lobby to conceal modern...
T H E V E N D O M E P R E S S F O R I M M E D I A T E R E L E A S E
There’s a parlor game that sophisticated New Yorkers have been playing since the Gilded Age: What are the city’s best apartment buildings? Before the turn of the twentieth century, the Dakota
was an obvious answer; by the 1920s the list had grown to include McKim, Mead & White’s Renaissance-style 998 Fifth Avenue and Starrett & Van Vleck’s ultra-soigné 820 Fifth Avenue. &e Roaring Twenties witnessed the construction of some of the most luxurious apartment buildings ever designed: Rosario Candela’s extraordinary One Sutton Place South, 720, 740, and 778 Park Avenue, and 960 and 834 Fifth Avenue; Emery Roth’s monumental Beresford; and William Lawrence Bottomley’s Art Deco-inspired River House. Now, more than 130 years after the Dakota’s cornerstone was laid, the New York skyline features numerous new palatial residential buildings, including Richard Meier’s glass-walled Perry Street towers, Robert A. M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West, and Rafael Viñoly’s 432 Park Avenue, the city’s tallest apartment building to date.
In a new book, Life at the Top: New York’s Most Exceptional Apartment Buildings, Kirk Henckels and Anne Walker, real estate and architectural insiders, chronicle the fortunes and features of ,fteen outstanding apartment houses, bringing them to life with evocative vintage photos of exterior and interior architectural details, as well as photographs of chic New Yorkers at home in their elegant abodes by the likes of Beaton and Horst. Accompanied by Michel Arnaud’s expressive photographs and newly commissioned -oor plans, Henckels and Walker tour some of the most beautiful apartments in these buildings as they look today, designed
Life at the TopN E W YO R K ’S M O S T E X C E P T I O N A L A PA R TM E N T B U I L D I N G S
by Kirk Henckels and Anne Walker • Photography by Michel Arnaud
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It was the Dakota, that staunchly picturesque apartment house on Central Park West, that signaled the beginning of luxury apartment living in New York. Built by Singer Manufacturing Company tycoon Edward C. Clark in the early 1880s, it was constructed at a time when the Upper West Side was a relative no-man’s-land: remote, inaccessible, and undeveloped. When completed in 1884, the Dakota occupied one of the highest points in
the city—the West Side plateau. As its surroundings were entirely open, the apartments had expan-sive views of the entire island, from the Hudson to the East River, and the building was visible for all New Yorkers traveling up and down Manhattan. “Probably not one stranger out of 8fty who ride over the elevated roads or on either of the rivers does not ask the same of the stately building which stands west of Central Park, between seventy-second and seventy-third streets,” the Daily Graphic proclaimed.1 Indeed, the Dakota represented something entirely new, especially in an area still rife with shanties and barren, unleveled 8elds. :e Ninth Avenue (now Columbus Avenue) ele-vated railway, established in 1879, connected the Upper West Side to lower Manhattan, and the new American Museum of Natural History had opened on Central Park West in 1877, but still the area was slow to develop because of its challenging and rocky topography. But, its pioneering location notwithstanding, the Dakota was remarkable: “the largest, most substantial and most conveniently arranged apartment house of the sort in the country.” 2
At a time when small apartment buildings were just debuting, the Dakota’s developer, Edward Clark (1811–1882), was something of a visionary. A classically trained lawyer, he became associated with Isaac Merritt Singer, a rough-around-the-edges inventor who was seeking legal advice. With a keen business sense, Clark parlayed this connection into half ownership of Singer’s 8rm, the Singer Manufacturing Company, and built the business up to such a degree that Singer sewing machines
became a household name. Clark accumulated a fortune and in the mid-1870s began to diversify his interests. Focusing on New York real estate, he bought a number of blocks in the West 50s, 70s, and 80s in the hope that “a new era in building [was] about to commence, in which intelligent combined e?ort will produce novel and splendid results.” He felt that the West Side “should be built so as to accommodate a great number of families, some
opposite Wood Ducks, 1880, by Arthur Nahl hangs above a Kimbel and Cabus ebonized cabinet decorated with Minton tiles and ceramics by Christopher Dresser.
The Dakota
by the talented hands of Henri Samuel, Robert Couturier, Piet Boon, Michael S. Smith, Nathalie and Virginie Droulers, George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, William So,eld, &omas Jayne, Charles Pavarini, Joe Nahem, Bunny Williams, Cullman & Kravis, Delphine Krako., Katie Ridder, Tom Scheerer, and others.
From River House’s lawn overlooking the East River to 834 Fifth Avenue’s unrivaled view of Central Park, this is an insider’s look at life at the top.
Life at the Top: New York’s Most Exceptional Apartment Buildingsby Kirk Henckels and Anne WalkerPhotograpy by Michel ArnaudHardcover with jacketMore than 300 color and black-and-white illustrations15 specially commissioned -oor plans320 pages, 9¼ × 12 inchesISBN 978-0-86565-340-5US $75; CAN $95November 2017
Contact: Meghan [email protected]
Please send tear sheets to: Meghan Phillips181 State StreetSuite 304Portland, ME 04101 [email protected]
A B O U T T H E AU T H O R S
KIRK HENCKELS is vice chairman of Stribling & Associates, the distin-guished residential brokerage, and author of the authoritative Stribling Luxury Report, devoted to New York residential real estate trends.
ANNE WALKER is the coauthor (with Peter Pennoyer) of ,ve architectural monographs, including Peter Pennoyer Architects (Vendome) and the recently published New York Transformed: !e Architecture of Cross & Cross (Monacelli).
MICHEL ARNAUD’s photography has appeared in the world’s best publi-cations, including Architectural Digest, Town & Country, House Beautiful, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue. His most recent books are Made to Measure: Meyer Davis Architecture and Interiors (Vendome) and Detroit: !e Dream Is Now (Abrams).
R I V E R H O U S E !!"!!# R I V E R H O U S E
A MER I C A N A RT D ECO
$is storied and glamorous triplex exudes the style and panache that infuses much of Bottomley’s %"&'s design for the building. Once the apartment of the architect and his wife, Harriet, the rooms retain many of their exquisite original details, including his stylized stair railing, moldings, and pan-eling. $e fact that architect I. M. Pei’s wedding took place in the living room in %"(! only adds to the apartment’s luster—the Bottomleys o)ered the space to Pei’s *ancée, Eileen Loo, a friend of their daughter’s. In more recent years, William So*eld of Studio So*eld overhauled the suite, hon-oring Bottomley’s design but also injecting that extra oomph to give the rooms a sumptuousness that exceeds its previous incarnation. Staying true to the Art Deco style of the building, he introduced new wrought-iron grilles that echo the stylized motifs in the lobby to conceal modern air-conditioning vents. And, to give the décor a cosmopolitan edge harking back to the sophisticated splendor of New York in the %"!'s, he covered walls in lacquer, embossed leather, mirrors, and hand-painted paper. Mid-century furniture from Maison Jansen, James Mont, and the like comingle with custom So*eld pieces in a succession of comfortable yet incredibly chic interiors with prime views of the East River.
+,,+-./0 Floor plan. $e duplex tower apartments at River House enjoy views in all four directions. In addition to the requisite entertaining rooms—including a loggia—they have an ample kitchen wing and seven bedrooms upstairs.
102+3 An elegant curved stair spans the three 4oors of the apartment. So*eld restored and extended Bottomley’s stair rail. $e stair runner was woven as one continuous piece on an antique tapestry loom.
+5062078 In the living room, the original paneling was conserved and re*nished with an ivory waxed paint. Furnishings include an armchair and sofa by Maison Jansen and antique Japanese pieces, as well as a pair of vintage bergères by Paul Follot upholstered in a hand-woven silk. Lucien Freud’s etching Pluto Aged !" rests on the mantel.
MAID’SROOM9' ! 11'6"
MAID’SROOM
10'1" ! 8'3"
MAID’SROOM
7'1" ! 3'4"MAID’SROOM11'1" ! 8'
MAID’SROOM
11'1" ! 8'5"
DRESSINGROOM
10'6" ! 8'9"
KITCHEN12'4" ! 14'4"
PANTRY
DININGROOM
27'4" ! 17'8"DRAWING ROOM
19' ! 38'LOGGIA19'4" ! 8'4"
FOYER15'8" ! 16'
SERVANT’SHALL
13'3" ! 10'10"
CHAMBER22' ! 19'2"
CHAMBER17'9" ! 18'9"
CHAMBER16'8" ! 17'
BOUDOIR18'9" ! 15'3"
CHAMBER13'9" ! 19'
CHAMBER13' ! 17'3"
CHAMBER13'3" ! 18'4"
LIBRARY17' ! 16'9"
CLCL
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CL CL
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CLCLCLCL
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DOWN
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HALL
RIVER VIEW
RIVER VIEW
LOWER FLOOR
UPPER FLOOR
RIVE
R VI
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PASS.ELEV.
SERVICEELEV.
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SERVICEELEV.
UP
T H E B E R E S F O R D 153
opposite A Venini chandelier hangs from the center of the vaulted ceiling in the tower room, which is primarily furnished with white- and brown-upholstered pieces. A vintage Tobia Scarpa cocktail table sits between a pair of George Smith sofas. *e arched window echoes the shape of the ceiling.
above An abstract painting by Friedel Dzubas adds rich color to the room.
overleaf A new stair connecting the 2rst three 3oors of the apartment gave a sense of continuity to the apartment when it was redesigned in 2007.
