[47] The front end, facing 57th Street, contained the apartments' libraries and parlor rooms. Still, imagine how lovely the romantically named Windermere must have been in 1881, when it was one of the first apartment houses on the rapidly developing West Side—home to well-off residents, then “bachelor girls,” and a century later, SRO tenants. In addition, bartizans rise from the 5th and 6th story at each corner of the original facade, supporting the cornice. The Village Voice gave Ephemeral New York's new book a nice thumbs up. [105] A second landmark hearing was held in 1980,[104] followed by a third such hearing in 1985. Blog at WordPress.com. [26][71] In response, tenants collected $500,000 to give to Korein in exchange for the building's ownership. They contain a metal oriel on the left and a sash window on the right, similar to at the base. The front of the building is setback from the street to provide a planted garden and the building also boasts a landscaped rear garden as well as a roof top “Roman Garden”. There is a copper cornice above the 11th story. [22], The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) first considered city-landmark status for the Osborne in 1966 and 1967. According to the St. Petersburg Times, tenants appreciated the building so much that they held parties to celebrate the anniversary of its completion. Ephemeral New York was interviewed in a July 25 piece in The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's blog, Off the Grid. The distinguished building features an attractive two-story masonry base and a red brick facade. [74] The planned replacement tower was canceled the next year after the Osborne Tenants Corporation bought the Osborne and converted it into a cooperative. New York City in 3D in the Gilded Age was referenced in a terrific Feb. 27 Travel section article about the city's Gilded Age past. Thanks to everyone for their support. [34][a], The entrance foyer and lobby form a connected space. 57th street and 8th ave at 8th Avenue & West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019, USA apartments for rent. [20][37] The Tiffany glass in the foyer and lobby, created by Louis Comfort Tiffany,[35][38] was reputed to be Tiffany's first decorating job. By the 1960s, drug users and prostitutes moved in . The remainder of the ground level contains storefronts. [10], The Osborne is part of an artistic hub that developed around the two blocks of West 57th Street from Sixth Avenue west to Broadway during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [29] An entrance porch formerly projected onto 57th Street. But the Windermere? The windows in each story are separated by carved stone spandrel panels. [45][55] Osborne hired Ware to design an apartment building on the site. Live in the center of it all in this pre-war Midtown building just minutes from Nomad, Madison Square Garden, Gramercy Park, and more. [6] The northern portion of the building contains two "light wells". [32], On both 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, there are rectangular windows on the 10th and 11th stories, with a horizontal band course between these floors. Inside the arch opening is a wooden double door with a leaded-glass transom window above it. I’ve lived in seven New York apartments. [63], The building had ultimately cost $2 million to construct, at least part of which covered by loans that John H. Taylor had made to Osborne. “For the convenience of tenants who do not wish to cook in their own apartments, large kitchens are situated in the basement.”. [61][62] The buyer was subsequently revealed to be John Taylor's son John H. Taylor; by then, the senior John Taylor had died. By the 1960s, the Osborne was known as "the residential Carne… [104] The Osborne's co-op board withdrew the building's application for landmark status because of concerns that landmark status would entail additional regulation, given that modifications to city landmarks required LPC approval. The two bays on either side, now the second, third, sixth, and seventh bays, each contain a single round-arched window with a flat keystone above and a decorative stone panel below. [47] The westernmost apartments of each floor, as expanded in 1906, were generally larger than the other units, with seven bedrooms and enlarged reception and dining rooms. [20][48] When completed, the building had four elevators and a heating and power plant. Thanks to Sam Roberts for featuring New York City in 3D in the Gilded Age in his Bookshelf column on Sunday, August 24. [9][4], The Osborne Apartments shares the city block with the American Fine Arts Society (also known as the Art Students League of New York building) and the Central Park Tower to the west, and with the Saint Thomas Choir School to the north. The $2 million construction cost forced Thomas Osborne into foreclosure, leading Taylor's family to acquire the building in 1889. [35], The entrance foyer measures 20 feet (6.1 m) square with a 20-foot ceiling. The second, third, sixth, and seventh bays of this facade each contain two windows per story. In 1985, the Windermere’s owner—who tried to harass the few remaining tenants into leaving—made the Village Voice‘s list of the city’s worst landlords. [52], During the early 19th century, apartment developments in the city were generally associated with the working class, but by the 1870s, apartments were also becoming desirable among the middle and upper classes. [35][71] Walter J. Salmon took a 21-year lease for the Osborne that year. [31] A similar window arrangement appears on the seven southernmost bays facing Seventh Avenue, where the fourth and fifth bays from south are grouped into a single oriel structure. 333 East 57th Street is one of Sutton’s oldest co-ops and was converted in … [38][b], The lobby extends north of the foyer and measures 92 by 14 feet (28.0 by 4.3 m), with a ceiling 15 feet (4.6 m) high. [24], The Osborne Apartments' facade is clad largely with rusticated brownstone blocks,[25][26] while the superstructure is constructed of masonry bearing walls up to 4 feet (1.2 m) deep. [43] Above the wainscot, the walls feature a silver-gilt wall surface,[23] as well as carvings, mosaic tiles, and roundels. Tags: Beautiful Old Apartment Buildings NYC, French Flats NYC, New York in 1881, New York's oldest apartment buildings, Windermere 57th Street, Windermere apartments. The lavish decorations contributed to the massive costs, which turned out to be excessive for Osborne. [20] The original plans included a fireproof structure with four elevators, some iron-and-marble staircases, and the newest electric, plumbing, and heating systems of the time. The payment was roughly double the $250,000 deposit that Korein had paid for the building. [103] The St. Petersburg Times reported in 1988 that the "opulent interior" counterbalanced the "undistinguished exterior". During the 1900s, the bachelor girls began moving out; the neighborhood’s slide into a more working-class enclave meant that tenants in what was now Hell’s Kitchen were now stenographers, chauffeurs, and waiters. [30] A modillioned cornice runs above the 2nd story along 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, except in the fourth and fifth bays along 57th Street. Despite its proximity to Carnegie Hall and West 57th Street's arts hub, the Osborne Apartments did not have any musicians, artists, or authors listed as residents prior to World War II, and only two architects were recorded as living there during that time. [49], The original designs of the apartments were arranged in a specific hierarchy. The 10 oldest surviving apartment buildings in NYC Long before housing options ran the gamut from ground floor studio apartments to and skyrise penthouses, there were only two type of NYC. In addition, there are stained-glass transom panels near the top of each 7th- and 8th-story window opening. It is also near 220 West 57th Street to the southwest; 888 Seventh Avenue and the Rodin Studios to the south; Alwyn Court and the Louis H. Chalif Normal School of Dancing to the east; and 200 and 220 Central Park South to the north. [31] The northernmost Seventh Avenue bay also contains three shorter stories in the double-height base, with two rectangular windows on either mezzanine floor. Make Your Move. Architecture An Exclusive First Look at the Glamorous Interiors of 111 W 57th Street—NYC's Tallest Residential Building The supertall skyscraper at 111 W 57th Street clocks in at over 1,400 feet tall, offering residents of unparalleled views of Central Park and northern Manhattan. The 83-story tower at 45 Broad Street is being developed by Pizzarotti and will rise … 135 East 57th Street (1987) 15 Columbus Circle (1970) 15 William Street (2005) ... Century Apartments (1931) Chanin Building (1929) Chase Manhattan Bank (1961) Chatham Towers (1965) ... New York Central Building (1929) New Yorker Hotel (1930) New York Hilton Hotel (1963) E. Ware to give variety to the immense number of windows in the eleven stories on the street fronts. [37] By the next year, Osborne was still anticipating that he would sell the building upon its completion. “The Gilded Age in New York”. Ephemeral New York in the Sunday NEW YORK POST! [78], Despite its proximity to Carnegie Hall and West 57th Street's arts hub, the Osborne Apartments did not have any musicians, artists, or authors listed as residents prior to World War II, and only two architects were recorded as living there during that time. [19] The annex, completed in 1908,[70] provided additional bedroom space for the westernmost apartments, which were each given seven bedrooms and an expanded reception room. [41] The floors contain mosaics made of small tiles, alternating with Italian marble slabs. [8][9] The site covers 17,572 square feet (1,632.5 m2). [58] Ware designed the facade with rusticated brownstone, because of Osborne's expectation that the facade could attract residents of middle-class brownstone row houses. “The interior is separated into five divisions, which comprise 38 suites of apartments, each containing from seven to nine rooms, and each furnished with a buffet, sideboard, and pier glass,” the New York Times described it. [16][18][19] Ware designed the Osborne similarly to an Italian Renaissance style palazzo. A distinctive, jagged building on 57th St., which looks like a cruise ship and a ski slope, will change the face of the west side. The annex was designed by family member Alfred S. G. Taylor, in conjunction with J. C. Mental Floss magazine named ENY's new book "New York City in 3D in the Gilded Age" one of their 5 favorite reads for August 2014! A decade ago, you would have to go to the New York Public Library in person to view its Milstein Division, which contains a collection of some 54,000 gripping images of New York City … The rent? [6] A small band course runs between the first and second stories. The interior full floor homes have floor to … However, it was popular among the upper middle class, with residents including executives, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and doctors. [5] By the 1960s, the Osborne was known as "the residential Carnegie Hall". [16][17] It was expanded with an annex to the west in 1906, designed by Alfred S. G. Taylor and Julien Clarence Levi. [6] The facade contains stylistic details such as carved stone panels with classical iconography. The rear section, facing north, contains 15 duplex level, though the roof is at the same height as in the rest of the building.