The Apthorp
in New York, United StatesCategory: Attraction
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390 West End Ave, New York, NY 10024, USA Print route »
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The Apthorp is a historic condominium apartment building in Manhattan, New York City. The Italian Renaissance Revival building designed by architects Clinton & Russell for William Waldorf Astor, was built between 1906 and 1908; it occupies the full block between Broadway and West End Avenue and between West 78th and West 79th streets. The building, which has been called "Monumental and magnificent", is built around a large interior courtyard. It was designated a New York City landmark in 1969, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.The building was named for Charles Ward Apthorp, who owned Apthorp Farm, which encompassed about 300 acres (1.2 km2) in this part of Manhattan in the late 18th century.
A three-story rusticated base and the rustication of the broader corner bays as well as string moldings serve together to articulate the otherwise block-like mass. Arch-headed windows contrast with rectangular ones to emphasize lightly certain positions, notably the enriched uppermost floor under the projecting cornice. Over-lifesize limestone sculptures representing the Four Seasons stand above the central barrel-vaulted entrance, where the elaborate wrought-iron gates in the manner of Samuel Yellin feature a pair of gazelle heads.
According to architecture critic Paul Goldberger, writing about the Apthorp and the nearby Belnord and Astor Court,
All of the buildings share the liability of courtyard apartment houses, which is poor light in all too many of the units, but they also share the ability of all good courtyard buildings to create far more than conventional buildings could a sense of a private, secure world.
The building, which is divided into four sections designated A–D and arranged around the central cobblestoned driveway and courtyard, originally had 10 apartments per floor. During the 1930s and 1940s, these were divided into smaller units.
The building was sold in 2006 for $426 million, and a deal was made with an outside partner which provided $95 million for renovations. At the time of the sale, 100 of the 163 rental units were rent stabilized, and rumors held that the building would "go condo. In 2008 the change occurred, and The Apthorp became a condominium. The asking prices, nearly $3,000 a square foot, or an average of $6.5 million per apartment, make it "one of the most expensive condominium conversion projects" ever, according to the New York Times.
Residents have included Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Nora Ephron, Joseph Heller, George Balanchine, Al Pacino, Conan O'Brien, Cyndi Lauper, Rosie O'Donnell, and Steve Kroft.
