For most of my adult life, I have lived in apartment buildings. If you count college dorm rooms, I had lived in an apartment for 35 years before moving into a house. Houses provide space, most importantly walls for hanging art and building bookshelves. They also (sometimes) are surrounded by garden space. Houses also provide isolation, though this feature is less important to me. Apartments, on the other hand, provide convenience (the Superintendent is a phone call away). Apartments also are green and cost-effective—which, I suppose, is the benefit of their "economies of scale."
To my taste, the most "alluring" apartment building in New York is The Dakota. But The Apthorp has always been appealing, too.
The Apthorp—named after the Apthorp Farm which once stood on this spot—was built between 1905 and 1908. It is twelve stories high, built in the Italian Renaissance Revival manner, inspired by the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. The steel superstructure is clad in limestone with "quoins" at each corner (those "zipper-like" stonework details which provide an aesthetic of strength and permanence). The Apthorp fills a full city block on the Upper West Side (between Broadway, West End Avenue, 78th and 79th Streets).
The building is built around a (luxurious) central courtyard—through which residents enter the building. In fact, cars can drive-in through one of the two magnificent portes-cochères. At each of the four corners of the courtyard are four lobbies which serve each of the four quadrants of the building.
The Apthorp was built as an "apartment hotel." With 104 apartments, it was promoted as the largest apartment building in the world. Most apartments had two floors, high ceilings, and quarters for live-in servants. Over the years, some of the larger units have been divided, increasing the number of apartments to 165 (some of which have been re-combined, thus lowering the total number of units). Some, though not all, of the apartments face both the street and the courtyard. In 2010, the building "went condo," allowing renters to purchase their units. As of this writing, there are a handful of units offered for sale at the Apthorp from $1 million to $23.5 million. Rentals range from $5,000 to $39,000 per month. Before signing, be sure to inquire about the monthly maintenance charge!
When we visit the city, we stay in the Hotel Beacon on the Upper West Side. It's well-located—in a residential neighborhood, close to the 72nd Street subway station. The hotel is built over and around the Beacon Theatre—which opened in 1921 as a movie palace. The auditorium seats 2,894, arranged over three levels. There is a Wurlitzer organ in the pit, one of only three such instruments remaining in Manhattan. In 1966, the theatre began staging live events which it continues to do to this day. Some of the acts which have played the Beacon include Sarah Vaughan, Tina Turner, Tracy Chapman, Mariah Carey, Steely Dan, Queen, The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Liza Minelli, and Cirque du Soleil. In 2007, the theatre closed for extensive restoration and upgrades. The renovated theatre re-opened in 2009 with a Paul Simon Concert. It is coincidental that Paul Simon was playing the Beacon on our last night in the hotel.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.