Tag Archives: Emery Roth

480 Park Avenue

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480 Park Avenue is one of those buildings that makes a non-architect wonder: Why is so much decoration put so high, where no one can see it?

Modest decoration appears on the three-story base; but at the 13th floor and above, there’s a proliferation of terra cotta. Garlands, grotesques, medallions, dentil and egg-and-dart moldings, brackets, balustrades, sculpted balconies and wrought-iron railings galore!

This is one of Emery Roth’s lesser-known buildings in New York – he has more than 200 to his credit. It’s still a joy to study, and another reason to look skyward when walking the streets of New York.

480 Park Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 480 Park Avenue at E 58th Street
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 19
  • Style: Renaissance Revival
480 Park Avenue Recommended Reading

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Beresford

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The Beresford is among the most celebrated creations of one of New York’s most celebrated architects, Emery Roth. The building’s 200-foot-square, 22-story mass is highly visible, its three towers permanently etched in the skyline – the view protected by Central Park to the east and the American Museum of Natural History to the south.

Beresford was built just in the nick of time – completed just weeks before the stock market crash. Nonetheless, the Great Depression eventually claimed the grand building, and it was sold at auction in 1940. (See Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan: An Illustrated History for more details.) But Beresford bounced back, becoming a cooperative (1962) and attracting the rich and famous.

The Renaissance-style structure is built around a T-shaped courtyard that opens to the west, providing light and air to interior-facing rooms. There are four entries: Two on W 81st Street, one (the main address) on Central Park West, and a service entrance on W 82nd Street.

Emery Roth’s other major works include the San Remo and Ardsley, also on Central Park West; the Normandy (Riverside Drive), Oliver Cromwell (W 72nd Street), Ritz Tower (W 57th Street) and Hotel Belleclaire (Broadway).

Beresford Vital Statistics
  • Location: 211 Central Park West between W 81st and W 82nd Streets
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 22
  • Style: Renaissance
  • New York City Landmark: 1987
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
Beresford Recommended Reading

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Ardsley

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The Ardsley is one of a handful of Art Deco apartment buildings on Central Park West – and considered by some to be Emery Roth’s finest Art Deco building, even surpassing his Eldorado, one block south. It’s a sharp departure from the styles Roth used in his other famous Central Park West apartment towers: Alden, Beresford, and San Remo.

The Ardsley Vital Statistics
  • Location: 320 Central Park West at W 92nd Street
  • Year completed: 1931
  • Architect: Emery Roth
  • Floors: 22
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 1990
The Ardsley Recommended Reading

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