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New York Observer

I'll Have The Dakota, Please

By: Lauren Price
Published: 10/24/2014Source: New York Observer

THE DAKOTA: Construction began in 1880 on the first of the grand dames, the Henry J. Hardenbergh-designed Dakota at 1 W. 72nd Street.  It was developed by Edward Clark, a founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and had 65 apartments with four to 20 rooms each. Because the parlors and bedrooms faced the street while others overlooked a central courtyard, there was fresh air from two exposures-a relative novelty at the time. Many homes had 49-foot-long parlors, al all had multiple wood-burning fireplaces. Floors were inlaid with mahogany, oak and cherry with one exception: Mr. Clark's were inlaid with sterling silver-and separate staircases and elevators we used to access apartment kitchens for servants to come and go unnoticed.

Dining rooms had an inlaid marble floor, an enormous wood-burning fireplace and a carved, quartered-oak ceiling, but meals could be transported to apartments by dumbwaiters. The amenities put today's condos to shame, including private croquet lawns and a tennis court behind the building.

The Dakota's most famous resident was John Lennon, who took up residence in 1973 and resided there until he was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman seven years later. Other former residents included Leonard Bernstein, Judy Garland, Judy Holliday, Jose Ferrer, Rosemary Clooney, Lillian Gish, Boris Karloff, Rudolf Nureyev, Gilda Radner and Lauren Bacall.

 

THE DAKOTA. THE ANSONIA. THE SAN REMO. NO MATTER how many designer skyscrapers go up, these landmark addresses-like battered Louis Vuitton steamship trunks-will always carry the weight of status and a whiff of old money that's impossible to reproduce via modern means.

Even as new-old buildings including Ones?, Is Central Park West and 520 Park Avenue currently dilute the prewar market share, the old guard "have provenance that can never be duplicated," said Leonard Steinberg, the president of Urban Compass. "Living in architecturally significant homes with original details is quite special. It's true that there are new developments that offer similar experiences, but there's no substitute for a home with a historic pedigree."

The Ansonia, of course, was Babe Ruth's first New York home after the Boston Red Sox "sold" him to the Yankees. The San Remo has been home to Tony Randall, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Rita Hayworth, Stephen Sondheim, Bono and Glen Close. And who can forget that John Lennon was gunned down in front of his home at the Dakota, on December 8, Ig80?

Appraiser Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, said that the biggest threat to the old guard were new buildings that take their cues from prewar finishes.

"Some experts say new developments are the new prewars," Mr. Miller said, adding that as in any other building, pricing within land marked buildings rise and fall in response to the ups and downs of the economy, but tend to experience less volatility than other buildings.

Getting in is another story entirely. Boards keep the bar almost impossibly high, subjecting aspiring buyers interviews about their private lives as well as their finances. Many boards even require obedience school diplomas and put pooches through their paces by ringing bells or slamming doors.

Once in, there's a list of house rules that extend beyond the usual dos and don'ts. Boards can, for instance, require piano players to soundproof their homes. Gut renovations are also especially challenging since boards can restrict the months, days and hours and even require flow charts monitored by an architectural overseer. If the board only allows for "summertime" makeovers, one can close in September and not so much as pick up a hammer until Memorial Day the following year.

Hassles, to be sure, but where other than buildings like The Osborne can you roam the same halls as Leonard Bernstein when he was humming out West Side Story for the first time?

           

 

THE OSBORNE: Even as glass shards shoot up all along 57th Street, you're not going to find anything like the comparatively squat Osborne (205 W. 57th St.), where Leonard Bernstein lived while writing West Side Story. He sold it to Larry Storch, who In turn flipped it to musician Bobby Short. At the time, the Osborne had the most up-to-minute amenities available, including steam heat, modern plumbing and electricity-along with an all-weather croquet area and a resident florist, doctor and druggist. (It still has one of the most elaborate lobbies on the planet.)

           

 

THE ANSONIA: Owing to its thick walls-designed for fire protection-the Ansonia at 2109 Broadway was the city's most soundproof building, attracting famous musicians including Enrico Caruso, Igor Stravinsky and Arturo Toscanini. Developed by William Earle Dodge Stokes and designed by Garves and Dubay, the building was equipped with luxuries such as electric stoves, hot and cold water, freezers and an early version of central air-conditioning. It also had a total of 1,400 rooms plus ballrooms, tea rooms, writing rooms, a lobby fountain with live seals, and the world's largest indoor pool. Stokes himself also kept a farm on the roof with live chickens, ducks, goats and a small bear. Converted to a condo years ago, there's no pesky board to deal with.

 

           

 

THE SAN DEMO: Construction of New York City's first residential building with two towers began weeks before Black Tuesday in 1929. Designed by Emory Roth with opulent fixtures and finishes, the San Remo, at 145-146 Central Park West, was originally designed with apartments averaging about 3,000 square feet, with some coming in at 4,500 square feet, featuring unusually large park frontage. During the Depression, many of the larger units in the building were subdivided to make them easier to rent, swelling the number of overall homes in the building from 122 to 142. Currently, the building houses 136 homes with more than 2,500 square feet each, and some have terraces. The complex converted to a co-op in the 1970s, but word has it that the board tends to be a bit more lenient than others in its class.

 

$5.95M: A two-bedroom corner home with three exposures (including a peek at the park) on the 15th floor, it has been newly renovated and in triple-mint condition. The entry gallery leads into a grand living room with high ceilings and south facing windows. (Corcoran, Wendy Sarasohn & Jamie Joseph)

 

THE PLAZA HOTEL: The Henry J. Hardenbergh-designed Plaza Hotel at 1 Central Park South opened in 1907 as a 19-story French Renaissance chateau-style building and Mr. and Ms. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt as its first guests. Originally built as a residence for the wealthy, it was rife with marble, vaulted stained glass windows, Irish linens, Swiss organdy curtains and gold-encrusted china-and a total of 1,650 crystal chandeliers. It was also available to rent on a nightly basis, with room rates starting at $2.50. In recent years, the hotel was renovated and restored to create a mix of condos and hotel rooms.

It changed hands several times. Donald Trump purchased the Plaza for $390 million in 1988, but sold it a few years later for $325 million-but not before choosing the ballroom as the venue for his wedding to Marla Maples in 1993. Other celebs tying the knot there include Eddie Murphy and Nicole Mitchell in 1993 and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2000. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright called it home from 1954 to 1959 and the Beatles stayed at the Plaza during their first visit to the U.S. in February 1964. To celebrate the success of In Cold Blood and honor Katherine Graham of The Washington Post, author Truman Capote hosted his legendary (and masked) Black & White Ball in the Grand Ballroom in 1966.

The first time a film used the hotel as one of its main locations was in 1959 for North by Northwest. Before long, the Plaza took center stage in several other films, including Plaza Suite, The Way We Were, Barefoot in the Park, Funny Girl and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

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