Product Description

Handsome, superbly illustrated volume provides detailed mini-histories of some of New York’s most luxurious lodgings: the stately Gramercy, the fashionably flamboyant Ansonia, the dramatic Hotel des Artistes, Joseph Pulitzer’s palatial residence, magnificent Park Avenue apartments and many others. 175 illustrations—many from rare and private sources—depict both interiors and exteriors. Introduction. Index.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #251433 in Books
• Published on: 1993-04-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

The luxury apartment house through the decades
Architectural historian Andrew Alpern takes the reader through a survey of luxury apartment buildings on Manhattan Island. There are 34 chapters, of which 28 are descriptions of particular buildings, their histories, and their unique features, each illustrated by one or more large b&w photographs. The book includes four floor plans. Buildings discussed include the Majestic, Century, Ansonia, London Terrace, Beresford, Osborne, and Alwyn Court. There are also six chapters dealing with more general topics: British 'antecedents of American apartments,' famous courtyard buildings, office-to-residence conversions, classic buildings of Fifth Avenue, double-height studios for artists, and changing fashions in floor plans.

There is substantial overlap with Alpern's earlier book, 'New York's Fabulous Luxury Apartments,' although the two books were clearly separately written works. That earlier book is aimed at the reader whose interest is mainly in floor plans, while the reader who is more interested in detailed narrative descriptions might prefer 'Luxury Apartment Houses.'

A MUST FOR NEW YORKERS!
An interesting overview of the design and evolutions of apartment bulidings in NYC, originally published as the very hard to find 'APARTMENTS FOR THE AFFLUENT.' Cretainly good fun for todays real estate conscious New Yorker with photos, floorplans and even original selling prices of NY's tonier buildings.

One doesn't realize just how many great
buildings there are until one reads this essential history of some of the greatest buildings in the city.