There are very few buildings with highly decorative facades in New York and this modest, midblock apartment house is one of the best.

(Some of the others are the famous Alwyn Court apartment building on the southeast corner of 58th Street and the Avenue of the Americas with its terracotta salamanders, or the Pythian apartment building on 70th Street east of Broadway with its Egyptian motifs.)

This red-brick apartment house has a fabulous, three-story-high decorative and very colorful element in glazed terracotta surrounding its entrance across from Riverside Park. The very delicate and ornate terracotta decoration occupies the center portion of the facade on Riverside Drive and is repeated, minus the entrance door, of course, on the facade near the top of the building.

The entrance, which has no canopy, leads to a small vestibule with coffered ceiling and a small step-up lobby.

The building, which does not have a doorman, was erected in 1925 and converted to a cooperative in 1984. The 17-story building has only 47 apartments.

The building, which has fine views of Riverside Park and the Hudson River, permits protruding air-conditioners and has and no sidewalk landscaping. Its location is one of the most attractive and convenient along Riverside Drive.

Carter B. Horsley