1021 Park Avenue CLOSE 
One of the most distinctive and elegant buildings on the avenue, this very attractive apartment building was erected in 1929 as a cooperative. The 14-story building has only 27 apartments and was designed by Rosario Candela and Kenneth M. Murchison and erected by John and Joseph Campagna, the son of Anthony Campagna, one of the city s most important developers of luxury residential buildings. Candela was the leading architect of luxury apartment buildings of his era. The red-brick building with a three-story limestone base, gargoyles and a handsome enclosed rooftop watertank enclosure, is notable because its asymmetrical design makes it appear to be more than one building and because it is also very compatible with the very handsome former townhouse of Reginald de Koven, a composer of light opera, that was designed in Jacobean Renaissance style by John Russell Pope, immediately to the north and is also directly across the sidestreet from another very interesting mansion. This apartment building has considerable "light-and-air" because of both the mansions and the Park Avenue Christian Church diagonally across the avenue. In his excellent book, "Park Avenue, Street of Dreams," (Atheneum, 1990), James Trager provides the following account of the site's history: "Quite a few Park Avenue houses went up in the years before World War I. A private residence designed by Hunt & Hunt for Amos R. E. Pinchot was finished in 1910 at the northeast corner of 85th Street. Pinchot, a lawyer, was the brother of Gifford, the conservationist who superintended the 119,000 acres of forest that surrounded Biltmore House, designed by Richard Morris Hunt for William Henry Vanderbilt's youngest son, George Washington, and completed in 1896. Gifford headed the U.S. Forest Service but was fired by President Taft after joining others in charging the Secretary of the Interior, Richard A. Ballinger, with conflict of interest - a cause celebre in 1910. The Pinchot house was later occupied under lease by Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Vincent Astor, and Joseph C. Baldwin before being purchased by Edward R. Stettinus, a J. P. Morgan partner, who occupied it until his death in the late 1920's." Trager also noted that Amos Pinchot had sold Lewis Gouverneur Morris the lot on the southeast corner at this intersection, directly across from the sidestreet entrance of 1021 Park Avenue. Morris had the building on it razed and replaced with a building designed by Ernest Flagg that he moved into from his former residence at 77 Madison Avenue. The new, gable, dark red-brick house had hip-roofed dormer windows, a cupola over its elevator tower, and a garage in its east wing. Trager wrote that the daughters of Morris sold the townhouse in 1967 to the New World Foundation, "established in 1954 to carry out the testamentary wishes of the reaper heiress, Anita McCormick Blaine." This building adjoined the garden of Mrs. Reginald de Koven, widow of the composer, and also backed up on the garden of the Park Avenue Methodist Church on 86th Street. The building is not far from to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue and there are numerous schools and religious institutions nearby. Cross-town buses run on 86th Street and an express subway station is at Lexington Avenue and 86th Street as well as major stores such as Barnes & Noble and HMV. The area also has several movie theaters.
To view all NYC apartment information and prices, log in or register now it's quick, easy and free.
You'll get access to all NYC apartments available including thousands of listings all for free.

Forgot Password?
If you need assistance, please call us at 212-755-5544.
|
Comments or questions? · Phone: 212.755.5544
|
|
An equal housing opportunity.
|
| All data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the REBNY / RLS or CityRealty. See Terms of Service for additional restrictions. All information furnished regarding New York City property for sale, rental or financing is from sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or representation is made as to the accuracy thereof and same is submitted subject to errors, omissions, change of price, rental or other conditions, prior sale, lease or financing or withdrawal without notice. All dimensions are approximate. For exact dimensions, you must hire your own architect or engineer. The number of bedrooms listed on this website is not a legal conclusion. Each person should consult with his/her own attorney, architect or zoning expert to make a determination as to the number of rooms in the unit that may be legally used as a bedroom. |