812 Park Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 812 Park Avenue by Carter Horsley

This handsome, 14-story apartment building at 812 Park Avenue on the southwest corner at 75^th street was erected in 1927 and converted to a cooperative in 1949.

It originally had 36 apartments, mostly duplexes and triplex units, and now has 42.

The beige-brick building was designed by J. E. R. Carpenter and won a gold medal from the New York City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as the best new residential building in the city in 1927.

Carpenter was the leading designer of luxury apartment buildings of his generation. His other Park Avenue buildings include 550, 580, 625, 630, 635, 640, 655, 950, 960 and 1050 and his buildings on Fifth Avenue include 810, 825, 907, 920, 950, 988, 1030, 1035, 1060, 1115, 1120, 1143, 1150, 1165 and 1170 as well was 2 East 66th Street.

Bottom Line

A very attractive pre-war apartment building in a fine location with many fireplaces and some very handsome duplex units.

Description

This elegant building has a four-story, rusticated limestone base and consistent fenestration, but protruding air-conditioners. There is a bandcourse above the 4^th and 13^th floors and the building has a balustsraded roofline and quoins above the 4^th floor.

There are balconies on the third floor.

It has a canopied entrance with sidewalk landscaping that leads to a classically grand lobby.  It is a short walk from the Whitney Museum of American Art on Madison Avenue and not far from Lenox Hill Hospital and a local subway station at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue.

It has some protruding air-conditioners.

The building has a 32-foot-wide center garden courtyard.

Amenities

The building has a doorman and a gym.

Apartments

Penthouse A is a five-bedroom triplex with a 20-foot-long curved gallery that leads to a 29-foot-long living room with fireplace, a 23-foot-long library with fireplace, a 17-foot-long reception room with fireplace and bar  and a 19-foot-long dining room with fireplace next to a 20-foot-long kitchen with an 11-foot-long breakfast room on the lower level, a master bedroom with fireplace, three other bedrooms, a 10-foot-square laundry and a maid’s room on the second level and a 24-foot-long sitting room with fireplace and two entrances to a 1,000-square-foot terrace, and a bedroom and a 14-foot-long kitchen on the top level.

Apartment 9/10D is a four-bedroom duplex with a 15-foot-wide curved entry foyer with staircase that leads to a 23-foot-wide living room with fireplace, a 16-foot-long library, and a 17-foot-long dining room next to a 11-foot-long pantry and a 16-foot-long kitchen, a servants’ hall and three maid’s rooms on the lower level and the four bedrooms on the upper level.

Apartment 11/12C is a three-bedroom duplex with a 15-foot-wide curved entry foyer with staircase that leads to a 23-foot-long living room with fireplace, a 17-foot-long library and a 17-foot-square dining room next to a 10-foot-long pantry and a 20-foot-long kitchen on the lower level and the bedrooms and a maid’s room on the upper level.

Apartment 7/8C is a three-bedroom duplex with a small entry foyer that leads to a curved 15-foot-long gallery with staircase that opens onto a 24-foot-long living room with fireplace, a 17-foot-long library and a 17-foot-long dining room next to a pantry and a 15-foot-long kitchen on the lower level and a 13-foot-long family room, a 13-foot-long staff room and the bedrooms on the upper level.

History

It replaced nine row houses on the side-street.