555 West End Avenue

555 West End Avenue is a masterwork of architecture that stands out even among its rarefied pre-war neighbors. Built in 1908 as a private school, the red-brick, Collegiate Gothic-styled edifice sports white stone trim, quoin window surrounds, owl gargoyles, crenellated turrets, and other touches that lend the building a majesty at once bespoke and whimsical. The school’s unique features made for a perfect condo redevelopment, which in 2019 transformed the space into 13 spacious units. Soaring ceilings and tall windows are as well-suited for classrooms as they are for high-end living. A stately sidewalk moat lends an equal degree of privacy and separation from the sidewalk for classrooms and condos alike. The arch-windowed library became an atrium-like living room with a second-floor viewing gallery in a 3,463-square-foot Library duplex. At the top, the vault truss-roofed basketball court transformed into a spectacular Solarium penthouse, lit by a massive skylight and a sheer window wall that opens onto a 37-foot-long private terrace.

In addition to restoring and reimagining existing interior space, the conversion also introduces luxuriant features where there were none before, such as a round-the-clock attended lobby finished in travertine, Calacatta Crema marble, white oak, and brushed bronze; a daylit fitness center that looks out onto the rear courtyard; and an oak-wainscotted rec room with a bar, billiards, darts, and a large-screen TV. In the units, white oak and marble finishes create a light-hued theme that carries through the living rooms (herringbone-pattern wood floors), kitchens (counters, backsplashes, and cabinetry), and bathrooms (vanities, wainscot walls, and mirror cabinet trim). The building stands on stately West End Avenue, just a block away from the Hudson River-adjacent Riverside Park and a few blocks west of Central Park; residents may traverse both at leisure or for commute by making use of the building’s bike storage room. For subway-minded commuters, the 86th Street station of the 1 and 2 trains a block away offers rapid access to Midtown and elsewhere in the city.

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