801 West End Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 801 West End Avenue by Carter Horsley

This magnificent and impressive apartment building is a twin with 817 on the southwest corner at 100th Street and they share the same avenue blockfront. The primary differences are that this building has a slightly darker red-brick façade and the ground floors are a bit different because of the street's slope.

Both buildings have two extraordinary, Art-Nouveau-style, roofline cartouches that resemble peacock displays of feathers. They are as ornate as the great perforated roofline that the same architects created at The Cornwall at 255 East 90th Street at Broadway, which is more abstract and organic.  The architects did a fourth building with a similar roofline treatment at 255 West 108th Street, but unfortunately its roofline was removed!

They also have dry moats with large railings and three-story limestone bases, the top stories of which are rusticated. The step-up, canopied entrances are flanked by pilasters and lanterns and lead to very handsome, step-up lobbies. The building has a doorman and permits protruding air-conditioners.

The 12-story building was erected in 1912 and converted to a cooperative in 1980. It has 73 apartments. Ceiling heights are about 10 feet.

This is a very handsome section of West End Avenue that is convenient to public transportation and one block from Riverside Park. Neighborhood shopping is nearby and steadily improving as high-end retailers continue to advance up Broadway.

Neville & Bagge also designed this building as well as 131 Riverside Drive,  340 West 86th Street, and 251 West 92nd Street.

In 2007, the building undertook a renovation of the marble, stained glass windows, coffered ceiling and metal entrance doors of the building's lobby.

In 2013, the building installed a new entrance canopy without supports, and new railings and plantings around the moat and period lighting consistent with original fixtures.

According to Eric D. Grossberg, a member of the building's board of directors in 2007, the two buildings were originally known as Bennington Corners.