1175 Park Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 1175 Park Avenue by Carter Horsley

This impressive, 15-story, red-brick apartment building at 1175 Park Avenue on the northeast corner at 94^th Street was erected in 1925 and converted to a cooperative in 1983.

It has 49 apartments.

Designed by Emery Roth, one of the city's foremost architects of luxury apartment buildings who would later design the San Remo and Beresford apartment buildings on Central Park West among many others, this building was developed by the George Backer Construction Company.

At one point, it was sold by Emanuel Kulukundis to an investing client of Emil Roger.

Bottom Line

The handsome, pre-war building has a very elegant base with many pilasters between the second and third floors over a rusticated one-story limestone base, and very pronounced window surrounds on the top floor under a strong cornice. Its red-and-white façade very nicely complements the more elaborate red-and-white façade of 1185 Park Avenue across 94^th Street.

Description

The red-brick building "stands out today," James Trager, the author of “Park Avenue: Street of Dreams” Atheneum, 1990, noted, "because of its brass mailbox and the evergreen hedge planted inside the low iron fence that lines its Park Avenue frontage; for more than half the year a profusion of bright flowers brightens the hedgerow."

The building has a one story rusticated limestone base and the second and third story façades are mostly covered with handsome limestone pilasters. The building has new windows on all but the top floor where the older, multi-paned windows are separated by handsome decorative cartouches.

This is one of the few older buildings in which the new single-pane picture windows look good. The treatment, in fact, is excellent and gives the building a quite strong appearance.

The building has a canopied, one-step-up entrance flanked by large, hanging lanterns and a very handsome entrance surround.

The building permits protruding air-conditioners.

Amenities

The building has a doorman, a live-in superintendent, storage and a gym.

It allows pets.

Apartments

The penthouse is a four-bedroom unit that has a 14-foot-wide entrance gallery that leads to a 23-foot-long library and a 25-foot-long living room with fireplace that opens onto a 20-foot-long dining room next to an 11-foot-wide breakfast room, a 16-foot-long kitchen and a maid’s room.  The apartment also has a 15-foot-long study and very large wrap-around terraces.

Apartment 14A is a four-bedroom unit that has a 22-foot-long entrance gallery that leads to a 28-foot-wide living room with wood-burning fireplace, an 18-foot-wide library and a 23-foot-long dining room next to a 10-foot-square pantry and a 27-foot-long kitchen with an island, a family dining room, a 16-foot-wide family room and a maid’s room.

Apartment 2C is a three-bedroom unit that has a 25-foot-long entrance gallery that leads to a 27-foot-long living room with fireplace next to a 21-foot-long library in one direction and a 25-foot-wide dining room in the other that is next to a 7-foot-long pantry, a 25-foot-wide, eat-in kitchen, a 9-foot-long home office, a 15-foot-long den and a 14-foot-long staff room.
 

History

According to Mr. Trager, Mr. Backer was married to a granddaughter of Jacob J. Schiff, the celebrated investment banker.

The building is on land once owned by George Ehret.

Location

The building has a prime Carnegie Hill location diagonally across the avenue from the handsome Georgian-style former George Baker mansion.

There are many fine private schools in this neighborhood as well as many cultural and religious institutions.

This is one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods for families and there are several charming restaurants and boutiques nearby on Madison Avenue.