840 Park Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 840 Park Avenue by Carter Horsley

This extremely handsome and distinctive apartment at 840 Park Avenue on the northwest corner at 76^th Street has many similarities with the building directly across 76th Street, 830 Park Avenue: they were built in the same year, 1912, designed by the same architects, George and Edward Blum, and converted to a cooperative in the same year, 1953.

The architects, George and Edward Blum, also designed 555, 791, 940 and 1075 Park Avenue.

Bottom Line

One of Park Avenue’s pre-war gems, this building is a masterpiece by George and Edward Blum and it has a prime location.

Description

The buildings at 830 and 840 Park Avenue are quite different in color, massing and size.

840 is light-colored, has no center "light well," and has 53 apartments.

830 is darker, has a center "light well," and has 78 apartments.

The avenue façade at 840 Park Avenue is also more formal with a nicely symmetrical placement of wrought-iron balconies and an arched canopied entrance with sidewalk landscaping.

It is distinguished by its  simple cornice above a very elaborate and impressive series of arched lunettes and decorative elements over the top-floor windows.  The top two floors have two-story terracotta pilasters.

The building has a three-story rusticated limestone base and some attractive wrought-iron balconies.

Most of the windows are deeply inserted into the façade.

The building has protruding air-conditioners, but almost all of its windows are still, thankfully, multi-paned.

Amenities

The building has a doorman.

Apartments

Apartment 8B is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 11-foot-long gallery that opens onto a 18-foot-long dining room that opens to the south onto an 18-foot-long living room with a wood-burning fireplace and to the north on a 18-foot-long library with a fireplace.  The apartment also has an enclosed 13-foot-long kitchen, an 8-foot-long hall next to the gallery, and a 9-foot-long maid’s quarters on a different floor.

Apartment 5/6A is a three-bedroom duplex with an entry foyer that leads to an 18-foot-long gallery with staircase that opens onto a 26-foot-long living room with fireplace, a 14-foot-long dining room and a 20-foot-long library with a fireplace, a 17-foot-square kitchen with an island and breakfast area and a 9-foot-long laundry on the lower level and four bedrooms on the upper level, two of which have fireplaces.

Apartment 9B is a three-bedroom unit that has an entry foyer that opens  onto a 24-foot-long living room with a fireplace that flows into a 17-foot-long dining room across a hall from a 20-foot-long enclosed kitchen that leads to an 18-foot-long maid’s room.

The maisonette has a 28-foot-long living room with fireplace, a 15-foot-library, and a 20-foot-long dining room with fireplace next t o a very large kitchen with breakfast bar, and a laundry.

Location

This building is close to many fashionable restaurants, boutiques and art galleries along Madison Avenue and is down the side-street from the elegant entrance to the Carlyle Hotel. A local subway station is at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue and cross-town buses run on 79th Street.