The Hawthorne

 condominium  Add category

138-foot, 14-story modernist residential building completed in 1959. Designed by Boak & Raad, it is clad in white brick. It has a 4-bay center section, with the next three bays on either side slightly set back, and the two end bays on either side set a bit farther back. The main entrance is in the west bay of the center section, sunken behind a couple granite steps, and on either side there are grey granite sidewalk planters. The entry has recessed glass double-doors and is covered by a rounded green canvas canopy that extends out over the sidewalk. The low sidewalk planters are interrupted at the west end by a gate leading down to a basement entrance, a couple of small gates opening to glass doors for commercial occupants at the ground floor, and by a small entrance to the underground parking garage at the east end. To the right of the main entrance, the center section of the ground floor is clad in grey granite, as is the 2nd floor, with the exception of a band of white paneled stone above the doors, extending over and then up between the two center bays. Most of the ground-floor windows are shorter than those above, and to the left of the center section, the closest two bays are combined into one wide bay. All of the windows have grey metal framing

At the upper floors, the center section has double-windows in the two middle bays and triple-windows in the outer bays, wrapping around the narrow corners. Instead of the brick seen everywhere else, the panels dividing the two middle bays consist of rows of seven slender, vertical, white stone columns, each slightly rounded and segmented like earthworms. The three bays on either side of the center section have double-windows flanked by triple-windows, with the outer bay again wrapping around the corners. The end sections have double-windows and triple-windows in the end bays. Most of the triple-windows have double-hung outer panes and single panes in the middle. There is a small metal air-conditioning vents below each bay.

The end bays set back above the 11th floor, topped by metal railings, and the center section also sets back above the 11th floor. The rest of the facade sets back above the 13th floor. Some of these upper setbacks near the top are angled, and the design is notable for the small angled overhangs at the sides of its large roof deck. The overhangs fill in nicely for the lack of a cornice. A tall, square mechanical penthouse rises from the center of the roof.

The building contains 145 condominium units. The ground-floor commercial spaces are occupied by East 53rd Street Chiropractic, and Kenkodo massage therapy.