Diane von Furstenberg Flagship Store

 store / shop, commercial building

4-story Queen Anne-style office building originally completed as two separate French Flats apartment building with stores. The first, at No. 440, was designed by James W. Cole and completed in 1887. No. 442 followed in 1890, designed by Thom & Wilson.

Both buildings are clad in red brick. No. 442 has a simple metal roof cornice, while No. 440 has a larger, bracketed cornice. A metal suspended canopy spans the ground floor of both structures. The upper floors at No. 440 have three bays of single-windows, with corbelling at the top floor, and projecting piers decorated with niches; the upper floors at No. 442 have four bays of narrower single-windows, with less ornament. In 1957 they were joined for use as a cold storage warehouse, and known by the single address of 440 West 14th.

In 2004 it was purchased by designer Diane von Furstenberg, who put a very 21st Century asymmetrical glass dome on top, at the south section of the roof. New glass storefronts were installed on the ground floor for use as a retail store, while the upper floors are used for the designer's offices and showroom space. The glassed dome on the roof houses her private residence.