The Chesterfield

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180-foot, 13-story Modern/Neo-Grec/Queen Anne residential building originally completed in 1887 as four separate but matching tenements. Designed by Thom & Wilson, they were built to match the adjoining tenement to the south at 407 Amsterdam, erected at the same time. In 1989 they were joined internally and converted into condominiums, with eight new floors constructed on top, designed by Ted Reeds & Associates.

The original, lower floors are clad in red brick and terra-cotta, with the new upper floors clad in a paler, less orange brick. Along the avenue, each of the four main facade sections has its ground floor divided into two modern metal-and-glass storefronts by pairs of banded limestone piers, painted dark-grey at the tops and bases, and divided vertically by a band of grey granite. The south section is instead divided into two storefronts by an additional pier of red brick, matching those that separate the four sections; each of these piers has a dark-grey stone base and features paneled brickwork. At the upper floors each section is also divided by a projecting brick pier; the pier between the two middle sections is narrower, and those framing the end sections have recessed panels at the 3rd & 4th floors, small, red terra-cotta squares of Renaissance ornament between these two floors, and three vertical grooves at the 5th floor.

The two end sections match (with an exception at the south bay of the south facade section on the 2nd floor), both with two bays of paired windows. Three of the bays have round-arched windows grouped under larger round-arches with fluted voussoirs edged in dentils and topped by keystones, and with a scale pattern below the arches. The southernmost bay has square-headed windows with the flat lintels topped by shallow sunbursts. The paired windows at the 3rd-5th floors are separated by red brick pilasters, with stone sills and lintels. There are red terra-cotta spandrel panels between the 3rd & 4th floors, with swirling ornament. At the lower floors of the middle two sections of the west facade the paired windows are all square-headed, with flat stone sills and lintels. The square spandrels between the 3rd & 4th floors have subtle hatch patterns.

The new floors on top extend up to an 8th-floor setback. These three floors have double-windows in the two bays of each end section, and four single-windows in the middle two sections. From the 2nd-8th floors, each window bay has a wavy-patterned beige stone panel below it; half of these have been replaced by black metal air-conditioning vents. In the middle sections the 8th floor is topped by three projecting brick wedge shapes, the center one capping the middle pier.

The upper floors are set back on all four sides from the 8th floor. On the west facade there are end bays with double-windows, and four bays of paired windows in between. The 10th floor has three projecting, black metal balconies. There are additional setbacks above the 10th & 11th floors. Near the north end, the 11th floor has a sloped, glass solarium. At the 12th-13th floors a massive bulkhead forms the north end of the building, with a tall chimney rising from the northwest corner. Between it and the rest of the residential penthouses is a mechanical penthouse topped by a water tank.

The north facade on 80th Street has the ground floor clad in banded limestone at the east half, and banded red brick at the west. The east end has a garage entrance with a roll-down metal gate. Next to this is a wooden door, and then the main residential entrance, with a larger wood-and-glass door below a rounded, grey canvas canopy extending out over the sidewalk. The brick western half has two high-set windows flanking a glass-and-metal door, and there is a short storefront section at the end, its left side framed by a banded limestone pier. A stone cornice caps the full ground floor.

The upper floors of the north facade are symmetrical. At the center is a bay of paired windows, flanked by three single-window bays on either side. They are round-arched at the 2nd floor, with fluted and dentiled voussoirs, and a scale pattern below the wider arch encompassing the paired windows. The 3rd floor has a stone sill course, and there are 2-story pilasters framing the windows at the 3rd-4th floors, with terra-cotta capitals. Similar 1-story pilasters frame the 5th-floor windows. The two outer bays are framed by brick piers with ornament (panels and grooves) like those on the west facade. There are terra-cotta spandrel panels between the 3rd & 4th floors, and below each window bay is a wavy-patterned beige panel, half of them replaced by black vents. The 5th-8th floors have the same window pattern and match the west facade, with a setback above the 8th floor.

The building contains 47 condominium units. The ground floor along the avenue is occupied by Chesterfield Cleaners & Tailor, Swagat Indian restaurant, Saravanna Bhavan restaurant, and Bluestone Lane coffee shop.