370 Central Park West Cooperative (New York City, New York)

 Tudor (architecture), apartment building, 1918_construction, housing cooperative

6-story Tudor-style cooperative-apartment building completed in 1918. Designed by Fred F. French & Co., it's half-timbered Tudor architecture is unusual for New York. The facades are clad in dark reddish-brown brick, beige stucco, and wood in copper-colored half-timber strips, with several deep light courts that are faced in beige stucco. There is four light courts on the north and also the south facades, dividing the building up into many smaller wings. The light courts were originally walled in at street level, to create private gardens; the walls have since been replaced by iron fences. The roof lines are punctuated by a series of gables, with the half-timber treatment carried out in the upper portion of the facade, breaking into the height of brickwork, thus lightening the whole effect.

The main entrance is centered on the east facade facing the park. Two grey granite steps approach paneled and riveted wooden double-doors with four glass panes, set in a shallow arch. There are matching arches on either side, with triple-windows of leaded-glass. Each arch is framed by narrow, textured stone pilasters, and the three are separated by larger columns with intricate diamond patterns. The three arches are topped by a short, sloped roof with shingles and a steep central gable of wood and stucco. To the south the ground floor has four single-windows, and to the north there is one single-window and three more grouped together, with a narrow triple-window end bay the same size as the double-windows above it. The ground-floor windows have transoms of leaded-glass.

At the upper floors, the middle section is slightly recessed, and has a single-window flanked by two triple-windows, with the gable above the entrance replacing the single-window at the 2nd floor. There are iron balconettes fronting the triple-windows at the 6th floor, and a metal-lined brick gable extending up from the middle at the roof line. The south section has four single-windows on the first five floors. A 4-story half-timbered section begins at the 3rd floor, spanning the middle two bays; it has a large gable at the 6th floor with a smaller single-window, and the point of the gable extends above the roof line. There is a triple-window at the south end on the 6th floor, and another smaller brick gable above the northern single-window. The north section has a single-window at its south end, a triple-window in the middle, and a double-window at the north end. There is a shallow, curved iron balconette at the triple-window on the 3rd floor. Another half-timbered section begins at the 4th floor, spanning the middle, with a higher gable at the 6th floor; the north slope of the gable is longer, extending down into the 5th floor. The single-window bay at the south end of the north section is also topped by a brick gable matching the other two. The north end bay has squared balconette at the 6th floor; the roof line extends higher here than the rest of the facade, with a lower notch directly above the window.

The north facade is divided into five wings. The east wing has a narrow single-window at the east end, followed by a triple-window and double-window (the ground-floor west bay is divided into a triple-window in the same space as the double-windows above). Like on the east facade, all the ground-floor windows have leaded-glass transoms. A half-timbered section begins at the 4th floor, covering the east two bays, with an asymmetrical gable at the top. A very small, square window replaces the single-window at the top floor, there is an iron balconette at the double-window on the top floor, and a chimney rises above the roof line next to the gable, with another chimney rising around the corner from the light court. There is a short, sloped roof section at the corner between the chimneys.

The next wing has two bays of triple-windows, with balconettes at the 2nd floor. The top two floors have a half-timbered section, with the two bays replaced by double-windows at the 5th floor, and a wider band of windows at the 6th. There are chimneys at both ends, and a flat top to the half-timbered section, rising slightly higher than the brick at the ends.

The middle wing matches the previous one, but with balconettes at the 1st & 2nd floors.

The next wing has an arched triple-window and an arched secondary entrance at the ground floor, with a gate and stone voussoirs. The upper floors have a single-window flanked by narrow double-windows, except for the top floor, where there is a triple-window and double-window in an asymmetrical half-timbered gable, with chimneys topping the brick sections at the sides.

The west wing has a triple-window and two single-windows, with the triple-window bay changing to double-windows at the top three floors, the 6th-floor bay fronted by a balconette. The west side has a half-timbered section beginning at the 4th floor, with the two bays joined into a larger window opening and topped by a symmetrical gable.

The four light courts are faced in stucco, with uneven brick surrounds at each window. The rear wall of the easternmost light court has a metal door on the right. Above are two bays of double-windows staggered back and forth at each floor, with three small square windows across the 6th floor. The east-facing sidewall has two single-windows toward the rear, and the west-facing sidewall has two single-windows flanking a smaller window in the middle.

The next light court has large triple-windows on the rear wall (with a metal door next to a double-window on the ground floor). The west-facing sidewall has two single-windows, and the east-facing wall does as well, but with a smaller window in between.

The next light court has two bays of double-windows on the rear wall, slightly staggered, with no door. The west-facing sidewall has one bay of single-windows (plus a smaller window at the ground floor), and the east-facing wall has also has one bay.

The west light court's rear wall has a bay of paired windows toward the left, and a double-window and door at the ground floor. The east-facing sidewall has a large and small single-window, and the west-facing wall has two single-windows flanking a smaller one, with three small, round-arched windows at the ground floor.

The building was converted to a co-op in 1982, with 74 apartments.

hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015006777018?urlappend=%3Bseq...