The Dorilton Apartments (New York City, New York)

 NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, apartment building, Second Empire (architecture), historical building, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

133-foot, 12-story Beaux-Arts cooperative-apartment building completed in 1902. Designed by Janes & Leo for real estate developer Hamilton M. Weed, the building is noted for its opulent Beaux-Arts style limestone and dark-red brick exterior, featuring monumental sculptures, richly balustraded balconies, and a 3-story, copper and slate mansard roof. The exterior masonry, decorative terra-cotta work and chimneys and roof were expertly restored in 1998 by the Walter B. Melvin architectural firm.

The building is especially known for its lavish cast-iron gates at the entry courtyard on 71st Street, which is reminiscent of those used in French palaces. The triple-gateway has a smaller central portal flanked by two larger portals, each with cresting at the tops of the gates. Two putti (cherubs), reclining on a cartouche with the letter "D" gracefully surmount the dentiled cornice of the central portal. Each of the three portals are framed by thick, squared, limestone columns with cartouches near the tops, all surmounted by large globes. The sidestreet entrance is particularly impressive because it leads into a courtyard "light-well" that is bridged at the 9th floor by an arch. At the rear of the court, the entrance is segmental-arched and has glass double-doors; the arch is topped by elaborate foliate ornament and an oval panel with the address of "171".

The base consists of two floors of heavily rusticated limestone surmounted by a transitional floor of alternating bands of brick and limestone. On the south facade there are three bays on either side of the central entrance. The western end bay is set lower than the others, as it contains a modern storefront window; the others have double-windows in white metal framing. They are topped by large, rounded-edge, splayed lintels with keystones, which form the bases for sills at the 2nd-floor windows, each of which has an orante cast-iron railing. This is repeated at the tops of the 2nd-floor windows (but with flat keystones), carrying slightly smaller railings at the 3rd-floor windows. At the top of the 2nd floor there are iron brackets holding globe light fixtures extending from the facade at the ends of both wings. The east-facing inner wall of the entry court has a bay of tripartite windows at the rear; these have a splayed lintel and keystone at the 2nd floor, and iron railing at the 3rd floor (and iron spandrels between the upper floors). The west-facing wall has two bays of narrow double-windows with a keystone at the 2nd floor, iron railings at the 3rd floor, and stone sills and lintels with
keystones and stone imposts on the upper floors. The rear wall above the entrance has two bays of windows, with a broad stone balcony at the 3rd floor carried on two large console brackets, and having a stone balustrade; the end posts are topped by compressed orbs with brackets clamped around their sides. The stone enframement of the windows is topped by a large cartouche with a short cornice section on either side, both of which have two oversized modillions, and a rounded pediment on top.

The ground floor long Broadway is lined with metal-and-glass storefronts, divided into seven bays. Beginning at the 2nd floor there is a central bay with tripartite windows, and three narrower window bays on either side, as well as a bay of small bathroom windows inserted between the two northernmost bays, and another just to the right of the 3rd bay from the south. The 2nd & 3rd floors are like those on the south facade, with iron railings on the sills.

The 4th floor is fronted by a stone balcony and balustrade, carried on elaborate, oversized console brackets at the upper part of the 3rd floor; some of the brackets are paired, and there are scrolled modillions between them on the underside of the balcony. The balcony continues on the 4th floor on both wings of the south facade. At the ends of each section there is a large stone vase draped with grape bunches and vines, four of which also appear on the west facade. At the center bay the balcony bows outward, with the ends of the bay graced by huge statues of The Seasons in allegorical human form. Large stone quoins line the edges of the facade as well as separating the bay nearest either side of the center bay, which is lined by smaller stone keys. The center bay has rounded, projecting tripartite windows set in black cast-iron. At the 4th floor they are divided by scrolled pilasters, and by simpler paneled pilaster on the floor above. The 5th floor has a high wrought-iron railing, the 6th floor a lower railing, and there is another high railing at the 8th floor. The cast-iron spandrels between the 4th & 5th floors have cartouches, and there is variation in the other spandrels. This central column is capped at the 8th floor by round-arched above the windows, and a central iron cartouche. The windows bays to the sides have stone-and-brick lintels and stone sills. The outer two bays on each side at the 4th floor have large stone surrounds with overlayed dripping brackets with hanging pendants; the keystones are topped by triangular pediments broken by stone cartouches. There are small iron railings at the windows of the 5th & 8th floors, and the columns of quoins have large stone cartouches where they end at the 8th floor, trailing hanging pendants.

The 9th floor recalls the 3rd floor, with alternating bands of brick and limestone, and oversized brackets (mostly paired, but of a differing design than those on the 3rd floor) carrying a broad cornice below the 10th floor. The 9th-floor windows have small stone balconettes with iron railings, and are framed by stone pilasters with hanging pendants at the tops.

On the south facade, both outer wings are edges by quoins and have a central bay flanked by a bay of double-windows on either side. These have the same ornament and design as those on the west facade, including the 4th-floor enframements. The center bays are different, however, with 2-story round-arches at the 4th-5th floors. The scrolled keystones capping the arches are flanked by sculptures of groaning, muscular titans supporting wavy limestone balconies with cast-iron railings. Above, the 6th-8th floors match the rounded, projecting central bay of the west facade, and the 9th floor is similarly matched.

The rear, south-facing wall of the entry court has paired windows in the center, and another bay on either side, with stone sills and brick-and-stone lintels. There are iron railings at the 8th floor and the banded 9th floor, where the center windows are framed by paneled stone pilasters, with a cartouche at the center. In front of these is the 9th-floor flying arch, lined with quoined voussoirs along the bottom edge, and with a short cornice across the top that is horizontal and aligns with the band course above the 9th-floor windows, thus tying it to the wings of the building.

Above the cornice, the 10th floor is transitional to the 2-story crowning grey-slate mansard. Each bay here is framed by stone keys. The convex mansard has brick pilasters framing the windows at the 11th-floor dormers, each topped by a rounded pediment. At the center bay on the west facade is a paired window in a stone surround, with intricate feathered pendants at the sides, and an elaborate cartouche on top. At the 12th floor this bay has a stone balcony above the cartouche, with a wavy iron railing and urns at the ends. The paired windows are surmounted by a triangular pediment that rises above the mansard, adorned with another cartouche. The other window openings at the 12th floor are quite simple, with both of the corner pavilion sections crowned by copper cresting. The mansards at the south facade's wings are similarly designed, but with rounded pediments atop the 12th-floor center windows. Tall chimneys, flanking the center courtyard and at the outer extremities of the building, with their horizontal banding and paired brackets supporting cornices at their tops, lend a note of elegance to the peak.

The north elevation is much plainer, clad in red brick with small grey brick quoins. Its west wing has two bays of single-windows, the recessed middle section has multiple bays covered by a metal fire escape, and the east wing has three bays of single-windows. The northwest corner of the east wing features a rounded chimney shaft running the full height of the tower and extending above the roof line.

The building was converted from rental apartments to a co-op in 1984, with 57 apartments. The ground floor along Broadway is occupied by an AT&T wireless store, and Fidelity Investments.