The San Remo Cooperative

 high-rise, Art Deco (architecture), apartment building, 1930_construction, housing cooperative

400-foot, 27-story Art-Deco cooperative-apartment building completed in 1930. Designed by Emery Roth with interiors by Theo. Hofstatter & Co., it was named for a 10-story hotel that previously occupied the same spot. Roth’s design for dividing the top of this building into two 10-story towers was the first such scheme in the city and was quickly copied by three other twin-towered buildings on Central Park West, the Century, the Majestic and the El Dorado. The San Remo is actually a U-shaped structure despite its appearance from the street, as a courtyard is carved out of its west side.

A residential skyscraper, the main block of the building is 17 stories in height, with terraced setbacks from the 14th to 17th stories. Two symmetrical towers, each ten stories in height surmounted by elaborate suprastructures culminating in circular temples with lanterns give the building its dramatic profile. The building is executed in light brick. The first three floors are in rusticated limestone, lightly vermiculated at the first two floors, with smooth lower relief at the 3rd. The facade is 26 bays wide, with two main entryways. The southern elevation is 19 bays wide, and the northern is 16. There are four office entrances on the Central Park West facade, two on the south elevation, and three on the north. The towers are five bays wide on the facade and side elevations. The rear, western elevation, which owing to its height above the side street row houses, is largely visible is executed in the same light brick, and is ranged around a T-shaped courtyard. The towers have terraced rear extensions. A large chimney abuts the north tower.

The facade and side elevations are articulated above the 3-story base by shallow brick pilasters and slight projections signalized as pavilions by the Renaissance detailing at the upper stories. The facade of the main block of the building has a basic vertical arrangement of bays as: 1-1-1-6-1-6-1-6-1-1-1. At the terrace levels the central six bays and outermost three bays function as true pavilions between the setbacks. The towers have massive, pier-like enframements at the corners. Cornices are effectively and sparingly used to accentuate the upper stories of the main block of the building, the upper stories of the towers, and the suprastructures. Architectural detailing, executed in stone, terra-cotta and metal, is Late Italian Renaissance in character, and highlights entrances and window configurations at the upper stories. Balustrades, pilasters, engaged columns, broken pediments, both circular and triangular, garlands, urns, cartouches, scrolls, consoles and roundels are employed. The detail is executed in limestone up to the 4th floor and in terra-cotta above. The terraces have either terra-cotta balustrades or metal railings. The lantern is of copper.

The windows are uniformly treated on the designed elevations, with metal casements featuring movable transoms above and below the principal windows. There are some variations in width which reflect interior spaces (living rooms, bedrooms, etc.) but the basic configuration remains the same, except in the 2nd-story windows above the Central Park West entrances, and at the uppermost stories of the facade central pavilion, which are tripartite with nine panes of glass. On the rear elevation the windows are more varied in their treatment, with single, double, triple and double leaf casement windows, some of which do not have the lower transom. A few windows have been altered, most notably on the rear tower elevations.

The two main entrances on Central Park West (symmetrically located at the 6-7th bays and 20-21st bays) both have a broken triangular pediment surmounting the double-doors, executed in bronze and glass with paneled, solid bronze transoms. The doors are each divided into three parts, with square panels ornamented by bronze medal lions and bordering acanthus leaves, set in a rectilinear bronze grillework. Metal and glass lanterns flank the doorway. A double-height limestone enframement surrounds the doorway and 2nd-story tripartite window, and is composed of flanking pilasters with composite capitals, with reliefs depicting classical urns above, and supporting a dentiled curved, broken pediment. At the center of the pediment is a large scrolled cartouche draped by a garland which is looped over a rosette at each side. The doorways have sheltering canopies on bronze supports.

There are also entrances in the north and south facades, located in the 13th bay, north side, and in the 11th bay, south side). Both have deep reveals and limestone enframements with a surmounting console table on console-like supports with a central scrolled cartouche. The single bronze-and-glass doors follow the same design as those on the facade and have transoms with an octagonal panel with central medallion and acanthus leaves. Lanterns flank the doorways. The four office entrances, symmetrically located at the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th bays on the east facade, have limestone enframements and surmounting entablatures with scrolled ornamental keystones. The single-doors are of bronze with a glazed upper panel and transom. There are three more matching office entrances on the north facade (at the 4th, 8th, and 15th bays), and two on the south facade (at the 6th and 14th bays), which are set within deep reveals and enframed by the rusticated walls, each has a bronze door with a glazed upper panel and transom. Finally, there are two service entrances, one each at the far west end of the north and south elevations. Here a rusticated wall that follows the design of the building walls and extends to the 2nd floor contains an arched doorway with a large keystone and is surmounted by a paneled overdoor. A decorative metal gate with a panel reading "Service" fills the archway.

At the 3rd floor the windows in the 2nd bay from each end have limestone relief enframements with side elements in the shape of a console in profile, and rosettes. On the east facade, the 4th floor above each main entrance has a balustraded balcony set upon four large ornamented console brackets extending for four bays. The central two bays at each have a limestone enframement and are separated by a smooth limestone panel. Flanking pilasters support an entablature upon which a triangular broken pediment is superimposed. At the center is a scrolled escutcheon with a garland and ornamental tablet. The 2nd bays from the ends at this floor each have an entablature with a superimposed triangular pediment, both dentilled, and a central ornamented keystone flanked by plain stones. Pilasters and enframements surround the windows which also have a balustrade executed in high relief. At the center of the east facade, the 4th floor has a large scrolled cartouche below the windows.

At the 11th-12th floors, symmetrically located at the 5-8th and 19-22nd bays on the Central Park West facade, are two balustrades, both on four console brackets, which visually echoes the 4th-floor treatment below, both extending across four bays. A double-height, two-bay wide central section above the balustrades is recessed, with flanking brick pilasters, in which the capitals are seemingly "overlapped" by the outer wall surface. Two embossed rosettes appear in the panel which is enframed by band courses between the 11th and 12th floors. Two additional embossed rosettes appear in the outer bays. A scrolled cartouche with garlands draped over rosettes, similar to those of the facade main entrances, surmount the composition.

Placed similarly to the window enframements of the 4th floor, 3-story compositions at the 13th-15th floors also serve to accentuate and anchor the Central Park West corners of the building. In each, ornamented console brackets at the 13th-floor level support a balustered balcony one bay wide. At the 13th floor and balcony level, are band courses which continue along the walls, articulating the designed elevations. The 14th-floor windows are surmounted by curved broken pediments and ornamented at the center by escutcheons. Garlands and floral motifs appear below the pediments, upon the window frames. The 15th-floor windows are surmounted by a scrolled escutcheon. Double-height brick pilasters with rosettes flank the windows and support a broken triangular pediment. Cartouches appear at the center. The band courses of the pilasters and broken pediments also continue along the wall surfaces and here help to define the 3-bay wide corner pavilions. These pavilions are further defined by flanking brick pilasters with rosettes.

The composition at the center of the 13th-17th floors on Central Park West signalizes the central 6-bay wide pavilion, and reiterates many of the elements of the four corner compositions just described, although it is two bays wide, rather than one. Ornamented consoles at the 13th floor support the 14th-floor balustered balcony. Instead of two windows there are single tripartite windows. The 14th- and 15th-floor windows are detailed like those at the corners, but here the broken pediment enframing the carouche is curved rather than triangular. The composition continues to the 16th and 17th floors, which are also flanked by brick pilasters. The tripartite window at the 16th floor is richly enframed with a central garlanded tablet, and a broken triangular pediment. At the 17th floor is a central garlanded cartouche. The central pavilion has terminating brick pilasters with embossed rosettes like those of the corner pavilions.

The 23rd-floor window enframements, set mid way on the designed elevations of the towers, function as medallions on the relatively unadorned tower shafts. The windows have elaborate enframements with ornamental keystones and curved, broken pediments. Set between band courses and balustrade and pediment level on the 26th-27th floors, continuing the wall surfaces of the towers, are three boldly scaled 3-bay wide compositions. The central bay has a projecting balustrade and above, double-height engaged columns on brackets, with foliate capitals. These columns enframe the two windows and support a curved broken pediment. At the center of the pediment is a large cartouche. The side bays have balustrades and above, double-height pilasters on podia, with foliate capitals. These pilasters flank the two windows and support triangular broken pediments.

At the north and south elevations and the two inner faces of the towers, set at the 2nd level of the suprastructure and in the penthouses, are double-height compositions that each include a framed window with flanking brick pilasters with embossed rosettes at capital-level. Above the window is a broken triangular pediment and a central escutcheon. Six small penthouses with semi-circular roofs have their facades placed above the pediments. The windows of these are curved at top and bottom and elaborately enframed and have metal grilles. They are each flanked by console brackets that support the curved pediment of the penthouse. Above the suprastructure each tower is surmounted by a circular temple of brick and terra-cotta, set upon a base articulated by boldly scaled console brackets on eight buttressing pedestals. Large urns, draped with garlands, crown each pedestal and the intervening walls are ornamented with scrolled cartouches beneath balustrades. The temples, set on simple brick podia, are encircled by colonnades of smooth columns with foliate capitals. These support plain dentilled friezes beneath balustrades. Above on each tower is a circular base with copestones, which supports the crowing element--a fenestrated and electrified copper lantern, above elongated foliate scrolled consoles.

The apartments are accessed from opulent twin lobbies which contained terrazzo floors, marble walls and custom light fixtures of bronze and frosted glass. The building has two addresses, 145 and 146 Central Park West, because the building was designed so that each half of the structure is served by separate lobbies, eliminating the need for long hallways across the main floor. There are still some doctor's offices on the first floor, but several of the professional/commercial spaces have recently been sold to tenants who reside in the building for use as office space.

The building was converted into a co-op in 1972, with 138 apartments. Past and present residents of the building include such famous personalities as James Levine, Barry Manilow, Fred Ebb, Stephen Sondheim, Cesar Pelli, Diana Balmori, Tiger Woods, Steven Spielberg, Donna Karan, Tony Randall, Demi Moore, Glenn Close, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Martin, Bruce Willis, Eddie Cantor, Robert Stigwood, Jennifer Rush, Marshall Brickman, Jackie Leo, Don Hewitt, Dodi Fayed, Andrew Tobias, Aaron Spelling, Diane Keaton, Mary Tyler Moore, and Hedy Lamarr. Rita Hayworth spent her last years there, in a unit beside that of her daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan. Steve Jobs bought and renovated a penthouse apartment but never lived in it, ultimately selling it to Bono.

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