The Langham Cooperative

 apartment building, Second Empire (architecture), 1906_construction

165-foot, 13-story Second Empire-style residential building completed in 1906. Designed by Clinton & Russell, the facade has a white brick façade contained within very broad rusticated limestone quoins, with ornament of terra-cotta and iron. The Langham, due to its shallow lot, has a modified U-shaped plan with three light courts on the rear, western side, where there is an access driveway and service entrance facing the alley; handsome black iron gates enclose the 73rd Street entrance.

The building is composed of three major sections. A rusticated 2-story base of limestone (above the basement level visible behind the iron railing of the moat) features a central, double-height, segmental-arched entryway on Central Park West that projects slightly from the plane of the wall. An elaborate wrought-iron and glass marquise (glass canopy), carried on two pairs of curvilinear iron brackets, shelters the entrance sitting atop a short set of grey stone steps. The entry arch has black iron-and-glass infill, with a tripartite arrangement on the ground floor where there is a double-door of glass and shiny bronze, with a window on either side also framed in bronze, angling back slightly. There are transoms above each of the three sections. Above the canopy, the 2nd level of the entry has four double-windows in bronze framing, also surrounded by black iron infill. The top of the entry is embellished by an elaborate keystone with garlands surmounted by the carved head of a woman. Flanking this keystone, ornamental cartouches are scrolled at their tops to support the balustrade over the entryway. To either side the base has a bay of single-windows, three bays of paired windows, and end bays of single-windows. These are round-arched at the 1st floor with scrolled keystones and panels with rosettes below, and square-headed at the 2nd floor, with sills decorated with rows of circular patterns. The exceptions are the larger windows at the end bays and next to the center entrance, which have stone balconettes with wrought-iron railings; the brackets of the balconettes enframe a cartouche topping the 1st-floor windows below.

The 3rd floor provides a transition between the base and the upper floors. A wide band course, interrupted by balustrades under each window, articulates this separation from the base. Above this, bands of limestone alternate with bands of light-colored brick, providing a gradual transition to the solid portions of terra-cotta and brick above. There are four windows in the center bay above the entrance, flanked by four bays of paired windows, and end bays of single-windows. At each of the 3rd-floor bays, elaborate cartouches are flanked by console brackets that support the projecting windowsills and black iron guard rails of the 4th floor.

The eight floors above are simply treated as an unadorned shaft, organized symmetrically into six sections around a central section of rusticated terra-cotta. The central section is the same width as the entry portal and unites it vertically with the elaborately ornamented, high central dormer of the mansard roof. The alternation of light limestone with the darker terra-cotta and with beige brick creates a rhythm across the facade and adds textures and interesting tonalities to the main mass of the building. The paired groupings of windows are amply enframed at the corners by single bays of rusticated terra-cotta, which provide strong visual terminations. The central section of four windows is in a darker shade of terra-cotta with enriched grooving at the edges of the blocks, emphasizing the entry portal below and the symmetrical disposition of the facade. Between these central and end sections, the walls are of beige brick. The 10th floor has shallow balconies with black iron railings at the four bays of lighter terra-cotta; there are cartouches in the spandrels between the 9th & 10th floors.

The floor directly beneath the balustraded cornice features windows flanked by rich decorative terra-cotta panels with garlands and pilasters, ornamented with lapped medallions. The slate mansard roof, due to the pyramidal roofs above the corner sections and the high central gable, provides a richness of profile and sculptural effect that contrasts with the simpler treatment of the facade. The projecting balustrade above the roof cornice is supported on closely spaced console brackets, some of which are paired. They are united at their bases by a string course that runs between the windows of the top floor. The pedimented dormers of the mansard roof are framed with terra-cotta. The bays at the corners feature windows with high-arched pediments set in paneled parapet walls crowned by urns. These windows have arched pediments and contrast with the triangular ones of the dormers. The large double-window at the center, with bulls' eye above, provides a detail of French Renaissance inspiration.

The matching north and south facades both have four single-window bays at the center, and end bays of single-windows spaced farther apart. The design and ornament generally follows the format established on the main, Central Park West facade. The western of the four center bays at the ground floor has a secondary entrance, with a deeply-recessed door atop a high set of steps. Beginning at the 2nd floor, there is a bay of small bathroom windows inserted between the western two center bays.

The rear, west facade is clad in red brick, except for a return of the terra-cotta and limestone at the ends, and beige brick at the top floor below the mansard.

The building contains 64 apartment units. When The Langham was completed in 1907, its apartments rented for $500 per month and attracted wealthy and successful tenants early on. Irving Bloomingdale, son of the founder of the famous store, moved into The Langham from a limestone townhouse when it opened. Isadore Saks moved from the Art Deco Majestic to the Langham with his son Joseph. Martin Beck, head of the Orpheum Theater chain, was another prominent early resident. Other famous inhabitants have included Mia Farrow, Robert Ryan, Basil Rathbone and Carly Simon.