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Master Apartments
The Master Apartments, officially known as the Master Building, is a 27-story Art Deco skyscraper at 310 Riverside Drive, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It sits on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and West 103rd Street. Designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Helmle, Corbett & Harrison, in conjunction with Sugarman & Berger, the Master Apartments was completed in 1929 as the tallest building on Riverside Drive. It was the first skyscraper in New York City to feature corner windows and the first to employ brick in varying colors for its entire exterior.
The Master Apartments' name derives from the Master Institute of United Arts, an art institute founded in 1920 by Nicholas and Helena Roerich. Wealthy financier Louis L. Horch began purchasing lots in 1925 to build the apartment building, and in 1928 he secured a bond to fund its construction. As built, the building's lower floors consisted of a museum; a school for the fine and performing arts; and an international art center. The building opened in 1929 to generally positive acclaim, but it went into foreclosure in 1932, and Horch's tax-exempt corporation acted as the Master Building's receiver from 1934 to 1935. Following a disagreement between Horch and the Roeriches, the museum was closed and the Roeriches unsuccessfully sued to regain control of the Master Apartments. Louis Horch's wife Nettie also controlled some aspects of the building and its organizations during this time, but by 1958, the Horches' son Frank became the building's manager.
During the 1950s and 1960s, people moved out of the surrounding Manhattan Valley neighborhood. Consequently, the Master Apartments' museum and cultural center closed by 1971, their holdings dispersed elsewhere, although the building's auditorium was still used for cultural events. After Louis's death in 1979, the building was bought by real estate investor Sol Goldman, who converted it to a housing co-operative over the next decade. Further renovations, which were completed in 2005, resulted in many of the one-bedroom studios being combined into two- and three-bedroom units. These renovations attracted more families and made the building more luxurious by both quality-of-life and purchase-price measures. The Master Apartments was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The Master Building is at 310 Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The building occupies the northeastern corner of Riverside Drive and 103rd Street, across from Riverside Park. It is situated on a nearly square land lot with an area of 13,518 square feet (1,255.9 m2). The lot has a frontage of 115 feet (35 m) along Riverside Drive and 120 feet (37 m) along 103rd Street, with an indentation in the northeast corner. The building is part of the Riverside-West End Historic District, a New York City historic district designated in 2015. The surrounding neighborhood largely contains brick-and-limestone row houses and apartment structures built in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Master Building was designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Helmle, Corbett & Harrison, in conjunction with the firm Sugarman & Berger. The building was developed for artist Nicholas Roerich and his financial patron, Louis L. Horch. The skyscraper's first three floors originally held a museum, a school of the fine and performing arts, and an international art center, operated by Roerich and his wife Helena. Horch largely funded all three organizations.
The Master Building is 28 stories tall, though contemporary media referred to it as having 24 stories. The building is cited as being 443 feet (135 m) tall. According to the Master Building's first manager, only three other residential structures in New York City were taller: the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, the Park Central Hotel, and the Ritz Tower. Upon its completion in 1929, the Master Building was the tallest structure on Riverside Drive. It is still the avenue's tallest residential building, surpassed only by the Riverside Church on 120th Street.
The northern section of the building contains a three-story wing. The Master Building has a shallow setback above the second story on its eastern elevation, as well as above the three-story wing on its northern elevation. Above the 14th story, the building sets back further into an irregularly massed "transitional" section with several setbacks, which rises to the 21st story. The octagonal tower rises above the transitional building. The single pinnacle contrasts with the multiple twin-towered buildings on Central Park West (namely the Century, the Majestic, the San Remo, and the El Dorado), which were all built following a change to the zoning regulations in 1929.
The building has a brick exterior that was deep purple in its lower stories, originally tapering to white at the tower. Over the years, the pinnacle has weathered to a light gray color. Harvey Wiley Corbett said the coloration gave the skyscraper a "feeling of growth". He said: "This colored brick exterior, which rises from a low, dark ground to a gleaming, white pinnacle, gives the building a dynamic quality. The play of sunlight on the many hues will make the building a beautiful spectacle of changing colors." Other ornamentation was limited to brick patterns on the base and spandrel panels, as well as architectural terracotta on the parapets of each setback.
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Master Apartments
The Master Apartments, officially known as the Master Building, is a 27-story Art Deco skyscraper at 310 Riverside Drive, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It sits on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and West 103rd Street. Designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Helmle, Corbett & Harrison, in conjunction with Sugarman & Berger, the Master Apartments was completed in 1929 as the tallest building on Riverside Drive. It was the first skyscraper in New York City to feature corner windows and the first to employ brick in varying colors for its entire exterior.
The Master Apartments' name derives from the Master Institute of United Arts, an art institute founded in 1920 by Nicholas and Helena Roerich. Wealthy financier Louis L. Horch began purchasing lots in 1925 to build the apartment building, and in 1928 he secured a bond to fund its construction. As built, the building's lower floors consisted of a museum; a school for the fine and performing arts; and an international art center. The building opened in 1929 to generally positive acclaim, but it went into foreclosure in 1932, and Horch's tax-exempt corporation acted as the Master Building's receiver from 1934 to 1935. Following a disagreement between Horch and the Roeriches, the museum was closed and the Roeriches unsuccessfully sued to regain control of the Master Apartments. Louis Horch's wife Nettie also controlled some aspects of the building and its organizations during this time, but by 1958, the Horches' son Frank became the building's manager.
During the 1950s and 1960s, people moved out of the surrounding Manhattan Valley neighborhood. Consequently, the Master Apartments' museum and cultural center closed by 1971, their holdings dispersed elsewhere, although the building's auditorium was still used for cultural events. After Louis's death in 1979, the building was bought by real estate investor Sol Goldman, who converted it to a housing co-operative over the next decade. Further renovations, which were completed in 2005, resulted in many of the one-bedroom studios being combined into two- and three-bedroom units. These renovations attracted more families and made the building more luxurious by both quality-of-life and purchase-price measures. The Master Apartments was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The Master Building is at 310 Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The building occupies the northeastern corner of Riverside Drive and 103rd Street, across from Riverside Park. It is situated on a nearly square land lot with an area of 13,518 square feet (1,255.9 m2). The lot has a frontage of 115 feet (35 m) along Riverside Drive and 120 feet (37 m) along 103rd Street, with an indentation in the northeast corner. The building is part of the Riverside-West End Historic District, a New York City historic district designated in 2015. The surrounding neighborhood largely contains brick-and-limestone row houses and apartment structures built in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Master Building was designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Helmle, Corbett & Harrison, in conjunction with the firm Sugarman & Berger. The building was developed for artist Nicholas Roerich and his financial patron, Louis L. Horch. The skyscraper's first three floors originally held a museum, a school of the fine and performing arts, and an international art center, operated by Roerich and his wife Helena. Horch largely funded all three organizations.
The Master Building is 28 stories tall, though contemporary media referred to it as having 24 stories. The building is cited as being 443 feet (135 m) tall. According to the Master Building's first manager, only three other residential structures in New York City were taller: the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, the Park Central Hotel, and the Ritz Tower. Upon its completion in 1929, the Master Building was the tallest structure on Riverside Drive. It is still the avenue's tallest residential building, surpassed only by the Riverside Church on 120th Street.
The northern section of the building contains a three-story wing. The Master Building has a shallow setback above the second story on its eastern elevation, as well as above the three-story wing on its northern elevation. Above the 14th story, the building sets back further into an irregularly massed "transitional" section with several setbacks, which rises to the 21st story. The octagonal tower rises above the transitional building. The single pinnacle contrasts with the multiple twin-towered buildings on Central Park West (namely the Century, the Majestic, the San Remo, and the El Dorado), which were all built following a change to the zoning regulations in 1929.
The building has a brick exterior that was deep purple in its lower stories, originally tapering to white at the tower. Over the years, the pinnacle has weathered to a light gray color. Harvey Wiley Corbett said the coloration gave the skyscraper a "feeling of growth". He said: "This colored brick exterior, which rises from a low, dark ground to a gleaming, white pinnacle, gives the building a dynamic quality. The play of sunlight on the many hues will make the building a beautiful spectacle of changing colors." Other ornamentation was limited to brick patterns on the base and spandrel panels, as well as architectural terracotta on the parapets of each setback.