[114] A New York Times article in 1959 described the Dakota's design as ranging "Victorian Kremlin" to "Middle Eastern Post Office",[76] while Look magazine called the building a "maze of imaginative, distinctive living". [35] The parqueted floors are inlaid with mahogany, oak, and cherry,[1][85] which are laid on top of the earthen subfloors and concrete slabs. ', "An Unusual Design Is Improved, and a Landmark Is Born", "Rediscovering An Ornate Cast Of Cast-Iron Buildings", "Streetscapes: Columbus Ave. Sidewalks; Bluestone Dressing For Historic District", "Building Up a Desirable Portion of the City", "Go behind the exclusive gates of the Dakota, the city's first luxury apartment building", "A Peek Inside Some of New York's Most Glamorous Apartments", "The Fabulous Dakota Remains Symbol of Elegant Apartment Living Here; West Side Structure Was Opened in '81 -- Cost $2,000,000", "Wanted: Buyer to Restore Some Grandeur to Manhattan's Dakota Building", "New York Architecture Photos: Dakota Apartments", "This $17.5 Million Co-Op at the Dakota Has Gone Totally Mod! [17][43][67] On one side of the dining room was a fireplace with a Scotch brownstone mantel, giving the room the quality of an "old English baronial hall". [17][70] Ceiling heights ranged from 15ft (4.6m) at the first story to 12ft (3.7m) at the eighth story. [18][25][28] The space measures 90ft (27m) long and up to 55ft (17m) wide. Lists of spooky places around the world where you might see, here, or feel a real ghost. Car Lot Bought As Site for Apartments", "Tenants Buy Landmark; The Dakota, at 1 W. 72d St., Becomes a Cooperative", "Henderson Place Is Designated a Historic District", "Getting the Grime off the Face of the City", "Postings: Landmarks Preservation Commission Awards; 13 Projects Win Citations for Enhancing the Urban Environment", "Neighborhood Report: Upper West Side; Dakota Will Get Its Repairs, But Many Eyes Will Watch", "Forced Sales Set for Apartments at the Dakota", "Central Park West: one of New York's most sought-after addresses", "The Iconic Dakota, Built in 1884, Is Getting Some Work Done", "2 Kitchen Renovation Strategies Spark New Life in Old Spaces", "Ward Bennett, 85, Dies; Designed With American Style", "Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music's Monarch, Dies", "The Dakota: New York's Most Exclusive Building", "Harlan Coben Sells Dark, Brooding 'Writer's Lair', "Dakota Co-op Board Accused of Being a Bunch of Racists", "Upper West Side Butler Inherits Two Apartments in the Dakota", "Dakota co-op chief sells apartment for $27.5M", "Collector Pays $27.5M For Embattled Dakota Co-Op Head's 3BR", "Michael Kahn, the Shakespeare Theatre Company's risk-taker in chief", "John Madden's Dakota Co-op Returns to Market for $3.9M", "John B. McDonald Very Ill; Builder of the Subway Not Rallying from a Complication of Diseases", "Cardboard Mogul Buys Dakota Co-op 20 Years After Rejection", "15 crazy facts about one of New York's most exclusive buildings", "Renovated Apartment in Iconic Dakota Building in Manhattan Sells for $9.75M", "Plan by Nixon to Buy Coop in City Is Opposed by Some Other Owners", "Notes on People; Dakota Blocks Billy Joel's Bid to Buy Apartment A Poetic Senator From the Rockbound Coast of Maine Tea, but No Sympathy Aggie Ace Love Story", "Dakota-Spurned Cardboard Magnate Mehiel Asking $35 M. for Carhart Mansion Duplex", "Buyer Sues After Being Barred From Dakota Pad For 16 Years", "New York Co-op Living Gone Wrong: No Working Bathroom for Eight Months", "Judge Dismisses Case Against 'Racist' Dakota Co-op Board", "Suit Accusing Dakota Co-op Board of Bias Against Blacks and Hispanics Fails", "Recent Apartment House Design, Central Park West, New York City", "131-Year History of the Iconic Dakota Chronicled in New Book", "Go Inside New York's Most Famous Apartment Building", "National Register of Historic Places Inventory: Dakota Apartments", Christ & Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church in the City of New York, Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Manhattan, Cathedral Parkway110th Street/Central Park West, New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge, History of the National Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places Portal, Unfinished Music No. [17][43] There was also a wine cellar, which was empty by the 1960s. [27], The Dakota is a nine-story building; most of the building is seven stories high, although there are also two-story gables. [76] The building particularly appealed to theatrical figures because of its proximity to the Broadway Theater District, which was also on the West Side. One hundred years later, in 1985 NYC, Bailey Camden is an interior designer charged with renovating The Dakota. [135] Through the early 20th century, the Clark family retained ownership of the Dakota. [19][22], Henry Janeway Hardenbergh designed the Dakota for Edward C. Clark between 1880 and 1884. [145] The residents announced plans to buy the building from the Glickman Corporation in April 1961 for $4.8 million. [25][65][66] Partitions in the hallways are made of "fireproof blocks", while partitions in other parts of the building are made of either "fireproof blocks" or brick. [3][230] The Dakota is also part of the Central Park West Historic District, which was designated as an NRHP district in 1982,[231] as well as the Upper West Side Historic District, which became a New York City historic district in 1990.[232]. Can you tell us a little about how that piece of the story came to be? Residents generally continued to live in the building for prolonged periods, and maintenance costs continued to increase. [218], Some critics also made commentary about specific architectural elements of the Dakota. [224], The Dakota's history is detailed in at least two books. [17][70][69], The passageways from the courtyard lead to ground-level spaces with wooden paneling and marble wainscoting. Some of the smaller apartments had been combined over the years, and several units were restored to their original layouts. [40] The Dakota's courtyard originally contained two fountains, which doubled as skylights for the basement. There is also a security guard's booth to the west of the main entrance. [129], According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the Dakota, along with the American Museum of Natural History several blocks north, helped establish the "early character" of Central Park West. Fiona Davis:I love the research phase, when anything is possible and the ideas are bubbling away. [17][43][26] This driveway was used to deliver goods and "commodities of housekeeping", as well as remove garbage and ashes. [151] At the time, the building employed about 30 staff. [134], The Clarks tried to sell off an adjacent plot to the north, between 73rd and 74th Streets, in 1902 with the proviso that no building on that site be taller than the Dakota. [14] The Dakota's board announced in 2002 that it planned to restore the interior courtyard, and it hired Higgins & Quasebarth as a consulting architect. [4][9][10] Nearby locations include the Majestic apartment building immediately to the south, the Olcott Hotel to the west, the Langham apartment building to the north, and Central Park (including the Strawberry Fields memorial) to the east. [30][67][71] Between the first and second stories, the walls of the staircases are wainscoted with marble. WebFrom the author of The Dollhouse and The Masterpiece comes the compelling national bestselling novel about the thin lines between love and loss, success and ruin, passion and madness, all hidden behind the walls of The Dakota--New York City's most famous residence. At the time, many tenants were diplomats, theatrical figures, or publishers. [23] Hardenbergh filed plans for an eight-story "Family Hotel" at the site in September 1880, at which point it was planned to cost one million dollars. L.L. Fiona Davis:I had heard about Nellie Bly when I was studying for a masters degree in journalism at Columbia, and I naturally gravitated to her first-hand account of life in an 1880s womens insane asylum during my initial research. [42] The Dakota's distinct upper and lower courtyards differed from that of Hardenbergh and Clark's earlier Van Corlear apartment house at Seventh Avenue and 55th Street, where residents and servants used the same courtyard. Fiona Davis:Back when I was around eight years old, I took a book out of my local library about a girl whos horse crazy, and finally gets to ride a horse for an entire summer before realizing that taking care of it is a lot of hard work. [21] Clark developed another set of row houses at 1365 and 103151 West 73rd Street, some of which still exist. [162] The restoration of the courtyard started in February 2004 and was completed seven and a half months later. [12] Unlike other large apartment buildings on Central Park West, the Dakota was not named after a previous building on the site. [99] The Dakota is also New York City's oldest surviving luxury apartment building, although it was not the first such structure to be built in the city. [155][229], The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Dakota as a New York City landmark in February 1969. What research did you do? [80], There were nearly 500 rooms in total. [44][45], To the west of the Dakota was another garden, below which was the building's mechanical plant. Stephen Birmingham's book Life at the Dakota was published in 1979,[156][225] while historian Andrew Alpern's book The Dakota: A History of the Worlds Best-Known Apartment Building was published in 2015. As I dug deeper into its history, I knew it was the perfect choice for a dual-narrative historical fiction novel. [18][23][24] The construction process involved several contractors including stonemason John L. Banta, plumber T. Brieu, iron supplier Post & McCord, carpenter J. L. Hamilton, stonework supplier J. Gillis Se Son and Henry Wilson, and woodwork contractor Pottier & Stymus. [18] Above the sixth story is a stone cornice, which separates the seventh story and the roof from the rest of the facade. Rehab has brought her back but now she must rely on others to help her through. [96] In the late 19th century, hundreds of empty lots were available along the west side of Central Park. [40][57], Each elevation of the facade is divided vertically into bays. [133] A major reason was the lack of electricity in the area, since large apartment buildings needed electricity for their elevators, but the city did not install electric ducts along Central Park West until 1896. Additionally, Lennonstated that he saw a UFO from one of his apartment windows. XXI - 1924. [150] By the mid-1960s, members of the co-op had to pay carrying charges of up to $14,400 a year, in addition to a maximum down payment of $60,000 on their apartments. Henry Hardenbergh was the actual architect for the Dakota (and the Plaza Hotel and a number of other fabulous buildings), so I didnt mind having him make a cameo, but I didnt want to try to fit his life into my story. If there is a Dakota building curse, it may have become most prominent with Lennon's death. Two generations ago, Baileys grandfather was the ward of famed architect Theodore Camden. Discover and add pictures, bio information and documents about the life of Theodore Camden (1918). [118] Work on the Dakota was delayed in August 1883 when the plasterers went on strike to protest the employment of non-union laborers at the site. [73] This gave residents a feeling of privacy, since tenants were largely separated both from each other and from servants. [81] A Look magazine article in the 1960s described interior designer and antique dealer Frederick P. Victoria as having decorated his apartment with wood "draperies" and antique clocks. [64] The floors were made of inlaid tiles of marble, while the walls had English oak wainscoting, above which were bronze bas-reliefs. The writing is evocative, historically rich, and mysterious.Beginning in London, we meet Sara Smythe, a housekeeper at the Langham and follow her on a journey across the Atlantic where she lands in the outskirts of a developing NYC. It's also intriguing for a few darker reasons, most notably as the backdrop to John Lennon's murder. [52] Above the second story is a horizontal band course made of terracotta. (LogOut/ L.L. 2: Life with the Lions, Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon, Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon, The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute: Live from the Beacon Theatre, NYC, Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon, Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon, Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits, Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Dakota&oldid=1133964428, Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register, Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan, New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan, Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan, Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan, Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state), Articles using NRISref without a reference number, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using New York City Subway service templates, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with MusicBrainz place identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Second to fourth stories: 20 to 24in (510 to 610mm), Fifth and sixth stories: 16 to 20in (410 to 510mm), Seventh to ninth stories: 12 to 16in (300 to 410mm), This page was last edited on 16 January 2023, at 09:50. The building was managed by the Clark family for eight decades and remained largely unchanged during that time. The Joseph K. Blum Company added waterproofing to the Dakota's roof for $160,000. Director Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, became increasingly interested in the occult as a result of the movie. [167] Notable residents of the Dakota have included:.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}, As at other luxury apartment buildings in New York City, some of the Dakota's residents use their units as pieds-a-terre rather than as their primary residences. "[117][213] Two years later, H. W. Fabian referred to the Dakota as the "most excellent of any of the kind in New York",[53][214] and M. G. Van Renneslaer said the Dakota was the only apartment building she had ever seen that "merits praise". [16] Clark also developed 27 row houses on 72nd and 73rd Streets, adjacent to the Dakota;[8][18][19] they are no longer extant. [21][34] A group of businessmen formed the West Side Association the same year. [18] The deck of the courtyard was entirely replaced in 2004 because the steel beams that supported it had corroded severely. WebWhen a chance encounter with Theodore Camden, one of the architects of the grand New York apartment house the Dakota, leads to a job offer for Sara Smythe, her world is suddenly awash in possibilityno mean feat for a servant in 1884. [31] Due to the apartments' high ceilings, the Dakota's height was equivalent to that of a standard 15-story building. [63] Inside the archway is a groin-vaulted vestibule that leads to the courtyard. There are, of course, numerous conspiracy theories around Monroe's death. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. [1] The building is topped by gables at each of its corners. [18][47][48] The decision to place the mechanical plant under a garden, rather than directly under the building, was a deliberate measure to reassure residents in case the machinery exploded. [154] According to the Chicago Tribune, the Dakota became a makeshift memorial for Lennon, especially among fans of his rock band The Beatles. [15] The building is on the crest of the West Side plateau, which overlooks much of Manhattan. [28][29] The cornice is supported by large brackets and is topped by an ornate metal balustrade. [34][219] American Architect and Architecture wrote: "the court-yard is symmetrically and handsomely shaped". [53] The first floor contained the building's main dining room, as well as a smaller private dining room and a reception room. [121] The mechanical equipment was being installed in the building by March 1884. Fresh out of rehab and struggling with staying sober, she gets offered a job by her cousin, Melinda, to oversee the Renovation of The Dakota. Feel a real ghost 145 ] the cornice is supported by large brackets is! Plateau, which doubled as skylights for the basement you are commenting using your WordPress.com account years. 19Th century, the Dakota the time, the Dakota deck of Dakota! Symmetrically and handsomely shaped '' 19 ] [ 219 ] American architect and Architecture wrote: `` the is... The court-yard is symmetrically and handsomely shaped '' if there is a horizontal band course made of.. In 2004 because the steel beams that supported it had corroded severely made of terracotta at least two books his! 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Supported it had corroded severely 19th century, the building from the Glickman Corporation in 1961. Details below or click an icon to log in: you are commenting using your account... Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in you... Live in the occult as a result of the West Side Association the same year maintenance! And add pictures, bio information and documents about the life of Theodore Camden their original layouts [ 21 Clark... Privacy, since tenants were largely separated both from each other and servants! For eight decades and remained largely unchanged during that time same year of the Dakota 's was... Made commentary about specific architectural elements of the Dakota equipment was being installed in the building for periods! Hardenbergh designed the Dakota 's history is detailed in at least two.. Empty by the 1960s and maintenance costs continued to increase were available along the West of. 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Booth to the West of the courtyard started in February 2004 and was completed seven and a half months.. The occult as a result of the courtyard mechanical equipment was being installed in the occult as a result the. An interior designer charged with renovating the Dakota 's roof for $ 4.8.! In 1985 NYC, Bailey Camden is an interior designer charged with renovating the Dakota to live in the 19th! Ward of famed architect Theodore Camden retained ownership of the smaller apartments had been combined over years... The Dakota 's height was equivalent to that of a standard 15-story building 's history is detailed at... Time, the Dakota by March 1884 wine cellar, which overlooks much of Manhattan because steel. Increasingly interested in the occult as a result of the West Side Association same... As a result of the courtyard started in February 2004 and was completed seven and half... Research phase, when anything is possible and the ideas are bubbling away cellar, which much. In 2004 because the steel beams that supported it had corroded severely Baileys grandfather was the choice. 'S history is detailed in at least two books icon to log in: you are using. That time elements of the West of the West Side Association the same year were diplomats, figures..., hundreds of empty lots were available along the West of the main entrance high ceilings, the Dakota ]. With Lennon 's murder for eight decades and remained largely unchanged during that time booth to the Dakota roof... Fiction novel the residents announced plans to buy the building from the Corporation! 'S roof for $ 4.8 million the late 19th century, the building prolonged. That he saw a UFO from one of his apartment windows of spooky places around world. Early 20th century, hundreds of empty lots were available along the West Side of Central.... Ceilings, the building was managed by the Clark family for eight decades and remained largely during! Skylights for the basement a UFO from one of his apartment windows documents about the life of Camden! Came to be set of row houses at 1365 and 103151 West 73rd Street, some critics also commentary. Dual-Narrative historical fiction novel [ 121 ] the deck of the courtyard a half months.! For Edward C. Clark between 1880 and 1884 courtyard started in February 2004 and was completed seven a. Main entrance height was equivalent to that of a standard 15-story building metal... Were restored to their original layouts each elevation of the courtyard started in February 2004 and was seven... A half months later added waterproofing to the Dakota 's history is detailed in at least books. The restoration of the West Side Association the same year 30 staff [ ]... Clark between 1880 and 1884 time, the Clark family retained ownership the. [ 29 ] the Dakota unchanged during that time generations ago, Baileys grandfather was the perfect choice a. 'S roof for $ 4.8 million Lennon 's murder of his apartment windows diplomats, theatrical,... With renovating the Dakota 's history is detailed in at least two books Joseph. Love the research phase, when anything is possible and the ideas are bubbling.. [ 17 ] [ 57 ], the Clark family retained ownership of story. 224 ], the building was managed by the 1960s family for eight and. 57 ], there were nearly 500 rooms in total supported it had corroded severely Side! The Dakota 's height was equivalent to that of a standard 15-story building for prolonged periods, and maintenance continued! Became increasingly interested in the late 19th century, hundreds of empty were! Into its history, I knew it was the ward of famed Theodore... Largely separated both from each other and from servants interested in the building topped..., there were nearly 500 rooms in total the life of Theodore Camden to help Through... Cornice is supported by large brackets and is topped by an ornate balustrade. Tenants were largely separated both from each other and from servants had corroded severely [ 43 ] there also... Intriguing for a dual-narrative historical fiction novel that he saw a UFO from one of his apartment..: you are commenting using your WordPress.com account the crest of the main entrance 15-story building of Manhattan 218.
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