The Manhasset
The Manhasset is a residential building on the western side of Broadway, between 108th and 109th streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York. Constructed between 1899 and 1905 as one of several apartment hotels along Broadway on the Upper West Side, the Manhasset was designed in the Beaux-Arts style and was split into northern and southern halves. The lowest eight stories of the 11-story building were designed by Joseph Wolf, while the top three stories were designed by the firm of Janes & Leo. The building is a New York City designated landmark.
The base is two stories high and is clad with rusticated limestone blocks; it has entrances on 108th and 109th streets, as well as storefronts on Broadway. The central section of the facade is largely made of salmon brick, with ornamentation made of architectural terracotta. There are exterior light courts facing north, south, and west. The structure is topped by a two-story mansard roof. As built, the Manhasset had 77 apartments spread across the northern and southern sections; following a 1939 renovation, the building has had 136 apartments.
The Manhasset was developed by John W. and William Noble, who acquired the site in 1899 but were unable to complete the structure. Although the Manhasset was built as an eight-story edifice, Jacob Butler expanded it to 11 stories after taking over the development in 1901. The building was finished in 1905, and the Butler family retained it until 1909. Storefronts were added to the ground floor in 1910, and the Manhasset was sold several more times over the years. The Mutual Life Insurance Company, which acquired the Manhasset in 1932, subdivided the apartments between 1939 and 1940. The Heller family acquired the Manhasset during the late 20th century and converted the apartments into a housing cooperative in 1993, retaining ownership of the retail condominium at the building's base. After undergoing a renovation in the late 1990s, the Manhasset was damaged by a fire in 1999.
Site
The Manhasset is located at 2801–2825 Broadway, on the western sidewalk between 108th and 109th streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It occupies the eastern end of the city block bounded by Broadway to the east, 108th Street to the north, Riverside Drive to the west, and 108th Street to the south. The rectangular land lot covers, with a frontage of on Broadway and on the side streets. Nearby buildings include the Schinasi Mansion and Nicholas Roerich Museum one block southwest, the Ramath Orah synagogue one block north, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine two blocks northeast. In addition, the New York City Subway's Cathedral Parkway–110th Street station is one block to the north.Architecture
The Manhasset is composed of two conjoined structures, each 11 stories tall. The lowest eight stories were designed by Joseph Wolf, while the top three stories were designed by the firm of Janes & Leo. Both structures were designed in the Beaux-Arts style.Facade
All elevations of the building's facade are divided horizontally into three sections: a base, midsection, and capital. The base is two stories high and is clad with rusticated blocks of limestone; it is topped by a horizontal belt course above the second story. On the northern and southern elevations, the base also contains bands of rock-faced limestone. The midsection runs from the third to ninth story and is composed largely of salmon-colored bricks. On the third to seventh stories, the corners of the building contain curved bricks, and there are terracotta decorations around the windows. The eighth story also has terracotta window frames, and there are cornices above the seventh, eighth, and ninth stories. The tenth and eleventh floors are within a steep mansard roof and contain metal dormer windows. The southern elevation on 108th Street and the northern elevation on 109th Street both include an entrance and a deep light court, though the entrance on 108th Street is more elaborate.Broadway
Both halves of the Manhasset share a facade along Broadway to the east, but the southern and northern sections of the eastern facade are not symmetrical. The lack of symmetry is because the apartments in the southern half of the building were originally larger than those in the northern half. The two sections are visually separated by a shallow notch between the fifth and seventh stories, as well as a vertical bar in the mansard roof. From left to right, the Broadway facade is divided vertically into 11 bays, each with a different number of windows. As counted from south to north, bays 2, 4, 8, 9, and 11 have one window per story; bays 1, 3, and 10 have two windows per story; bays 5 and 6 have three windows per story; and bay 7 has one double-width window on each story. On the third to eighth stories, there is a party wall between bays 6 and 7, which is delineated by blind openings.Above the storefronts is an egg-and-dart molding, which remains largely in place; rectangular signs with anthemia were originally placed over each storefront below the molding, but only one of these signs survives. The second-story windows are all recessed into the facade. There are brackets on either side of the second-story windows in bays 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 10, which support balconies with iron railings on the third story of these bays. Within the third to seventh stories, each bay is placed within its own terracotta frame; the decorations largely remain in place except for the second bay, where all the window sills and lintels have been removed. There are terracotta panels above the third-story windows. On the fourth story, bays 1, 3, and 10 are topped by broken pediments with cartouches; bays 4, 7–9, and 11 are topped by lintels with cartouches and brackets; and bays 5 and 6 are topped by lintels with brackets only. There are balustrades in front of the fifth-story windows in bays 5 and 6, as well as in front of most of the sixth-story and seventh-story windows. In addition, there are cartouches above the seventh story windows.
The facade of the eighth and ninth floors is clad with brick, and the windows on these stories are arranged similarly to those on the floors below. The eighth-floor windows have terracotta surrounds, and the corners of the facade on that floor contain brick quoins. The ninth-floor windows are surrounded by bricks in a keyed pattern. The top two stories are within the mansard roof, which is steep and contains metal dormers. The tenth-floor dormers are flanked by panels with foliate patterns and are topped by lintels with brackets. The dormer windows in the triple-width bays 5 and 6 have segmentally-arched pediments that are decorated with cartouches. The eleventh-floor dormers are topped by triangular pediments. On the eleventh story, only the central window panes in bays 5 and 6 have frames and pediments, while the double-width bay 7 has one central pane with a pediment, which is flanked by two smaller panes without pediments.
Side elevations
On 108th Street, the entrance pavilion is through a round arch, which has glass-and-iron double doors beneath a fanlight. The bottom of the archway's extrados contains carvings of seaweed and dolphins, while the pinnacle is decorated with an ornamental keystone. On either side of the arch are two protruding Ionic columns, which stand in front of two Doric pilasters. Adjoining each set of pilasters are stone panels with rams' heads and garlands, followed by an outer pilaster. Atop the entrance pavilion is a cornice with brackets; this cornice continues along a segmental arch that rises above the doorway. The tympanum below the arch includes a marble roundel with stone garlands, in addition to four more marble panels. A light court rises above the entrance pavilion, dividing the 108th Street elevation into two symmetrical wings; each wing has a single-width inner bay and a double-width outer bay. The decorations of the wings are similar to those on the Broadway elevations. The light court has a plain facade with fire escapes, and the western and eastern walls of the light court shift slightly inward at the light court's north end.On 109th Street, the entrance pavilion is slightly less ornate, though similar to the 108th Street pavilion. The arch is flanked by two Doric pilasters and Ionic columns on each side, which support a segmental arch with a marble tympanum, similar to on 108th Street. However, the 109th Street entrance lacks the stone panels and outer pilasters found on the 108th Street elevation. Also unlike on 108th Street, the two wings are not symmetrical; the western wing contains one triple-width bay, while the eastern wing contains one triple-width bay flanked by single-width bays. The light court on 109th Street contains fire escapes as well.
To the west, the facade is largely made of plain beige brick, except for the portions of the facade closest to 108th and 109th streets. The southernmost and northernmost bays of the western elevation are designed similarly to the other three elevations, with a mansard roof on the tenth and eleventh stories. There is also a rear courtyard facing the west.