The Osborne
The Osborne, also known as the Osborne Apartments or 205 West 57th Street, is an apartment building at Seventh Avenue and 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The original portion of the Osborne was designed by James Edward Ware and constructed from 1883 to 1885. An annex to the west, designed by Alfred S. G. Taylor and Julian Clarence Levi, was constructed in 1906. The Osborne is one of the oldest extant luxury apartment buildings in New York City.
The Osborne's facade is clad in rusticated blocks of brownstone, with a main entrance on 57th Street and a variety of window configurations. The first floor has an elaborate foyer and lobby, while the other floors contain apartments in duplex arrangements. The southern section of the building, facing 57th Street, is 11 stories tall and originally contained main living spaces with high ceilings. The northern section, at the rear of the building, is 15 stories tall and contained the bedrooms and servant's rooms. The Osborne was originally built with 38 apartments, although many of these units were gradually subdivided starting in the early 1920s.
The building's namesake was the stone contractor Thomas Osborne, who had acquired the land in 1883 from restaurateur John Taylor, constructing the building as a speculative investment. The $2 million construction cost forced Thomas Osborne into foreclosure, leading Taylor's family to acquire the building in 1889. The Taylors sold the Osborne in 1961, and it was turned into a housing cooperative the next year. Throughout its history, the Osborne has housed many artists, actors, and musicians, as well as upper-middle-class residents such as doctors and lawyers. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a city landmark in 1991, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
Site
The Osborne, also known as the Osborne Apartments, is on the northwest corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, two blocks south of Central Park, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. As built, the Osborne measured along 57th Street to the south and along Seventh Avenue to the east. The Osborne was extended by to the west in 1906, giving the Osborne a frontage of on 57th Street and 100 feet on Seventh Avenue. The site covers and was created by combining six land lots.The Osborne shares the city block with the American Fine Arts Society and the Central Park Tower to the west, 5 Columbus Circle to the northwest, and the Saint Thomas Choir School to the north. The Osborne is cater-corner from Carnegie Hall. It is also near 218 West 57th Street to the southwest; 888 Seventh Avenue and the Rodin Studios to the south; Alwyn Court, The Briarcliffe, and the Louis H. Chalif Normal School of Dancing to the east; and 200 and 220 Central Park South to the north. Right outside the building is an entrance to the New York City Subway's 57th Street–Seventh Avenue station, served by the.
The Osborne is part of a former artistic hub around a two-block section of West 57th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. The hub had been developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hub was developed following the opening of Carnegie Hall in 1891, though the Osborne predates Carnegie Hall. Several buildings in the area were constructed as residences for artists and musicians, such as 130 and 140 West 57th Street, the Osborne, and the Rodin Studios, as well as the demolished Sherwood Studios and Rembrandt. In addition, the area contained the headquarters of organizations such as the American Fine Arts Society, the Lotos Club, and the American Society of Civil Engineers at 220 West 57th Street. By the 21st century, the artistic hub had largely been replaced with Billionaires' Row, a series of luxury skyscrapers around the southern end of Central Park. The Osborne was also part of a hub of luxury buildings developed on the northernmost end of Seventh Avenue, around Carnegie Hall, by 1900.
Architecture
The Osborne was designed and built by James Edward Ware, who completed the structure in 1885. It was expanded with an annex to the west in 1906, designed by Alfred S. G. Taylor and Julien Clarence Levi. Ware designed the Osborne in a similar manner an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo. The Osborne also contains some Romanesque Revival design features such as round-arched entrance and window openings, a rough-cut stone cladding, and recessed windows. It is the second-oldest luxury apartment building in New York City, behind the Dakota, which was completed in 1884.The primary section of the Osborne faces south toward 57th Street and is designed with 11 stories. The rear section, facing north, contains 15 duplex levels, though the roof is at the same height as in the rest of the building. The northern portion of the building contains two "light wells". The original structure contains a light well halfway along the northern elevation. The placement of this light well was unusual, given that many contemporary structures had light courts at the front, which for the Osborne would be the southern elevation. The other light well is between the annex and the western side of the original building. The Osborne, including its annex, is tall.
Facade
The Osborne's facade is clad largely with rusticated blocks of brownstone. Architectural writers Sarah Landau and Carl Condit theorized that the material was meant to evoke the design of the brownstone row houses that were common across the city, while architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern wrote that the use of brownstone may have instead been used to "convey a sense of the power of stone". The namesake and developer, Thomas Osborne, expected that the facade could attract residents of middle-class brownstone row houses. The superstructure is constructed of masonry bearing walls up to deep.The primary elevation, or side, faces 57th Street, while the secondary elevation is on Seventh Avenue. The 57th Street side has ten vertical bays—eight from the original design and two from the 1906 annex—while the Seventh Avenue side has eight bays. Large cornices with modillions run atop the second, sixth, and ninth floors. The facade contains stylistic details such as carved stone panels with classical iconography. Projecting oriel windows were also added to provide light to the apartments. In general, the exterior was intended to reflect the ornate design of the interior. The 15 duplex levels at the rear accommodated the shorter ceiling heights of the rooms there.
Base
The base is composed of the lowest two stories. At ground level, the main entrance is in the center of the original facade on 57th Street, between the fourth and fifth bays from the east. The entrance is within a white segmental arch, above which is a scrolled keystone flanked by garlands. Inside the arch opening is a wooden double door with a leaded-glass transom window above it. The arch is flanked by two pairs of pilasters supporting a short entablature; a pair of glass-and-metal lanterns are mounted on the inner pair of pilasters. The remainder of the ground level contains storefronts. A small band course runs between the first and second stories. An entrance porch formerly projected onto 57th Street. There was also an areaway running around the building, traversed only by a small overpass.On the 2nd story along 57th Street, the original facade has eight bays. Within the center two bays, now the fourth and fifth bays from the east, there are four round-arched windows, topped by flat keystones. The two bays on either side, now the second, third, sixth, and seventh bays, each contain a single round-arched window with a flat keystone above and a decorative stone panel below. The outermost pair of bays, now the first and eighth bays, each contain a pair of rectangular sash windows. On Seventh Avenue, the seven southernmost bays each contain one rectangular sash window at the 2nd story. A modillioned cornice runs above the 2nd story along 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, except in the fourth and fifth bays along 57th Street. The cornice was intended to give the impression that the building was shorter than it actually was.
The two westernmost bays along 57th Street comprise the 1906 annex and contain three shorter stories within the same double-height base: the ground floor, followed by two mezzanine floors. Both mezzanines contain a triple-sided, metal-clad oriel window within the left-side bay, which is the tenth bay from the east. The annex's right-side bay, the ninth bay from the east, contains a rectangular window opening on each mezzanine. The northernmost Seventh Avenue bay also contains three shorter stories in the double-height base, with two rectangular windows on either mezzanine floor.
Upper stories
On the 3rd through 6th stories, the original section of the 57th Street facade contains triple-sided, stone-clad oriel windows on the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth bays from the east. The second, third, sixth, and seventh bays contain rectangular windows, with balconettes at the fifth story. Above all eight bays, there are carved stone spandrel panels between the 3rd- and 4th-story windows, and stained-glass transom panels near the top of each 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-story window opening. In addition, bartizans rise from the 5th and 6th story at each corner of the original facade, supporting the cornice. A similar window arrangement appears on the seven southernmost bays facing Seventh Avenue, where the fourth and fifth bays from the south are grouped into a single oriel structure.On the 7th through 9th stories of the original 57th Street facade, the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth bays each contain three windows per story. The second, third, sixth, and seventh bays of this facade each contain two windows per story. The windows in each story are separated by carved stone spandrel panels. In addition, there are stained-glass transom panels near the top of each 7th- and 8th-story window opening. A similar window arrangement appears on the seven southernmost bays facing Seventh Avenue, except that each bay has a single window.
On both 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, there are rectangular windows on the 10th and 11th stories, with a horizontal band course between these floors. The windows on the 10th and 11th stories do not necessarily align with those on the other floors. There is a copper cornice above the 11th story.
The 57th Street annex rises only to the 10th story. The 3rd through 9th stories of the annex correspond to those in the original building. They contain a metal oriel on the left and a sash window on the right, similar to at the base. As with the original facade, there are bartizans on the 5th and 6th story, which flank the oriel and support the cornice. The annex's 10th story has a triple rectangular window.
The 3rd through 6th stories of the northernmost Seventh Avenue bay contain six offset duplex levels, each with a triple-sided, stone-clad oriel window. The 7th through 9th stories of the northernmost Seventh Avenue bay contain four offset duplex levels, each with a triple rectangular window.