November y, 1908





RECORD  AND  GUIDE





S73





i





THE ARCHITECT

WHAT HE HAS DONE RECENTLY

AND WHY HE DID IT





THE BELNORD TO HAVE INTERESTING FEATURES.





Conveniences   for    the   Tenant   in    High-Class    Housekeeping    Apartments   Are    Multiplying   in   an   Astonishing   Degree.





SEVERELY tested as the fertility of man's brain and the in¬
genuity of his skill have been in the design and construction
of buildings that are intended to eclipse all others of their kind,
there appears to be an inexhaustible fund of ideas to make the
latest architectural creation of beauty and utility decidedly
better than its reigning predecessor. This is certainly true in
respect to the providing of physical comfort and conveniences,
the acme of which is the New Yorker's dream. The erection
of the Belnord apartment house on the block bounded by
Broadway, Amsterdam av, Sfjth st and STth st. where thou¬
sands of tons of rock are being excavated, is an illustration In
point. The complete divorce of carriage and service entrances,
the inclosed court with a gem of artificial landscape in the
centre, the interior decorations rivaling the elegance of the
periods which they so successfully reproduce, the ransacking of
Europe for both materials and suggestions, the announcement of
a structure as being perfection itself^all of these features are
more or less common, at least to the informed mind in Man¬
hattan. And yet almost every season of the year has its sur¬
prises. The world's largest collection of superior apartments
under one roof, a distinction to which the Belnord lays claim,
wiil supply its quota.
The   contemplated   method   of  mail   delivery   appeals  to   the





imagination as well as to the love of ease in the home life of
the Empire City, It is delightful to be able to step from the
library in a smoking jacket and drop a letter into the chute run¬
ning up through the semi-private vestibules of such an apart¬
ment house. It would be very much more delightful (the nov¬
elty of the former feature having worn out) to have the post¬
man deliver your mail as easily as he does it for those whose
rooms are in close proximity to the letter boxes, or to have it
delivered without the necessity of depending upon the elevator
boy. In the Hotel Astor there has been installed a clever elec¬
trical contrivance whereby the guest is notified silently and
instantly whenever anything has arrived for him at the of¬
fice. The moment a letter is placed in the box bearing his num¬
ber the word "Mail" appears in illuminated letters in the
guest's room. The contrivance being devised for the Belnord
will not only advise the occupant of any suite of the arrival of
Uncle Sam's messenger, but will deliver in the same second
whatever has been dropped in the banks of boxes at the main
entrance. Communication with the carriers will be direct,
insuring the speediest possible receipt of correspondence. This
is surpassing accommodation.

The lessees are to be allowed the privilege of selecting their
own wall paper, but they will not have to leave the building to





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