Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 82, no. 2121: November 7, 1908

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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 , thus facilitat plots suitable and advantagi "It is under New York gro requirements, growth. The destroy the sn! shade. This c after the cons conditions for each owner is shall conform f porary -municipaH i-—; smaller Etructurqi opportunities for "Undoubtedly tated and its seve fied by salutary