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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 88, no. 2266: August 19, 1911

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Vol. LXXXVIII AUGUST 19, igu Ko. 2266 GOOD TASTE IN THE NEWER APARTMENTS. Simplicity and a Homelike Atmosphere Sought After in the Costly Houses Built this Year in Large Numbers—The Renting Situation. THE tall modern apartment house, liko the skyscraper, is distinctly a New York type. The idea of housing many families under one roof was conceived abroad, but the twelve-story, steel skele¬ ton house, with all the luxuries of the finest priva.te dwelling, has reached its full development only in th:s city. The engineering inventions which made pos¬ sible the tall offlce building have been used effectively in the apartment, and to-day the general construction plan of the two kinds of building is almost iden¬ tical. The first apartment houses were com¬ monly known as "flats" and were hut little superior to pur present new-law tenements. They were occupied mainly by people of very moderate means, who ■could not afford the luxury of a private house and a certain amount of popular prejudice existed against them. In fact, in the early days of many-family houses, flat dwellers were looked upon as an in¬ ferior order by private house residents. To-day people of wealth and fashion are housed in apartments. The extent to which the private house is being super- the blocks between 60th and 95th streets, west of Lexington avenue, and with the advent of rapid transit on the East Side the apartment house builder is likely to encroach seriously on this hitherto re¬ stricted neighborhood. Apartment houses as now constructed may be divided into four types; the five- story non-flreproof walkup; the semi- fireproof six-story elevator house; the fireproof house, ranging from eight to twelve stories; and the co-operative building. The flrst type, is not nearly so popular as it was a few years ago and is found chiefly in the neighborhoods where land is cheap. These houses cater to people of very moderate means. The six-story house is a very popular form of building and has been extensively used in the development of the upper West Side, Washington Heights and the Bronx. The fireproof type of house is coming rapidly into favor and is to be found on all of the better class of side streets and avenues. The height of apartment houses is gov¬ erned almost entirely by the regulation of the cily building code. Under the law. all buildings over 75 feet high must be of fnl if enterprises of this character will ever be carried out to any great extent except in districts which are recognized social centers. The tendency to-day in all forms of building is towards larger structures. The public has become edu¬ cated to the necessity of light and air and the proper supply of these elements is only lo be obtained hy the use of large ground areas. Besides this, the builders have found that large structures are pro¬ portionately more economical in construc¬ tion and in management. The twenty- flve-foot house, so common a few years ago, is almost never undertaken. Build¬ ers seldom care to attempt an apartment house on a plot of less than 50 fl.inwidth, and buildings occupying an entire block front are by no means unusual. On the middle West Side, one may flnd two apartment houses, each of which covers an entire block and provides accommoda¬ tions for over one hundred famMies. The necessity of providing ample light and air to all the rooms has given rise to a deal of experimentation in the ar¬ rangement of court space. In large houses of the better class the side court, alriiost ■5« JL^ .)^. i.( ^ it ■8^ 311, :tf":ift isa^jis-^: Mud ■fiS ft "3i"32 3fi ^^ ^' i^-. _-: ___-, >: THE CURVING STREET LINE MAKES THIS HOUSE ATTRACTIVE. BUILDING WITH FORECOURTS OPENING ON THE STREET. seded may he realized hy a n'ance at the records of the build'ng department. In some of the poorest years in the last de¬ cade as few as sixty-five private houses were huilt in Manhattan, while in the pre¬ ceding ten years the number ranged from 835 in ISDO to 112 in IWO. Fifteen years ago the construction of dwellings was a favorite speculative operation,-but to-day probably no money would be forthcoming for flnancing such an operation. Unlike oftice buildings, apartments are confined to no particular sections, but are to he found in all parts of the bor¬ ough above Bleecker street. The newer "ections of town have been built up. al¬ most entirely with these structures, while nearly all of the older social centers have felt the inroads of apartments to a large extent. The exclusive Gramercy Park private residence section has almost en¬ tirely disappeared: Hurray Hill :s sur¬ rounded with apartments; here and there they have appeared on 5th avenue and Park avenue, above 5!1th street, is now the chief seat of the most expensive and luxurious apartments in the world. The ultra-fashionahle private hou,=e dis¬ trict is now confined almost entirely to fireproof construction, hut in the case of apartments the height of the structure is limited lo one and a-half times the width of the street on which the building stands. For this reason the eight-story houses are found mainly on the side streets, while the ten and twelve-story buildings appear on the wider avenues. Up to the present time, no apartments of over twelve stories have been attempt¬ ed, but one of sixteen stories has recently been planned on Columbia Heights, over¬ looking the college campus. The co-operative type of house has be¬ come quite popular of late among people of wealth who desire to have a proprie¬ tary interest in the property in which they reside. The very nature Of a tenant- owned structure presupposes a perman- nency not to be expected in huildings of a purely speculative or investment na¬ ture, and for this reason houses of this class are found only in the most desira¬ ble locations. The district around Gram- arcy Park and that section of Park ave¬ nue lying just north of SOth street, have been their favorite locations. A few ar¬ tists' buildings of this nature have ap¬ peared on the West Side, but It la doubt- entirely employed in earlier construction, has practically disappeared. A rear space and one large court running into the cen¬ ter of the building from the rear, is one very common plan. Another, which is becoming popu'ar, is to have one or two courts, extending into the building on the street side. This plan gives every room in the front part of the building an out¬ look on the street. In very large houses, such as the Apthorpe or Eelnord. the en¬ tire building is constructed around an immense interior court which has a greater width than that of many avenues. On account of the possibilities afforded for grass plots, hedges and flower gar¬ dens, the latter plan is ideal, but unfor¬ tunately it can only he used in the case of extremely large buildings. The immense amount of apartment house construction and the conseciuent competition for tenants, has given rise to a great variety of architecture. In order to attract public interest and to secure the co-operation of owners in the build¬ ing of sightly and well-planned houses, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has offered an an¬ nual prize to the owner of that tenement