Harperly Hall

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Harperly Hall
(U.S. Registered Historic District
Contributing Property)
Harperly Hall (New York)
Harperly Hall
Location: Manhattan, New York City, New York Flag of the United States United States
Coordinates: 40°46′16″N 73°58′46″W / 40.77111, -73.97944Coordinates: 40°46′16″N 73°58′46″W / 40.77111, -73.97944
Area: Central Park West Historic District
Built/Founded: 1910-1911[1][2]
Architect: Henry W. Wilkerson
Architectural style(s): Neo-Renaissance, Arts and Crafts
Added to NRHP: November 9, 1982[3]
NRHP Reference#: 82001189

Harperly Hall is an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building is located along prestigious Central Park West and was built in 1910, it opened in 1911. Cast in the Arts and Crafts style, a rarity for New York City, Harperly Hall was designed by Henry W. Wilkerson. The structure was listed as a contributing property to the U.S. federal government designated Central Park West Historic District in 1982 when the district joined the National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

[edit] History

Henry Wilhelm Wilkerson, the building's architect, and a group investors purchased the property at the northwest corner of 64th Street and Central Park West in 1909. The original group included Wilkerson, Mary Bookwalter, a decorator, Dwight Tryon, an artist, Wallace Irwin, a humorist and concert manager Loudon Charlton. According to the corporate papers they filed their goal was to build a cooperative "suitable for artists' studios." The building was named after a manor house in Northumberland, England, the Wilkerson's ancestral home.[2]

By March 1910 construction on Harperly Hall was nearing completion, the building represented the first housing cooperative in the Central Park West area.[4] The building officially opened in 1911 with 76 apartments.[2]

[edit] Architecture

The building at 41 Central Park West was designed by architect Henry W. Wilkerson. Wilkerson's design is unique from the typical apartment building design of the day. Wilkerson, who had little experience designing apartment-houses, used the Arts and Crafts style liberally, throughout the structure. Though the building is cast mostly in the Arts and Crafts style, a rarity for New York City, it does contain elements of the Neo-Italian Renaissance style.[2][1]

The facade is brown brick with a limestone base and terra cotta trim. The bricks, rough and mottled, are laid in "undulating lozenges" on the face of the building. This forms a "carpet-like" texture which gives the building a handmade character. Glazed tiles highlight the surface where they provide colorful displays of gold, turquoise and green. The glazed tile work is most likely the work of ceramicist Henry Mercer.[2]

[edit] Residents

- - Madonna (entertainer) resided for several years in 6A which she still owns. She recently purchased 4A. [2] [3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Central Park West Historic District, (Java), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, New York's State and National Registers of Historic Places Document Imaging Project [1], New York State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e Gray, Christopher. "Streetscapes/Harperly Hall; Restoring an Arts and Crafts Co-op Masterpiece," New York Times, 13 November 1994. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
  3. ^ NRIS Database, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
  4. ^ "In the real estate field," New York Times (1857-Current file); 4 March 1910, ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003), pg. 15. Retrieved 18 April 2007.