Book Description
FIRST MAJOR WORK PUBLISHED ON 20th CENTURY MASTER APARTMENT BUILDING DESIGNERS, ROSARIO CANDELA AND JAMES CARPENTER
Living on Park Avenue or Fifth could be regarded as a good sign you've arrived in New York but, for some, good is never quite good enough. True arbiters of taste define ultimate opulence by what hovers above and beyond the address: past the uniformed doorman, up the elevator, and across quiet thresholds. Here lies a world only a very privileged few call home — the coveted suites created by Rosario Candela and James Carpenter, time-honored masters of 20th century apartment house design.
Now, Acanthus Press offers the first major work on two of the most significant figures in the history of apartment house architecture: "The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter, by Apartments of the Affluent author Andrew Alpern.
Richly illustrated with archival photographs and floor plans, Alpern's book provides the architectural and social history of the great buildings of Candela and Carpenter, demonstrating the breadth of the designers' contribution to Manhattan's exterior and interior landscape. Added to the vintage photographs of elevations and interiors are later interiors done by some of New York's design elite: Buatta, Couturier, Cullman, Ferguson Shamamian & Rattner, Gwathmey, McMillen, Mark Hampton, Molyneux, Parish-Hadley, and others. Illuminating the volume with carefully researched facts and anecdotal narrative, the author demonstrates how Candela (1890-1953) and Carpenter (1867-1932) produced a golden age of apartment house design that was parallel to the golden age of New York's skyscrapers.
"Rosario Candela has replaced Stanford White as the real estate brokers' name-drop of choice," writes New York Times "Streetscapes" columnist, Christopher Gray. "Nowadays, to own a 10- to 20-room apartment in a Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural, as well as social cynosure."
Indeed, Candela and Carpenter not only understood the needs of discerning clientele; they effectively defined those needs. In concert with enlightened builders, these distinguished designers helped the affluent appreciate the amenities that separated the finest New York edifices from common residential buildings. "There was a wonderful assurance and solidity to his [Candela's] buildings," writes architecture critic Paul Goldberger. "They don't display any visible effort, in the greatest traditions of old money."
With well-proportioned rooms and imaginative layouts, Candela and Carpenter created the lavish structures that to this day continue to be the gold standard of Manhattan living spaces. More than a half-century later, their suites of rooms in the 124 remaining structures of the 127 they built prevail as the homes of the most successful New Yorkers.
The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter, features introductory essays by Christopher Gray and the prominent architectural designer David Netto.
Book Description
This is a gossipy account of the billionaires, movie stars, and corporate giants and the white-gloved, million dollar penthouse apartment buildings they inhabit. Included are the details of the resident selection process, with heartbreaking social, racial, and political stories of prejudice and privilege, where the majority of applicants are blackballed from certain buildings. This book can serve as a blueprint for how to handle the application process, supplying advice on who to ask for letters of recommendation, what to wear to the co-op interview, how much to reveal to the board, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
High Rise Low Down.......2007-07-16
This book was fantastic. I couldn't put it down. For someone like myself who is obsessed with all things New York, this gave an unprecedented look at what goes on behind the walls of NY's most coveted buildings. A definite must read.
High Rise Low Down.......2007-06-27
If you are a New Yorker like I am and enjoy history of New York buildings, this book is for you. It will be one I read over and over and even imspired me to go around to all the buildings and take my own pictures of them. I LOVE NEW YORK and especially the buildings. I thank the ladies who wrote this book as they did a very good job. I have always been in love with New York buildings. You will enjoy it too if you are so inclined.
Well worth the cost!.......2007-05-07
This book is a great and easy read. I enjoyed shuffling the chapters so that I could read about the most famous/notorious buildings first. The best thing is that each chapter "tackles" a different building. In addition, each chapter reads like a Movie of the Week - stranger than fiction. The stuff is so bizarre that it could not be made up. The wealth of information shows that the authoress really did her homework.
high rise low down.......2007-03-21
Great read if the outrageously rich, shallow and pompous icons (of thier own minds) facinate you. I couldn't put it down!
Book Description
Southeast Asia and Oceania are global epicenters of economic growth, and Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines in particular have each enjoyed building booms that include modern houses designed by some of the world's most talented architects. And though these countries feature rich variations in culture, language, and in some cases climate, their contemporary residential architectures share many similar characteristics. Sometimes these are crisp residential designs rendered in the most modern forms, while in other cases architects draw on local cultural or vernacular building materials, such as stone or wood, to create houses that, while still undeniably modern, are very much of their place. But the most ambitious and innovative of these projects all maintain a strong design sensibility that transcends geographic borders. Pacific Modern is a spectacularly illustrated tour of the most exciting examples of residential architecture in these regions. Among the architects whose work is presented are Glenn Murcutt, Sean Godsell, Burley Katon Halliday, Engelen Moore, Kerry Hill, and Fearon Hay.
Customer Reviews:
Pacific Modern.......2007-03-09
It is a great collection of modern architecture, it is wonderful to see such examples throught the world. Since I know the author personally, I love to see how his second book is even better than the first.
Great Inspirations.......2007-02-07
We purchased this book as a reference for clients building new homes. We are based in Australia and have seen these photos before...our clients hadn't so it was still very useful. Clear and with floorplans shows how space and light work well.
Book Description
There are hundreds of books on the market about designing the interior of a home, but none for homeowners that focuses on the design of a home’s exterior. And yet the exterior of the house is what we all see and remember- it’s the “face” of home we fall in love with--whether we are looking for a new home or just taking in the sights during a Sunday afternoon drive. All of us can relate to a house’s exterior, but few understand how they’re put together, or how the outside and inside should work in harmony. When people describe the exterior of a house, they usually give a label or a style- Cape, Colonial, Ranch. But, in truth, what they are referring to are not only its exterior physical characteristic- the particular blend of rooflines, siding, trim, windows, doors and porches, but also its emotional characteristics- inviting, austere, friendly.
In his new book The Face of Home, Jeremiah Eck, FAIA, author of Taunton’s The Distinctive Home, examines these physical and emotional characteristics, explores the concepts and applications of exterior design and how they can be successfully used to enhance the experience of home and provides a fresh, new language for describing, understanding, and shaping the face of home.
After a comprehensive first chapter that illustrates the way houses have traditionally been identified: by historical description (Queen Anne, Tudor); material (Shingle, Craftsman); shape (Salt Box, Ranch); and architectural (Wrightian, Miesian), Eck then introduces a new, fuller language for exteriors that goes beyond and behind these to explore the basic concepts of good exterior design: scale and massing, symmetry and asymmetry, and transparency and opaqueness. These concepts are then further refined and expressed by the shaping of features and details such as roof, doors, windows, siding, and the use of color and textures through a highly a visual tour of 23 houses vividly illustrating how these concepts are applied to give a home its unique style and personality Throughout the book, Eck shows us the close relationship between interior and exterior design and how they impact one another.
Customer Reviews:
Something didn't fit.......2007-01-15
I bought this book online so I never go a good look inside before I bought it . There are a few of the ideas fit with my idea of what a nice house is but then there where more ideas where I would be saying huh that does not look so good.
My advice is to get a good look inside the book before you buy it.
Great houses, great ideas, OK writing.......2006-05-24
First, I should say that Jeremiah Eck is my favorite architect. If I ever build a house (which is hard, because I live in Boston where there are essentially no lots), I'll probably use him as an architect. So I should love this book, and I mostly do. Ideally, I'd like an architecture book to:
1) have lots of great pictures and floor plans of wonderful houses
2) have interesting ideas to convey
3) have good prose to read
I'd say this book scores very well on the first two points, and less so on the third. The photography is excellent, with lots of great houses. Mr. Eck is trying to convey some important ideas about the exterior of a house. Ideally, he things the exterior of a house should have a style that follows from other elements of the design, rather than being superficial decoration. So on the strength of those reasons alone, you should buy it. But for some reason I find his prose hard going. I can't quite put my finger on what bothers me, but it doesn't pull you forward. I found this to be true of his first book, "The Distinctive Home" as well. I'm very pleased I read it anyway.
Amazon.com
It takes only a drive through any typical American subdivision to confirm that in recent decades the average house has grown in size, narrowed in style, and shrunk in vision. Jim Tolpin's The New Cottage Home represents a return to a previous school of thought about living space: that it should be no larger than is needed, conservative of resources, rich in detail-- in short, that it should pay homage to honest architecture and fine craftsmanship, not to conspicuous consumption. The 30 cottage homes pictured, all recently built, have the slightly unfair advantage of almost magically beautiful locations, but each has a unique character and many cottage-style nooks and crannies: the converted island pump house with sod roof, the 600-square-foot woodland temple, the salvage-built house on the Kansas prairie, the off-the-grid shingled hilltop house built to take advantage of natural light. Tolpin does an excellent job of pulling together the elements of each that make it a cottage and make it appealing. In his own words, "These houses seem to call as much to the heart as to the head, enriching us more with the highs of nature than with the highs of technology. These are the new American cottages that embody the ancient storybook dream, and the kind of homes that many of us have always dreamed of living in."
Book Description
The New Cottage Home taps into today's move toward lifestyle simplicity and the idea that living space should be rich in details, conservative of resources, and no larger than necessary. Jim Tolpin celebrates the diversity and charm of 30 sample cottages, from a Pacific Northwest cottage modeled after a French hunting lodge to a "salvage yard vernacular cottage" built with junkyard materials. Each featured home reflects individual personality, priorities, and lifestyle. Whether by the water, on a mountain, or in a forest, field, or town, these homes emphasize quality of place over quantity of space.
Customer Reviews:
straight into the garage sale.......2007-09-17
the used bookstore wouldn't even want this rubbish- about 5 pages of decent information. it's all coffee table fluff and I don't drink coffee- Boo
Cottages.......2007-07-12
This book is great if you want gables and a structure with more character but more expensive. I am looking for simple structures. I do like the book a lot.
Worth the price...........2006-02-23
As an avid cottage fan, and living in one while designing a new one to build for myself which is even more zen and simple, I found this book to be one of the best books on cottages around. Although I also admit what was considered a cottage when my place was built someone hundred years ago and what is considered a cottage in 2006 is around five square feet more in size.
Of course I am a purest and go by what my dictionary says a cottage is which is 1 : the dwelling of a farm laborer or small farmer 2 : a usually small frame one-family house. Small being reduced in size. So I was surprised that on page 112 they show a French Hunting Lodge from the Pacific Northwest. Not a cottage at all.
What does make this good sized book useful for anyone looking for ideas on cottage styles is the vast array of examples given. From the coastline of Maine to the San Juan Island of Washington State, to rural Kansas to Massachusetts to favorite areas here in California.
And wonderful examples of simple to elaborate. One of my favorites because of its really simple zen style is the Pumphouse on pages 52-59 on San Juan Island in Washington State that was made into a smooth lined, all in one cottage which I and other minimalists would love to own. Or the wonderful Salvage Yard cottage in Franklin County, Kansas on page 156-161 that would fit in just about anywhere where clean lines and environmental desires are important.
There is even an off the grid cottage and some communities of nothing but cottages like those on Lopez Island in Washington State beginning on page 196, where the cottages are part of a land trust that was set up to allow people on moderate incomes to build small abodes with common greenbelt areas in and area where expensive homes were/are the norm. Heck, this made the book worth the price in itself.
Each cottage is shown inside and out complete with basic blueprints of each cottage so one can see how the space sits and works. The photography and text meld well and makes this a book that is hard to put down.
More than just another coffee table book!.......2001-12-07
You WILL find inspiration here.
Get Cozy!.......2001-11-17
This book hails a return to the smaller house. We have overlooked the value of coziness for too long.
Delightful! I must confess, my copy is quite dog-earred.
Customer Reviews:
Photos.......2007-05-07
As with everything else from this author, it is just a collection of pretty pictures, with absolutely no detail on materials and construction techniques. There is a reason his books are so cheap.
Let me be the devil's advocate.......2005-04-24
The purpose of my review is to share my comments about this book so that potentail readers could have a balanced view. I also picked up this book at Borders. Fortunately, I did not have to unwrap it...
There are tons of books on modern residential architecture published in recent years. And I (probably you too) have already read quite a few of them. When thinking about getting a new book on the same topic, the key questions we shall all think about are:
What's new in this book? What makes this book different from those I have already read? What does this book add to my collection? What's the unique contribution? What do I learn from this book over and beyond all others?
Unfortunately, this book provides weak answers to these questions. In general, the majority of the houses featured in this book are redundant, uninspiring, and boring. One exception is the SOMA house. There are not many creative ideas in these design. Moderism in architecture is not simply equal to having large glazed windows or using some industrial-flavored materials like concrete. It's a philosophy and life style. It's about innovation and exploration. Many projects selected in this book lack this underlying core. These buildings are just traditional ranch houses with a pseudo-modern apperance.
From a practical standpoint, though some minimalist, bold, and avant-garde houses seem to be "unlivable", clever thinkers can always transform those "unrealistic" elements into feasible design which fits everyday living condition. That's the excitement about architecture and designing: experimentation, creation, and interpretation.
For some good references, check out a book called "Stunning Houses" for high quality and livable modern residential projects. If you want some intellectual stimulation, try "Architecture Now 3" published by Taschen and "XS : Big Ideas in Small-Scale Building". You'll know what I am talking about.
Despite the critiques, this book does have some strengths (also discussed by another reviewer Conan). The text is really detailed. You can also find detailed floor plans and other technical drawings. And I LOVE those beautiful pictures.
In conclusion, this book is mediocre comparing with other books on the same topic. I suggest you borrow a copy from a library or just skim through it in a book store. Considering its price, it is not a wise investment.
GREAT resource for contemporary residential design ideas!.......2004-12-12
I picked this book up at a local Borders bookstore. It was pretty expensive and wrapped in cellophane so you couldn't read it before buying. Well, I confess I unwrapped it while hiding behind a bookshelf because I refused to fork over ~$50 without at least browsing through a pricey and unfamiliar book.
Anyway, after perusing just the first half of this substantial book, I was SOLD. I have been hunting through book after book after book for really good and useful ideas on residential contemporary home design (I have a 15 wooded acre lot I'm planning on building on soon). So many of the books I looked at lacked any real, meat and potatoes/useful detail, and/or they emphasized large commercial structures and/or they went on about these trendy, vague, completely unrealistic notions concerning design (like some guy living in a cardboard box with a toilet). Other books on "minimalism" (a stark, modernistic style) were intriguing and interesting, but really in the end...were completely unrealistic. I mean, where am I supposed to keep my "SCHTUFF???" (yeah, I know, I'm one of those shallow, bourgeois, materialistic Westerners).
Other modern architecture books usually provide just a few flashy pictures and some unspecific/unclear, artsy fartsy double talk/new agey bs description of some millionaire's home in southern California. C'mon, not really useful for a Joe Blow like me who needs some real ideas and a much more fleshed out description of how these houses are designed and built.
Well, this book is not like that. Don't get me wrong, it is a thick, sophisticated and richly detailed book. And although most of the homes in it are also the very expensive "millionaire homes", there are also some more modest homes included as well. Plus, and more importantly, they really devote a full dossier of technical information and a beautiful exterior and interior photographic outlay of each home (in full glorious color). And even with the expensive homes, many of the design elements can still be transcribed and adapted to a more modest home (within reason of course). They also include site plans for each home and plenty of details concerning the construction and design strategies. A decently fleshed out documentary that you can really sink your teeth into - something you can actually use to learn more about new, cutting edge designs and to stimulate thought and creative brainstorming for your own house...which is just what I was looking for!
Sometimes books are wrapped in cellophane at the bookstore to prevent a potential buyer from seeing how pretentious, overpriced and overrated a book is before buying it...but this is NOT one of those books. If you want to learn more about modern residential home design, then I couldn't recommend this book more!
Product Description
GREAT HOUSES OF NEW YORK, 1880-1930 presents the stories of 43 most elegant houses built in New York. With over 300 archival photographs and floor plans and a decade of research, Michael Kathrens profiles New York houses known only for their magisterial presence on the city s most elegant boulevards, some of which still exist today. IN the book the lavish rooms are brought to life again polished black and white columns reflect in the marble floor of a grand entryway, Dutch master paintings line damask walls in the second floor reception room, a crystal chandelier softly lights a dining rooms whose boiserie glows with paintings by Boucher evoking the elegant private life that has become a trademark of the wealthy New Yorker.
Customer Reviews:
Architectural Joy.......2007-08-16
A fascinating book, covering the now mostly demolished great homes of New York, during the extraordinary flowering of wealth and enterprise in the late C19th.
All the famous families appear together with Edith Wharton style stories of scandal and excess...
The book boasts beautiful photographs, attractively reproduced, and fascinating floor plans.
Great Houses is exceptionally well written and a joy to the eye. One for architecture enthusiasts everywhere!
awesome book.......2006-06-23
A must read for design, architecture and house enthusiasts. Well written and althought all pictures are in black and white they are fabulous. An easy read full of great backgound and rich in history.
Gilded Age New York.......2005-07-15
I have been waiting for a book like this for some time, and this one does not disappoint. It is well researched with wonderful historic black and white photos. The book is of the finest quality and the text is well put together. This is such an interesting subject and the authors are very thorough in their research, the book really feels complete. I highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in wonderful Gilded Age residental architecture or just an interest in the rich history of this great city. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this book and I commend the authors on doing such a fine job on a most worthy subject. Thank you.
Book Description
What makes a sustainable house a sustainable home?
NEW SUSTAINABLE HOMES will address that question by presenting a wide range of projects where the architect and client have made a conscientious effort to incorporate sustainability into the design of the home and construction materials used in its execution. The result is a home that is less toxic to live in, is cheaper to operate, and often gives back to the environment rather than taking away. Also, and this is the most important consideration for many, it is a great looking, highly livable home that not only retains its value but has been shown to increase in value more quickly than more conventionally conceived houses because of cheaper operating expenses. These designers and their clients are not on the fringe.
NEW SUSTAINABLE HOMES will show readers will learn about the many materials and techniques that make up today's sustainable house, including:
1) the use of pervious concrete on driveways that allows water to seep through to the water table below.
2) using bio–fiber panels in lieu of plywood for interior finishing
3) using organic, green roofs that improve insulation, absorb sound and manage storm–water runoff
4) solar water heating systems
5) use of high thermal performance windows
6) photovoltaic electrical systems
Customer Reviews:
Not much technical information/resources.......2007-03-19
I purchased this book in hopes of finding some solid examples/information on sustainable/green systems for residential projects. With the exception of a couple of projects, the sustainable qualities of these homes are somewhat questionable. Do not expect much technical information.
Environment-Friendly Building.......2007-01-21
This is a great book for people who want to build unique, beautiful homes and, at the same time, avoid wasting or damaging our natural resources. It showcases ten different homes (inside and outside) in ten U.S. locations and is beautifully illustrated. It explains how each craftsman used only environment-friendly products.
Book Description
Taunton's new series, Updating Classic America, provides a unique combination of design inspiration and proven ideas for renovating, remodeling and building classic American homes. The first book in the series, Bungalows, provides a history and overview, along with proven, tasteful design solutions for a variety of bungalow-style remodels, additions, renovations, and new construction. Respected architects and bungalow owners Louis Wasserman and Caren Connolly inspire bungalow enthusiasts and homeowners to "put down the coffee table books," and "get to work on their own houses." Bungalows contains a wealth of successful design ideas for updating vintage homes and creating well crafted contemporary bungalows. More than 20 bungalows from around the country are highlighted with before-and-after floor plans, as well as options for a wide variety of budgets, styles and sizes of homes. 211 color photos and 56 drawings are included.
Customer Reviews:
inspirational, if not particularly informative.......2007-06-04
This book is richly illustrated with plenty of photographs of updated bungalows from several styles ranging from the simple Midwestern houses made to be affordable in their day, to modern, contemporary West Coast bungalows.
Where I found the book somewhat lacking was in the area of detailing before and after transformations of existing bungalows. Given the title, I would've expected more information about specific remodeling and renovation projects, with plenty of photos detailing "before", "during" and "after" the remodeling phases. There's very, very little of that in this book. The majority of the photos and scant floorplans dwell primarily with the finished project, though there are a very few that indicate what the owner started with. If you're looking for project specific guidance for rennovating or building your bungalow, this may not be the best choice. Still, the finished photos and supplemental text are inspiring. I would recommend this book with caution, based on the idea that it should likely be only one of many books in a modest library on period architecture upfitting.
Call it four and a half stars.......2006-05-31
The authors of this book do a very good job of highlighting the bungalow's unique traits and then showing inspirational bungalow renovations. Early pages give the requisite definitions of what makes a bungalow, but I was most impressed by the middle three chapters: "Remodeling Inside the Walls"; "Beyond the Walls"; and "Brand New Bungalows". It is here that the authors challenge you to update your bungalow without losing any of the home's original character (or build anew with the same overall goal of classic home character).
As any bungalow fan knows, there are three definite "branches" to the bungalow tree: in the Eastern U.S. craftsman bungalows rule, in the Midwest you find prairie styles and simple Chicago bunghalows, and in the west you find mission styles and the Greene and Greene influenced California bungalows. Being from the Midwest, I found this book especially compelling because so many of the example houses illustrated in the book are from my part of the country. Thus if you are from the Midwest I recommend this book with 5 stars, otherwise I give it a 4.5.
Updating Classic American Bungalows is a must read for anyone who owns, lives in, or loves the bungalow style of architecture.
Highly recommended!
More good ideas for bungalites.......2006-05-30
The authors confess early on in this beautifully illustrated book that they are themselves bungalow-owners and -dwellers, which makes them automatically sympathetic to the situation of the novice who finds himself with a fixer-upper or a house that needs a new kitchen, more storage, or just more space. And they tell, in a very practical way, how to go about creating what you need. Quite apart from the many beautiful full-color photos, they offer plenty of really vital information. "With the right architect, a radical overhaul can be sensitively done...[integrating] many of the interior details that people love about their bungalows," they say. "A potential side benefit of [renovating one's attic] is that [its slanted knee walls] may mean [it] isn't legally a room at all and therefore not taxed as a bedroom. Check to see if your local ordinance states that if more than a certain percentage of a room's walls are sloping, it is exempt from full taxation." (This is something that would never have occurred to me!) "As real estate values escalate, you may find that the lot is more valuable than the house itself. That, in turn, can make it difficult to get a mortgage on a 900-sq.-ft. house. But if you apply for a loan with a proposal to add on, you may have a better chance of getting financing...Look at the local ordinances covering setback and height requirements and limits on the percentage of the site that can be built on...You also have a chance to address any shortcomings your lot [yard] may have..." Team this volume with Treena Crochet's Bungalow Style: Creating Classic Interiors in Your Arts and Crafts Homeand Diane Maddex's Bungalow Nation (see my reviews) and you'll have a core shelf that will help you understand, appreciate, and sensitively update your bungalow.
The Title Says it All..........2006-01-25
This book is called UPDATING Bungalows! Amazon is a wonderful resource because you can browse pages before you buy. This book should not be a disappointment for those who are paying attention.
I am now the proud owner of a 1922 California Bungalow. I have no illusions that this was the tract home of its day (I have found 4 others exactly like it in my neighborhood). This book embraces the ideals of the bungalow and the intent of the lifestyle completely. Not all of us can live in rarified homes in Pasadena or Chicago, and a strict period restoration with Stickley furnishings may not be practical for our lives in the 21st century. This book is about UPDATING what you have to balance the traditional Craftsman aesthetic with modern sensibilities.
For those who are hard core Craftsman enthusiasts bent on a period correct restoration, this is not the book for you. If you live in the modern world but respect the ideals of the era, check this out. There are plenty of good ideas, and a few photos of loving restorations too.
MANY UNSYMPATHETIC RENOVATIONS.......2005-12-07
I appreciated the photos of the exteriors but was disappointed to see how many of the interiors were gutted to beyond recognition of the bungalow style. I bought the book to see bungalow style, not poorly interpreted modern cutups.
Book Description
For seventy-five years, it’s been Manhattan’s richest apartment building, and one of the most lusted-after addresses in the world. One apartment had 37 rooms, 14 bathrooms, 43 closets, 11 working fireplaces, a private elevator, and his-and-hers saunas; another at one time had a live-in service staff of 16. To this day, it is steeped in the purest luxury, the kind most of us could only imagine, until now.
The last great building to go up along New York’s Gold Coast, construction on 740 Park finished in 1930. Since then, 740 has been home to an ever-evolving cadre of our wealthiest and most powerful families, some of America’s (and the world’s) oldest money—the kind attached to names like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Bouvier, Chrysler, Niarchos, Houghton, and Harkness—and some whose names evoke the excesses of today’s monied elite: Kravis, Koch, Bronfman, Perelman, Steinberg, and Schwarzman. All along, the building has housed titans of industry, political power brokers, international royalty, fabulous scam-artists, and even the lowest scoundrels.
The book begins with the tumultuous story of the building’s construction. Conceived in the bubbling financial, artistic, and social cauldron of 1920’s Manhattan, 740 Park rose to its dizzying heights as the stock market plunged in 1929—the building was in dire financial straits before the first apartments were sold. The builders include the architectural genius Rosario Candela, the scheming businessman James T. Lee (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s grandfather), and a raft of financiers, many of whom were little more than white-collar crooks and grand-scale hustlers.
Once finished, 740 became a magnet for the richest, oldest families in the country: the Brewsters, descendents of the leader of the Plymouth Colony; the socially-registered Bordens, Hoppins, Scovilles, Thornes, and Schermerhorns; and top executives of the Chase Bank, American Express, and U.S. Rubber. Outside the walls of 740 Park, these were the people shaping America culturally and economically. Within those walls, they were indulging in all of the Seven Deadly Sins.
As the social climate evolved throughout the last century, so did 740 Park: after World War II, the building’s rulers eased their more restrictive policies and began allowing Jews (though not to this day African Americans) to reside within their hallowed walls. Nowadays, it is full to bursting with new money, people whose fortunes, though freshly-made, are large enough to buy their way in.
At its core this book is a social history of the American rich, and how the locus of power and influence has shifted haltingly from old bloodlines to new money. But it’s also much more than that: filled with meaty, startling, often tragic stories of the people who lived behind 740’s walls, the book gives us an unprecedented access to worlds of wealth, privilege, and extraordinary folly that are usually hidden behind a scrim of money and influence. This is, truly, how the other half—or at least the other one hundredth of one percent—lives.
Customer Reviews:
My head is spinning.......2007-06-27
I'm on pg 184, and vow to get to the end, but I don't expect it to be easy. Like the other comments, I agree that pictures would have been wonderful to include, just so I could attempt to keep some of these people straight. This book gets so weighed down with names, and they've become a blur. Junior Rockefeller was interesting, but all the names of each and every lawyer and law firm and decorators and whatnot it just bogs it all down.
I'm doing Google searches on the main people, just so I can try to paint a better mental picture.
**edited - I didn't make it through the book. It's not worth my time.
No One Does NY Dish Better.......2007-05-24
Michael Gross has been living in New York City his entire life. That's a nice way of saying that he comes by his real estate obsesssion naturally. All New Yorkers seem to talk about these days is where they live, where they want to live and how much it costs.
That makes 740 Park is a natural subject for Gross who's got a sharp wit and fine sense of what makes his native city's power brokers tick. 740 Park is a great read for anyone wanting a history of one of the city's big name building, one of those places that almost everyone in towns wants to own but only a few - very few - even get to visit.
I liked this book both for its dish and its perpective and that's a hard act to pull off successfully. Gross does a fine job.
When Does This End?.......2007-05-17
I lived in NY from 1989-1994, worked around the corner at Ralph Lauren and have always had a strong interest in architecture and New York history. I bought this book with enthusiasm.
I couldn't believe how much information is packed into it. There are over 500 pages! About page 20, I began to get lost. I simply couldn't read it. It is packed with so much minutae and tedious history of each and every tenant that it became absurd.
Here is what (my version) of his writing is. Imagine 500 pages of:
"Lucretia Davis was the widow of Malcom Dodge Davis, the same Dodges who came over on the Mayflower and began to buy up land outside of Dodgeville, MS. The old Mississippi Dodges met the Fish family when wintering in Jekyll Island and they began a friendship that cultimated in Betsy Fish's marriage to Dennis Davis and the birth of their daughter Emily Davis in 1911. In that year, the entire Davis clan, and the Fish family formed a corporation, known as Dodge Fish which eventually became the F. Dodge Fish Financial Bank. This bank began serving customers on July 21, 1921 but not before a terrible fire at 5 Wall Street which began on the night of July 20, 1921 and severely burned Mrs. Fish Davis so that she was forced to recuperate in Oyster Bay, NY where she met her next husband Dr. Leonard Foxhound Koop."
This book should not be read in bed or on a full stomach.
740 PARK.......2007-01-27
This book is the very definition of over rated..how on earth do you have a book like this and no images of these supposed fantastic apartments, I suggest a book on the architects of this building, Rosario Candela and James Carpenter, now that will show you the famous Rockefeller apartment, and fyi, it's a fantastic book, this book on the other hand is inane dribble...what a bore.
Amazing.......2007-01-10
One of the most fascinating and classy books I have ever read so far. Read it, you won't regret it.
Books:
- The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live
- The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit: How to Make Money Buying Distressed Real Estate -- Before the Public Auction
- The Somerset Hills (New Jersey Country Houses)
- The Unexpected George Washington: His Private Life
- The Victorian Home: The Grandeur and Comforts of the Victorian Era, in Households Past and Present
- The Virgin's Lover
- Tree Houses You Can Actually Build: A Weekend Project Book (Stiles, David R. Weekend Project Book Series.)
- Windows and Doors (Build Like A Pro)
- A House on the Water: Inspiration for Living at the Water's Edge
- A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Nakama 2: Japanese Communication, Culture, Context
- Controlling People: How to Recognize, Understand, and Deal With People Who Try to Control You
- The Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Incredible Tales
- The Complete Guide to Employee Stock Options: Everything the Executive and Employee Need to Know Abo
- The Whole Brain Business Book
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
- A Year in Provence
- Positive Cash Flow: Complete Credit and Collections for the Small Business
- The Nature of Economic Thought; Selected Papers, 1955-1964
- In Like Flynn : A Molly Murphy Series
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
New York's Fabulous Luxury Apartments, with Original Floor Plans from the Dakota
Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan: An Illustrated History
Great Houses of New York, 1880-1930 (Urban Domestic Architecture)
New York Apartments
740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building
