James Nevius, New York Post, July 24, 2019
When the Gilded Age began in the 1870s, New York City was on the cusp of a new era. There were no subways, people still drove horse-drawn carriages, the Upper West Side was farmland — and modern apartments didn’t yet exist.
Just a few decades later, everything had changed: mass transit whisked riders around, opening up all of Manhattan to development, and luxury apartment buildings began to spring up across the Upper West Side. It didn’t take long for New Yorkers to embrace their conveniences.
While many of these grand Gilded Age residences fell on hard times after World War II, today many are being returned to their original glory via condo conversions that add modern amenities and amp up their existing old-school refinement.
Lisa K. Lippman — a 54-year-old broker for Brown Harris Stevens who is about to close on an apartment at the 111-year-old Belnord at 225 W. 86th St. — was drawn to the address by the “turn-of-the-century details, high ceilings [and] large windows,” combined with the fact that famed architect Robert A.M. Stern “did the renovations” for co-developers HFZ Capital and Westbrook Partners. The Belnord’s nine units on the market currently range from a $4.99 million three-bedroom to a five-bedroom asking $11.45 million.
“’Each architect was frantically trying to outdo the one that came before him.’ Each new residence ‘dwarfed’ the palazzos that served as their inspirations. Both the Apthorp at 79th and Belnord at 86th occupy entire city blocks, the apartments circling interior courtyards that serve — then and now — as both as driveways and miniature private parks.”
Robert Elson, Warburg Realty
