The Langham (apartment building)

Apartment building in Manhattan, New York

This article is about the apartment building on Central Park West in New York City. For the hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York City, see The Langham, New York. For other uses, see The Langham (disambiguation).

United States historic place

The Langham

U.S. Historic district
Contributing property

Location| Manhattan, New York City, United States
Coordinates| 40°46′38″N 73°58′32″W﻿ / ﻿40.77733°N 73.97549°W﻿ / 40.77733; -73.97549
Built| 1905–1907
Architect| Clinton and Russell
Architectural style| Second Empire
Part of| Central Park West Historic District (ID82001189[1])
Added to NRHP| November 9, 1982[1]

The Langham is a luxury apartment building located at 135 Central Park West on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. After the site was unused for more than 15 years, the building was constructed between 1905 and 1907. Built at a cost of US $2 million, the structure included modern amenities, such as an ice maker in every apartment. The building was designed in the French Second Empire style by architects Clinton and Russell.[2] It was listed as a contributing property to the federal government designated Central Park West Historic District on November 9, 1982.

## History

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In 1902 the property that The Langham stands on was owned by the same family, the Clarks, who owned the prestigious Dakota. The Clark family acquired the property during a period from 1880–1884 when they acquired numerous properties, including the site of The Dakota. The building is currently owned by the Manocherian family. Located at what is now 135 Central Park West, The Langham occupies the blockfront between West 73rd and 74th Streets. The location remained vacant until the Clark family liquidated it in 1902. At first the property would not sell because they had placed an unusual restriction on it, no building built could exceed the height of The Dakota, which stands across 73rd Street. Apparently, the Clarks could not sell the site with the restriction in place as the sale deed from later in 1902 indicated only a standard "restriction on stables and billboards."[3]

The site was purchased by Abraham Boehm and Lewis Coon but remained vacant until 1904. Architects Clinton and Russell, working for Boehm and Coon, filed plans for a US$2 million building in 1904.[3]

By September 1906 the finishing touches were being applied and The Langham was fully complete and open for rental in 1907.[4] The reporting from The New York Times lavished praise upon the building when it opened, noting among its modern amenities "real ice."

> In each icebox is an extra coil of pipe, through which a freezing mixture circulates, so that if a tenant wants a piece of real ice, without going to the trust for it, all he has to do is fill a small metal pan with water, place it within the coil, and in a few minutes its contents will be frozen solid. (Emphasis original).[4]

When The Langham was completed in 1907, its apartments rented for $500 per month and attracted wealthy and successful tenants early on. William Brown, president of The New York Central Railroad lived here, Irving Bloomingdale, son of the founder of Bloomingdale's, moved into The Langham from a limestone townhouse when it opened.[3] Isadore Saks moved from the Art Deco Majestic to the Langham with his son Joseph. Martin Beck, head of the Orpheum Theater chain, was another prominent early resident. He would go on to establish the Palace Theater, where Charlie Chaplin made his American stage debut.[3] Other famous inhabitants have included Mick Jagger,[5] Maureen O'Sullivan and her daughter Mia Farrow, Robert Ryan, Basil Rathbone and Carly Simon.[6][7] The building has cinematic appearances in Love at First Bite, and in the movie Hannah and Her Sisters scenes were filmed inside the apartment of Maureen O'Sullivan and Mia Farrow.

In 2006 the building was put up for sale. A writer for the New York Sun reported that estimates of the price went as high as $600 million.[8]

## Architecture

[edit]

The building was designed by architects Clinton & Russell, working for Abraham Boehm and Lewis Coon, in the French Second Empire style.[9]

## Landmark designations

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The Langham was listed as a contributing property to the Central Park West Historic District when the district was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1982.[9] It is also part of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's Central Park West Historic District,[10] designated in 1990.[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. ^ Alpern, Andrew. Apartments for the Affluent: a Historical Survey of Buildings in New York. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print.
3. ^ a b c d Gray, Christopher. "Streetscapes/The Langham, Central Park West and 73d Street; Tall and Sophisticated, and Just North of the Dakota", The New York Times, September 20, 1998. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
4. ^ a b "Increasing demand for high-class apartment". The New York Times. September 2, 1906. p. 17 - via ProQuest.
5. ^ Andersen, Christopher (2012). Mick: The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger. New York: Gallery Books. p. 196\. ISBN 9781451661453.
6. ^ Malanowski, Jamie. "The Spy Map of the Dead and Famous". Spy, Sussex Publishers. August 1987. p. 41.
7. ^ Miller, Tom. ""The 1907 Langham Apartments -- No. 135 Central Park West"". Daytonian in Manhattan.
8. ^ Stoler, Michael (May 18, 2006). "Supply of Rental Apartments a Crisis for New York?". New York Sun. Retrieved April 5, 2007.
9. ^ 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 April 6, 2007.
10. ^ Central Park West Historic District (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. April 24, 1990. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
11. ^ Mangaliman, Jessie (April 27, 1990). "East Side West Side Get Landmark Nods". Newsday. p. 27\. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022 - via newspapers.com.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Langham (Manhattan).

* The Langham Upper West Side Book
* The 1907 Langham Apartments -- No. 135 Central Park West Daytonian in Manhattan

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Upper West Side (including Lincoln Square, Manhattan Valley, Riverside South)

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

| 59th–72nd Sts|

* 1 Lincoln Plaza
* 1 Riverside Park
* 5 West 63rd Street
* 15 Central Park West
* 27 West 67th Street
* 50 West 66th Street
* 55 Central Park West
* 101 Central Park West
* 200 Amsterdam
* Bradford Hotel
* The Brentmore
* The Century
* Deutsche Bank Center
* The Dorilton
* Empire Hotel
* First Battery Armory
* Harperly Hall
* IRT Powerhouse
* Hotel des Artistes
* Lincoln Towers
* The Majestic
* Millennium Tower
* Park Loggia
* The Prasada
* Pythian Temple
* The Sofia
* Trump International Hotel and Tower
* Waterline Square

|

72nd–86th Sts|

* 257 Central Park West
* 520 West End Avenue
* The Ansonia
* The Apthorp
* Apple Bank Building
* The Astor
* Hotel Beacon
* Hotel Belleclaire
* The Beresford
* Bretton Hall
* The Dakota
* Endicott Hotel
* The Greystone
* The Kenilworth
* The Langham
* The Level Club
* Olcott Hotel
* Public School 9
* Red House
* Rossleigh Court
* The San Remo

86th–110th Sts|

* 161 West 93rd Street
* 353 Central Park West
* 360 Central Park West
* 370 Riverside Drive
* 601 West End Avenue
* The Ariel
* Association Residence Nursing Home
* Astor Court Building
* The Belnord
* Claremont Riding Academy
* Cleburne Building
* Columbus Square
* The Cornwall
* The El Dorado
* Frederick Douglass Houses
* Hotel Marseilles
* Hotel Paris
* Isaac L. Rice Mansion
* The Manhasset
* Master Apartments
* New York Cancer Hospital
* The Normandy
* Pomander Walk
* Schinasi Mansion
* The Turin

Former|

* Apthorp Farm
* Astor Market
* Charles M. Schwab House
* Lincoln Arcade
* Somerindyck House

Culture

| Shops, restaurants|

* Asiate
* Atlantic Grill
* Barney Greengrass
* Essential by Christophe
* Jean-Georges
* Lucciola
* Murray's Sturgeon Shop
* Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto
* Zabar's

|

Museums|

* American Museum of Natural History
* Children's Museum of Manhattan
* Museum of Biblical Art
* New York Historical

Theaters/performing arts|

* Arclight Theatre
* Beacon Theatre
* Stand Up NY
* Symphony Space
* Triad Theatre

| Lincoln Center|

* Alice Tully Hall
* David Geffen Hall
* David H. Koch Theater
* Rose Hall
* Metropolitan Opera House
* Vivian Beaumont Theater
* Walter Reade Theater

|

Former|

* Andanada
* Café des Artistes
* Century Theatre
* Dovetail
* Eighty One
* Metro Theater
* Mikell's
* Nicholas Roerich Museum
* A Photographer's Gallery
* Telepan

Green spaces and recreation

* Central Park
* Damrosch Park
* Riverside Park
* Sherman Square
* Septuagesimo Uno
* Verdi Square
* West Side Community Garden

Education

| Primary and secondary|

* The Anderson School PS 334
* Calhoun School
* Collegiate School
* Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School
* Dwight School
* Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School
* Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
* Gateway School
* Innovation Diploma Plus High School
* Manhattan Day School
* PS 9 Sarah Anderson School
* PS 166
* The School at Columbia University
* Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan
* Stephen Gaynor School
* Studio Maestro
* Trinity School

|

Post-secondary|

* Bard Graduate Center
* Fordham University School of Law
* William E. Macaulay Honors College
* Yeshivat Hadar

Music schools|

* Bloomingdale School of Music
* Kaufman Music Center
* Mannes School of Music

Religion

| Churches, chapels|

* Advent Lutheran Church
* All Angels' Church
* Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
* Broadway United Church of Christ
* Christ & Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church
* Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew
* Church of the Ascension, Roman Catholic
* Church of the Blessed Sacrament
* First Baptist Church in the City of New York
* First Church of Christ, Scientist
* Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York
* Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church
* Holy Trinity Church
* Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
* Riverside Memorial Chapel
* Rutgers Presbyterian Church
* St. Agnes Chapel
* Second Church of Christ, Scientist
* St. Gregory the Great Church
* St. Ignatius of Antioch Church
* St. Michael's Episcopal Church
* Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Manhattan
* West End Collegiate Church
* West-Park Presbyterian Church

|

Synagogues|

* Ansche Chesed
* B'nai Jeshurun
* Congregation Habonim
* Congregation Ohab Zedek
* Congregation Rodeph Sholom
* Congregation Shaare Zedek
* Congregation Shearith Israel
* Jewish Center
* Lincoln Square Synagogue
* Ramath Orah
* Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

Transportation

| Subway stations|

* 59th Street–Columbus Circle
* 66th Street–Lincoln Center
* 72nd Street/Central Park West
* 72nd Street/Broadway
* 79th Street
* 81st Street–Museum of Natural History
* 86th Street/Central Park West
* 86th Street/Broadway
* 96th Street/Central Park West
* 96th Street/Broadway
* 103rd Street/Central Park West
* 103rd Street/Broadway
* Cathedral Parkway–110th Street/Central Park West
* Cathedral Parkway–110th Street/Broadway

|

Streets|

* 66th Street
* 72nd Street
* 74th Street
* 79th Street
* 85th Street
* 89th Street
* 95th Street
* 96th Street
* Amsterdam Avenue
* Broadway
* Central Park West
* Columbus Avenue
* Columbus Circle
* Frederick Douglass Circle
* Riverside Drive
* West End Avenue

Other|

* New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge
* 79th Street Boat Basin

Related topics

* Central Park West Historic District
* Manhattantown
* San Juan Hill

See also: Manhattan Community Board 7
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