FACADE: ALWYN COURT
174-182 West 58th Street and 911-917 Seventh Avenue
FEBRUARY 15, 1938. ABBOTT FILE 283A

Alwyn Court, variant image 1

When built in 1908, Alwyn Court, a block south of Central Park at the corner of West 58th Street and Seventh Avenue, was "the last word in multi-family house luxury." (New York Times, June 12, 1938). Its apartments ranged from 12 to 34 rooms, including music conservatories, billiard rooms, and wine cellars, accommodating the sumptuous home entertaining that was the vogue of the day. With the rise of public dining and entertainment after World War I, wealthy families lost interest in maintaining such large living quarters. When the last apartment was vacated in 1936, Alwyn Court underwent a major renovation, and its huge suites were transformed into 75 three-, four-, and five-room apartments.

Alwyn Court, variant image 2

In three views of Alwyn Court, Abbott stood in front of the building's curved corner entrance to capture the facade's luxuriant terra-cotta ornamentation in the French Renaissance style. A discarded version shows the corner in isolation (variant 1), but the more interesting view juxta-poses the opulent Gilded Age skyscraper with its more severe modern neighbors, the New York Athletic Club (1929) and the Essex House (1930). Abbott photographed this view on two separate occasions, during and after the building's renovation. In the first version, the West 58th Street scaffolding just beyond the entrance is visible (variant 2); in the second, the scaffolding has been removed.

The 1936-38 renovation of Alwyn Court ensured the building's survival; now a designated landmark, it was restored in 1985. The New York Athletic Club and the Essex House have also been landmarked.

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