Look Up: The Most Garish Building on the Upper West Side

The Upper West Side is filled with intricate and ornate apartment buildings. The northward expansion in the time of the new IRT lines to northern Manhattan, as well as the rise of the apartment as the preferred living space for the upper middle class around the turn of the 20th century, led to multiple speculative projects; the blocks of Broadway in the 70s is one of these prime locations. And the Dorilton is on the most remarkable buildings to come out of that time period.

One of the first of these tall apartment buildings to be built in this period was the Dorilton on 71st and Broadway. Predating completion of its proximate neighbors—the Ansonia, the Chatsworth and the Apthorp—by two-to-three years, the property was purchased by the developer Hamilton M. Weed well before the subway routes were even set. Hiring the firm of Janes and Leo, who also designed the similar Alimar up by Hamilton Heights, Weed wanted to construct a striking building that could not be overlooked.

His desire was realized in this delightfully garish building that architecture critic Montgomery Schuyler described as the “most questionable and question-provoking edifice in the guise of an apartment house.” Schuyler had many more choice expressions for the design, writing that the building was so loud that “even the color blind cannot chose but to hear,” and that riding north by streetcar you would “be jerked awake when you passed a building like this.”

What makes this building so exceptional is how extreme it renders the prevailing style of that time. Mansard roofs were extremely popular then, and this 12-storey building is capped with a bulging two-level version that grows up from the doubled cornice at the 10th and 11th floors.

Likewise, rather than use cartouches to merely accentuate dominant windows and entrances, the façade of the Dorilton is riddled with them. The rusticated base has in time been punctured with large glass openings for ground-floor retail, but still firmly sets the building on the ground.

The third floor appears smashed under the weight of its heavy cornice, upon which stand several single story figures. The limestone base transitions into a red brick middle with limestone quoins and keystone windows. The central window on the Broadway façade is a continuous steel curved bay with its own special ornaments.

The building entrance, however, is on the side at 71st Street. Set back in a deep recess to bring more light to the apartments above, the street-wall is marked by a beautiful steel gate with a limestone gateway emboldened with ornate statues cradling the letter D.

Numerous other figures adorn this façade, supporting balconies and a large arch spanning the area above the 11th floor. This striking façade is in complete contrast to the almost blank party-wall face that is now exposed to the north (as seen from the corner of 72nd street). The stark difference makes the Dorilton almost passable when seen from the north, obviously not the intent for an otherwise superbly decorated specimen.

Although the building suffered years of neglect, it has recently been brought back to its full glory through some noteworthy restorations. It was added to the list of New York Historic Buildings in 1974 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

A final look at the Dorilton's overwhelming façade.