1140 Fifth Avenue

A handsome Beaux Arts essay, 1140 Fifth Avenue was designed and built by the developer Fred F. French, whose eponymous skyscraper stands at 551 Fifth Avenue at 45^th Street.  Far more subdued than either that structure or French’s other, better-known residential development, Tudor City, 1140 Fifth Avenue is nevertheless a characteristically imposing addition to the district.

French himself inhabited the duplex penthouse – one of the earliest such in the city – where he installed a squash court.  Shades of the builder-architect Anthony Royle in novelist J.G. Ballard’s “High Rise”, perhaps?

Tags: Apartment Buildings, Beaux Arts, Carnegie Hill, Fred F. French