250-252 Fifth Avenue
Dwarfed by many of its neighbors, 250-252 Fifth Avenue often passes unnoticed; yet it is the southernmost building on the avenue to be designed by the celebrated firm of McKim, Mead & White, also responsible for the Washington Square Arch (a picture of which commences this blog) and for numerous major landmarks through the city and the nation. On Fifth Avenue these include the city’s first truly upper class apartment house and several of its most exclusive private clubs, more about which later…
A prosperous-looking example of the Renaissance Revival, 250-252 Fifth Avenue was designed for the Second National Bank and has the opulent yet domestic appearance of the firms’ townhouses further north. A curious one-story addition fronts West 28th Street and may soon serve as the base of a 20-story hotel.