601 Fifth Avenue, 603, Fifth Avenue and 605 Fifth Avenue

601 Fifth Avenue, 603, Fifth Avenue and 605 Fifth Avenue are a trio of altered but still notable small commercial buildings. At the center, 603 Fifth Avenue is perhaps the best and still relatively intact above the streetscape, a buxom survivor from the neighborhood’s domestic period.  Remodeled from an older brownstone in 1903 as the… Continue reading

580 Fifth Avenue, The World Diamond Tower

A unique Gothic-Normandy mish-mash from Warren & Wetmore, 580 Fifth Avenue is also known as The World Diamond Tower.  Located at the gateway to the block-long Diamond District on West 47th Street, it is an imposing if eccentric presence. The building is currently under renovation.

431, 433 & 435 Fifth Avenue

A pleasant collection of small commercial buildings, 431, 433 and 435 Fifth Avenue represent the avenue’s high standard of architecture during the early 20th Century. 433 Fifth Avenue is of particular interest, having been designed in 1911 by Harry Allan Jacobs as the Hardman Pianos Building.  Although the charming loggia on the second floor has… Continue reading

411 Fifth Avenue

Having graced the avenue with the singular Louis Sullivan-meets-Barry Lyndon design at 404 Fifth Avenue, Warren & Wetmore pulled out similar stops for 411 Fifth Avenue, one of the city’s most ebullient and bizarre structures. Finished in 1915, a classic Chicago School building is frosted with lavish terra cotta cartouches, busts, floral ornament and relief… Continue reading

404 Fifth Avenue, The Stewart Building

404 Fifth Avenue is a wonderful amalgam of the Chicago School with 18th Century English taste.  Also known as the Stewart Building, this beautifully crisp Sullivan-style skyscraper is finished in terra cotta ornament that recalls the blue-and-white “jasper-work” of Josiah Wedgwood, here reproduced with an extravagant surety that renders the classical motifs newly abstract.  Warren & Wetmore,… Continue reading