820 Fifth Avenue
One of the most prestigious Beaux Arts apartment houses facing Central Park, 820 Fifth Avenue was designed by Starrett & van Vleck, a firm better known for their elegant department stores such as Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. A bastion of exclusivity even by the standards of the Upper East Side, the building… Continue reading
Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue
A sophisticated essay in understatement by Starrett & van Vleck, Saks Fifth Avenue is one of the city’s most famous department stores and the one, for obvious reasons, most closely identified with the avenue itself. Founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks as Saks & Co., it was later merged with Gimbel Brothers and relaunched in… Continue reading
475 Fifth Avenue, The Farmers’ Loan & Trust Building
Constructed in 1926 as the Farmers’ Loan & Trust Building, 475 Fifth Avenue is a skyscraper design by Starrett & van Vleck, whose Lord & Taylor flagship stands just a few blocks to the south. A mish-mash of Gothic and Romanesque elements, it sports some of the avenue’s most insidious-looking gargoyles. The original crested mansard… Continue reading