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, architects of the Grand Central Terminal, created the unique 1914 design; the terra cotta was by the New York Terra Cotta Company.

Stewart & Co. was a leading luxury boutique in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; later tenants included Ballantine Books and Conde Nast.

404 Fifth Avenue is in excellent condition and is a New York City landmark.

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