320 Fifth Avenue, The Reed Barton Building
One of Robert Maynicke’s best buildings, 320 Fifth Avenue, The Reed Barton Building, is unusual for the architect in being faced entirely in limestone. The curved corner, handsome in itself, provides a wonderful foil to the angularity of the Empire State Building a block to the north. The ground floor has seen some depredations, but… Continue reading
316 Fifth Avenue, The Kaskel Building
Possibly the most sumptuous commercial building of its size and type remaining in New York, the incredible Kaskel Building at 316 Fifth Avenue is also one of the most flagrantly wrecked. Created for the stylish men’s fashion firm of Kaskel & Kaskel by the architect Charles I. Berg, this astonishing 1902 pile suggests the robust… Continue reading
315 Fifth Avenue
The Rock Building at 315 Fifth Avenue is a handsome 1906 design by Maynicke & Franke. Featuring numerous Baroque details, it is similar in scale and effect to many of the firm’s buildings further south on The Ladies Mile. The renowned bookstore Brentano’s was the original ground floor tenant. The façade has been recently cleaned and… Continue reading
314 Fifth Avenue
This vigorous Beaux Arts design at 314 Fifth Avenue was the former home of the famed Polk’s Hobby Shop, the noted model train emporium. The shop was featured in a scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.
303 Fifth Avenue
An extravagantly detailed Beaux Arts tower more redolent of Wall Street than Midtown, 303 Fifth Avenue was completed in 1909 to designs by Buchman & Fox and was one of the tallest buildings north of the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street. Boasting a splendid copper cornice, the building has been owned by the Bell Family… Continue reading