Carter's Review

After World War II, modern design has not left a giant imprint on Manhattan's residential real estate market, especially in mid-rise projects. Two of the best were done by the same architect, William Conklin, when he was working with the firm of Mayer, Whittlesey & Glass. They are The Premier, a 12-story building at 333 East 69th Street that was completed in 1963, and Butterfield House on West 12th Street near Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. At first glance, neither project is beautiful, but their detailing, layouts, and contextual sensitivity are wonderful.

The 118-unit pet-friendly building, which was converted to a cooperative in 1987, offers its residents a wind-protected roof-deck, a parking garage, bike room, a full-time doorman, bike, laundry, and storage rooms, and a glass-enclosed recreation room.

It is conveniently located by the new Q train entrance on 69^th and 2^nd Avenue and the 6 train is just three blocks away. Central Park is also nearby.

Description

"To preserve the family image of the Upper East Side," John Tauranac observed in his fine book, "Essential New York, A Guide to the History and Architecture of Manhattan's Important Buildings, Parks and Bridges," (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979), "not a single studio apartment was built, and two-thirds of the apartments have two bedrooms. To create visual interest, most of the balconies are recessed, with those on the top two setback floors cantilevered to the building line, all of which create light and shadow and varied planes. Small bits of detailing, which might at first escape the eye but add to the whole, include the notched piers whose line is continued even in the corners of the cantilevered balconies, and the upper floors of the front duplexes that have pairs of tall thin windows which create a base line for the building.

 Every apartment in the front has a terrace, and every dining room has a double exposure, one facing south, the other facing east or west. So often terraces in New York apartments are desolate places, little more than soot-catchers, but here there are hanging plants and window boxes filled with geraniums and petunias."

The building's lower two floors contain 16 duplex apartments. The ones on the front have their own street entrances and little gardens.

"Here, at last, a real architect gave some real thought to what a midblock apartment façade should be," noted Paul Goldberger in his book, "The City Observed, New York, A Guide To The Architecture Of Manhattan," (Vintage Books, 1979). "The premier's façade is a grid of exposed concrete with brick infill; it is a strong, rhythmic presence on East 69th Street. The windows are large and well detailed, and instead of the silly balconies that project from most new apartment houses, there are protected open pavilions set into the façade of this building. Unfortunately, the apartment layouts themselves are ordinary - but what the public sees is excellent," Goldberger maintained.