Great NYC Apartment Buildings: The Dakota vs. The El Dorado

The Dakota vs. the Eldorado: Two of Manhattan’s grandest Central Park West addresses, one a veritable fortress of elegance and privacy, another an Art Deco masterpiece with every modern amenity.

The Dakota, 1 West 72nd Street
Built in 1882, the Dakota at 1 West 72nd Street may be the city’s most legendary apartment building. The fortress-like full-service residence with 28-inch thick bottom walls and an unparalleled mix of gables, arches, balconies, oriel windows, dormers, finials and other ornamentation is best known in collective culture as the longtime home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the site where the beloved Beatle was slain in 1980. Ono still lives here, and many more high-profile residents have called the gracious co-op home through the years, including Judy Garland, NFL Coach John Madden, Roberta Flack, Lauren Bacall, Leonard Bernstein, Rex Reed, William Inge and Connie Chung.

When the building was first built, there were tennis courts and a croquet field on the adjoining 175-foot lot on West 72nd Street. Though those are no longer, the building’s alluring presence remains, as does a dry moat and prominent sentry box on the side-street and a large center courtyard and fountain with a separate lobby at each corner. With Central Park for a front yard and dazzling park views from its windows as well as impossibly high ceilings and vast apartments of the sort that have become rare in today’s buildings, the Dakota deserves its reputation as a top choice among the Upper West Side’s many iconic buildings

Available apartments at the Dakota include #34, a three-bedroom co-op with a semi-private vestibule entrance through 12-foot mahogany French doors, ceilings nearly 14 feet high, two wood-burning fireplaces and north and side park views as well as many original architectural details. In addition, there is a double staff room on the ninth floor that may be purchased separately. The apartment is on the market for $6,800,00.

Live at the Dakota if you:
• are a top network news anchor with friends in high–and sometimes complicated–places who requires privacy to entertain in quiet elegance.
• value privacy, security and luxury.
• desire an Upper West Side, Central Park West address with the park as your playground and iconic city views.
• crave vast, gracious rooms, soaring ceilings and classic architectural details.

The El Dorado, 300 Central Park West
The 31-story Emery Roth-designed El Dorado, completed in 1931, is one of the city’s finest Art Deco landmarks as well as one of the great iconic apartment houses on Central Park West (Roth also designed the San Remo and the Beresford to the south). With 186 co-op apartments within (many have been combined to create even more spacious residences–the building’s grand, illuminated twin peaks dominate the cityscape around the reservoir in Central Park and afford residents unrivaled views as well as parkside living. In addition to being a beloved architectural landmark, the El Dorado is head and shoulders above most buildings as far as services and amenities including a 24 hour doorman, a concierge, a state of the art fitness center, a half-court basketball court and a garage. This level of luxury hasn’t been lost on the building’s many high-profile current and past residents including Alec Baldwin, Bono and Adam Clayton of U2, Moby, Garrison Keillor, Faye Dunaway and Michael J. Fox.

Available apartments include #PH19J, a four-bedroom penthouse surrounded by planted terraces and accessible by private elevator, on the market for $8,995,000. This loft-like residence has had a complete top-of-the-line renovation including newly-refinished herringbone floors, a wood-burning fireplace, central air, surround sound in every room and a modern high-end kitchen in addition to panoramic Central Park views. Amenities include a garage and a fitness center with a ½ court basketball court.

Live at the El Dorado if:
• you’re a headlining band member who plays the worlds biggest stadiums. An UWS address tells the world you’ve arrived, and the wealth of amenities eases the stress of the touring life the minute you get home.
• you love the idea of living in a postcard vision of the iconic Manhattan skyline.
• you enjoy having the Central Park as a front yard and waking up to dazzling views of the park and reservoir.