1035 Park Avenue, 1040 Park Avenue

Henry C. Pelton, 1925-26 – NYC HD, NR-D
Delano & Aldrich, 1923-25 – NYC HD, NR-D

Originally constructed for the Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, 1035 Park Avenue was designed to relate to the adjoining church (now the Park Avenue United Methodist Church), particularly its Venetian arches. Catty-corner to the building is 1040 Park Avenue, whose eclectic ornament includes a frieze with sculpted tortoises and hares. Interestingly, the building does not have a cornice, which is unusual for a Renaissance Revival style building. It did, however, have one of the Avenue’s earliest penthouse apartments, which became fashionable in the 1920s. Though intended as servants’ quarters, the top floor was transformed by famed magazine publisher Condé Nast into a 5,000-square-foot duplex designed by actress and interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe. The building was also briefly home to Jacqueline Kennedy after she left the White House

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