156-08 Riverside Drive West / 765 Riverside Drive / 775 Riverside Drive
George G. Miller, 1930
Schaefer & Rutkins, 1931-32
George G. Miller, 1930
Audubon Park Historic District
This set of six-story, Medieval Revival style apartment houses curves around the bend created by the divergence of the original Riverside Drive and its western extension. While designed by different architects, the three buildings were built by the Brandt Brothers and share common design features, such as castellated parapet walls and molded terra-cotta arched entryways. Upon completion, the group was collectively considered one of the largest apartment houses in the city, utilizing 1,600 tons of steel and boasting an oversized heating plant to counteract winter winds off the Hudson River. 765 Riverside Drive was the last of the apartment houses built in the Audubon Park Historic District. Its construction was delayed due to a campaign to move the John James Audubon house, which was sited here. The campaign, led by ornithologist Harold W. Decker, was successful, but unfortunately the house was later demolished.