Butterfield House (New York City)
Butterfield House is a cooperative apartment building on West 12th Street in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, designed by the architects and urban planners William J. Conklin and James Rossant then of Mayer, Whittlesey & Glass. It is situated between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue within the Greenwich Village Historic District. The building was described in The New York Times as "a modernist landmark" that "received numerous accolades when it was built in 1962".[2]
| Butterfield House | |
|---|---|
 Water color view from West 12th Street | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Mid-Century Modern |
| Location | 37 West 12th Street, Manhattan, New York City, NY 10011 United States |
| Coordinates | 40°44′08″N 73°59′44″W |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 12 with one penthouse floor |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | William J. Conklin and James Rossant while at Mayer, Whittlesey & Glass |
| Main contractor | Daniel L. Gray, Dangray Construction[1] |
Mimi Sheraton referred to it as "one of the Village’s most coveted residences."[3] Architectural critic Paul Goldberger included Butterfield House on his list of the “10 Top Postwar Apartment Buildings” in New York City.[4]
The building shares the block of West 12th Street with historic townhouses and when the street received its landmark designation in 1969 it was described as "one of the most distinguished examples of street architecture of the mid-Nineteenth Century."[5]
Architecture
"The delicacy of form and elegance of detail, inherent in the design, make [Butterfield House] as one with its residential neighbors."
— New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 1969[6]
Butterfield House is an example of the International Style and Mid-Century Modern architectural styles and was designed by the architects William J. Conklin and James Rossant. Both men were acolytes of Walter Gropius who they studied under at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus School,[7] is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture.[8][9]
Rossant's obituary in the New York Times states, "Butterfield House was hailed as a model of how to integrate modern architecture into a historic townhouse district."[6]
The Municipal Art Society awarded Mayer, Whittlesey & Glass a Certificate of Merit in 1963 for its work on the Butterfield House.[10]
The building has been referred to as "[one] of Manhattan's finest postwar apartment buildings".[11] In 2016, the building was included on a list of thirteen "Architectural Masterpieces" that you can live in.[12]
The building is notable for its deep bay windows, historic brown-brick façade, and floor-plan design where many of the units are floor-through apartments that offer views of the street on one side and the landscaped inner gardens and fountains on the other. The majority of the apartments have balconies or terraces facing the inner garden. Originally consisting of 102 apartments, including multiple penthouses, apartments have been combined over the years and Butterfield House now has fewer than 100 units. The architectural height of the building is 78.03 metres (256.0 ft). The Post-War Modern building's rear entrance address is on West 13th Street.
The AIA Guide to NYC calls it "The friendly neighborhood high rise", and the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission cites it as an example of "urban harmony" between modern architecture and older forms. [13]
Name
The building was named after Union Civil War General and medal of honor recipient Daniel Butterfield. General Butterfield is credited with composing Taps, the bugle call played by the United States Armed Forces at dusk, during flag ceremonies, and at military funerals.[14] The building sits on the site of his former home on 12th Street.[15][16]
Notable residents
Current and former notable residents of the Butterfield House:
- Neil Blumenthal – Co-Founder and current Co-CEO of Warby Parker.[17]
- Ramsey Clark – United States Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson.[18]
- Jack Feldman - Tony Award winning lyricist. Wrote the lyrics for Barry Manilow's Grammy Award winning song "Copacabana".
- David Garroway – first anchor of NBC's Today Show.[19]
- Tony Geiss – Noted Sesame Street screenwriter and songwriter. Writer and producer of American Tail - a resident until his death in 2011.[20]
- Erica Katz – Author of popular fiction books including The Boys Club and Fake.
- Stanley Kunitz – United States Poet Laureate and longtime resident until his death at the age of 101.[21]
- Adam Lippes – fashion designer.[22]
- George Lois – Advertising creative director, designer, and author. Famous for his Esquire magazine covers and allegedly the inspiration for the character Don Draper on the television show Mad Men.[23]
- Ariel Pakes – Frisch Medal winning economist. A professor at Harvard University, he is famous for the Berry Levinsohn Pakes (BLP) approach to demand estimation and the Olley and Pakes approach to estimation of production functions.
- Henry Van Ameringen – Noted gay rights activist and philanthropist through the Van Ameringen Foundation.[24] Founding family of International Flavors and Fragrances.[25]
References
Notes
- "House at 37 W. 12th St. Becomes a Cooperative" (PDF). The New York Times. July 23, 1963. p. 45. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- "At a Modernist Landmark, the New Guard Moves In". The New York Times. 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
- Sheraton, Mimi (October 20, 2006). "My Manhattan: West 12th Street, by the Numbers". The New York Times. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- Goldberger, Paul (September 20, 1979). "Top Postwar Apartment Buildings". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- New York City Landmark Preservation Commission Greenwich Village Historic District Designation Report, Volume 1 (PDF). 1969.
- Grimes, William (December 19, 2009). "James Rossant, Architect and Planner, Dies at 81". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- Bauhaus, The Tate Collection, retrieved May 18, 2008
- "Butterfield House". James Rossant. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- Roberts, Sam (December 13, 2018). "William J. Conklin, Architect With a Broad Stamp, Dies at 95". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- "City Arts Society Honors Architects". The New York Times. May 21, 1963. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- Goldberger, Paul (June 4, 1981). "Architecture: a Bridge Known as Ramaz School". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- Peterson, Spencer (May 26, 2016). "How to live in an NYC-area architectural masterpiece". New York Post. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- "NYCLPC Greenwich Village Historic District Designation Report, volume 1" (PDF). Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- "Detailed History of Taps". West-point.org. July 4, 1969. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- "NYPL Photo Collection".
- Bunyan, Patrick (November 2010). All Around the Town: Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities. ISBN 9780823231744.
- Velsey, Kim (February 6, 2015). "Warby Parker Founder Neil Blumenthal Expands Butterfield House Holdings". NY Observer. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- Poli, Bruce (March 10, 2018). "Ramsey Clark at 90: America's Most Liberal Attorney General and Veteran West Villager". Westview News. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- Polsky, Sara (November 2, 2011). "Buy a Former Today Show Host's Penthouse for 7m". Curbed.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- "Butterfield House, 37 West 12th Street, Apt. 8J". CityRealty.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- "Poet Stanley Kunitz's Former Co-op Is for Sale". New York Magazine. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- "Adam Lippes Presses Restart On His Approach to Fashion–and His Business". Elle. September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- "Inside the home of the real-life Don Draper, George Lois", YouTube, retrieved September 9, 2019
- "History". Van Ameringen Foundation. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Henry Van Ameringen". Influence Watch. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
External links
