Bretton Hall is a twelve-story residential building at 2350

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, spanning from West 85th to 86th Street on the

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History

It was completed in 1903, as the Hotel Bretton Hall, a

residential hotel An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel, or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check ...

billing itself as the largest hotel uptown.Michael V. Susi, ''The Upper West Side'' 1988, illus. p 69. The architect was Harry B. Mulliken, of Mulliken and Moeller, who designed numerous other hotels: the Cumberland Hotel, Thomas Jefferson Hotel, and the Spencer Arms Hotel on Broadway,''On Broadway: A Journey Uptown Over Time'', David Dunlap, Rizzoli, 1990, the Hotel Lucerne on Amsterdam Avenue at 79th Street, and the Van Dyck, the Severn, the Jermyn, and the Chepstow apartment buildings on the Upper West Side. The 86th Street Company received the ''unimproved property'' from Le Grand K. Petit with a mortgage of $90,000 on it. A building loan of $1,250,000 at 6% was secured from the

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on March 10, 1902. Afterward the 86th Street Company mortgaged the property for $1,365,000 at 6%, due October 1, 1903, to the General Building and Construction Company. John R. & Oscar L. Foley leased Bretton Hall to Anderson & Price for twenty-one years for a price of $2,394,000, for Irons & Todd, who comprised the Seaboard Realty and 86th Street Companies.''Bretton Hall Leased'', The New York Times, August 18, 1903, pg. 10. In the early 1980s, an organization called Artists Assistance Services rented apartments in the Bretton Hall at lower prices to people in the arts. A proviso was that they would have to share their spaces with a "cultural activity", such as a karate class.

Architecture

When it opened in late 1903, the apartment hotel was fireproof and equipped with an electric plant and six elevators. It had a deckhouse and basement. The structure contained 187 suites, 506 rooms, 231 baths, and 385 toilet rooms. It fronted Broadway for and 85th Street for . Its rear measurement was 204.4 feet. Plans for Bretton Hall were filed on June 7, 1902 with an estimated cost of construction of $1,550,000. The

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Bank opened a branch at the Bretton Hall Hotel in November 1903. They leased offices in the edifice for a period of ten years, for an annual rental between $2,500 to $3,500. It was subsequently acquired by investor Benjamin Winter, Sr., who lost it in 1932 during the Great Depression, after filing for bankruptcy. In the early 21st century, the red brick and limestone building has 461 rental apartments. Its facade employs cornerstones repeatedly, particularly above the central bay above the Broadway entrance. It has a large stainless steel marquee and a four-step-up entrance with a disabled ramp side approach. It is without a garage, sidewalk landscaping, health club, or roof deck. Bretton Hall employs a concierge. The building features ornamental balconies and other architectural attributes. Its

fenestration Fenestration may refer to: * Fenestration (architecture), the design, construction, or presence of openings in a building * Used in relation to fenestra in anatomy, medicine and biology * Fenestration, holes in the rudder A rudder is a primar ...

is haphazard. Its facade exemplifies

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, yet it lacks the elaborate cornice it originally had. It was lost many years ago. Architect J.C. Calderon has redesigned the parapet in red brick with stone put down in alternating stripes. The restoration of the building cost $1,000,000.''Along Broadway Jettisoned Cornices Are Being Rebuilt'', ''The New York Times'', January 7, 2007, pg. 11.9.

References

External links

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Bretton Hall
photo and article at thecityreview.com retrieved on 2-12-08. {{Broadway (Manhattan) Residential buildings in Manhattan Cultural history of New York City 1903 establishments in New York City Upper West Side Broadway (Manhattan) Hotels established in 1903 Hotel buildings completed in 1903