Look Up: Even Donald Trump Couldn't Outshine The Chatsworth
OG apartments the Donald sought to blot out.
Image via Complex Original
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The Chatsworth Apartments (344 West 72d Street) was for over one hundred years the westernmost building on the 72nd Street block. When John E. Scharsmith designed these luxury rental apartments in 1902, the land to the west was an open rail yard belonging to New York Central. The developers at the time neglected to obtain an easement, lacking the foresight to anticipate the decline of rail and that the yards might one day be replaced by a hulking tower. Unfortunately, 100 years later, The Donald came along and began to cobble together the pieces of his sweeping plan for "Trump City." The effect on the Chatsworth was disastrous.
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When Scharsmith designed the building, the apartments were as large as 15 rooms with four separate bathrooms. The building had its own electric and refrigeration plants, on-site barber and tailor, and a billiard room and café. However, the building, as with so many NYC luxury beauties of that period, was carved into smaller studio and one-bedroom apartments in the '20s and '30s.
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To maintain fire code requirements in the face of these changes, several fire escapes would have to be added to the western façade. But the new Trump building to the west would not allow for these additions; the fire escapes would need to be removed. Additionally, the windows of many of these smaller apartments would be blocked, making many of the apartments illegal. Trump derided the complaints of the residents, suggesting they were without merit, and ultimately he prevailed, building his 240 Riverside Building (aka The Heritage) only 24 inches away.
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Nevertheless, the features of the Chatsworth were not to be overlooked, and given the recent restoration of the building, they far outshine the Trump properties. Though built in a typical beaux-arts style, with a two-story mansard roof, the ornamentation here is unique. Possibly influenced by his Swiss roots, Scharsmith designed the buildings in the style of a hunting lodge. Antler-crowned buck heads mingle with the more traditional cherubs, lions, and stoic busts. Also remarkable are six armless caryatid-like buttresses that support the large lintel above the tenth floor.
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The owner’s son was kind enough to offer a peek at the interior, which was renovated to better match the original coloring, keeping with the hunting-lodge motif. The exterior portico was also restored, replacing a tin-clad canopy that was installed earlier as a quick repair. In 1984, the building, along with its smaller sister annex to the east, received a specific landmark designation from the NYC-LPC.
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A closer look at the armless buttresses that support the large lintel above the tenth floor.
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The mansard roof, though beautiful, is not what sets this building apart from the others.
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Traditional ornamentation, like these lions, make the hunting lodge elements stand out even more.
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Just one of many hunting lodge-inspired ornaments.
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A peek at the building's interior, where the hunting lodge motif continues.
