JER Carpenter

If you have a favorite prewar luxury apartment building along either Park or Fifth avenues on the Upper East Side, the odds are high that it was designed by one of two people: Rosario Candela or J.E.R. Carpenter.

All told, these celebrated architects designed more than 125 buildings in Manhattan — most of them luxury apartment houses. While the better-known Candela is often considered the dean of the city’s prewar luxury apartment buildings on Fifth and Park avenues, Carpenter was at the forefront of the field long before Candela even launched his career. According to the late architectural historian Christopher Gray, writing in his Streetscapes column for The New York Times, Carpenter “seems destined to play perpetual second fiddle to the Italian-born Candela, even though he designed twice as many buildings on Fifth Avenue and helped open it up to apartment-house development.” Carpenter was considered a master of understated grandeur and elegant restraint, with muted facades that worked well in a larger urban scheme of grand avenues with blocks of luxury apartment buildings that replaced the private houses of an earlier era. The exterior form shared by many of his buildings resembles an amplified Renaissance palazzo, with a rusticated base and enlarged stone cornice. His interior designs recall the grandly proportioned layouts and ambiance of townhouse living.

Many of Carpenter’s apartments were designed with a signature off-the-foyer floor plan. In large homes, the entrance gallery or hall became the fourth room in a suite of entertaining spaces that included formal living and dining rooms and a library. In smaller apartments, the foyer served as the pivot point for the whole residence. His interior layouts were also known for the way they created separate and distinct areas for private life, entertaining, and service. Interestingly, he was also known for his pairing of sibling buildings that face each other across a side street, such as 1115 and 1120 Fifth at 93rd Street, 1148 and 1150 Fifth at 96th Street, and 1165 and 1170 Fifth at 98th Street. A native of Tennessee, James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1884. He later trained in the offices of McKim, Mead & White before getting his first commission in New York City in 1909, a nine-story apartment building on East 58th Street that was later demolished. Unlike Candela, Carpenter also designed commercial buildings, including the 52-story Lincoln Building across from Grand Central Terminal on East 42nd Street, Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, the Kirkland Tower at Vanderbilt University, the Hurt Building in Atlanta, and the American National Bank Building in Pensacola, FL. Carpenter’s luxury apartment buildings became grander and larger over time. Completed in 1931, a year before he died, his 625 Park at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and East 65th Street was one of his most impressive designs. It featured a 26-room penthouse with a 68-foot-long salon that cosmetics queen Helena Rubenstein called home for more than 30 years.

“On the Upper East Side, few architects—even a century later—carry the cachet of Carpenter."

Licensed RE Salesperson

- Cathy Franklin

BY INHABIT EDITORS

Carpenter and his wife were among the original residents of 17-story 550 Park Avenue, completed in December of 1917. The white-glove building’s top-floor corner co-op has emerged from a complete reno and redesign by Hottenroth + Joseph Architects with NFR Consulting and Silver Rail Construction that dropped the original room count from 12 to a modern and spacious nine. The sun-drenched home with four exposures offers 90 feet of Park Avenue frontage, paired with Central Park and East River views. There are four bedrooms (plus one for staff), three full bathrooms clad in marble, and a powder room, along with three wood-burning fireplaces, 10.5-foot ceilings, smart home automation, a private elevator landing, and multi-zone central air. Ideal for grand entertaining, the apartment features a 38-foot-long corner living room with oversized windows and multiple seating areas, a 25-foot-long formal dining room, a library, and an eat-in kitchen with Gaggenau and Sub-Zero appliances, as well as a tucked-away service kitchen. Bonus factors include a separate windowed room on the ground floor and a large basement storage unit.

Originally built as the 15-story Mayfair Regent Hotel in 1925, Carpenter's 610 Park Avenue was converted to condos in 1997. The majestic 7,643-square-foot Penthouse 16E is a rare triplex, with seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, a library/office, a grand formal dining room, and a sunroom that opens to a private 1,400-square-foot rooftop terrace with lush landscaping and open city views. The 39-foot-long living room features multiple seating areas, a large fireplace with a stone mantel, a coffered ceiling, and corner exposures facing north and west toward Central Park. A nearly as big eat-in kitchen offers a stylish black granite center island, a separate breakfast area, dual sinks, a walk-in pantry, and commercial-grade appliances by Sub-Zero, Viking, and Thermador. Other architectural focal points include an expansive foyer — it's a Carpenter, of course — a wet bar, custom millwork, lots of built-ins, oversized windows, and a mix of hardwood and stone floors. Building amenities include a full-time doorman plus a concierge, valet parking, a roof deck, a basement health club, optional housekeeping service, and room service from Daniel Boulud’s signature Restaurant DANIEL, which is in the building.

Featuring the signature layouts and well-proportioned rooms that define Carpenter’s interior designs, the 14-story brick and limestone co-op building at 1050 Park Avenue (at 87th Street in the heart of Carnegie Hill) was built in 1923. The classic eight-into-seven-room Apartment 13A features the expected Carpenter entrance gallery, 50 feet of frontage overlooking Park Avenue, formal living and dining rooms, a new modern kitchen (with tucked-away laundry facilities), a bonus office/staff room, and three bedrooms, including a spacious primary suite with large closets. Gracious design touches include hardwood floors in a herringbone pattern, beamed 10-foot ceilings, crown moldings, French doors, custom millwork, and a working wood-burning fireplace. Building amenities include a gym, a live-in super, full-time door attendants/attended elevators, and a private storage unit that comes with the apartment.

PENTHOUSE 16E AT THE MAYFAIR (610 PARK AVENUE) OFFERS 7,643 SQUARE FEET OF INTERIOR AND AN ADDITIONAL 1,416 SQUARE FEET OF PRIVATE OUTDOOR SPACE.

1150 Fifth Avenue, 6E.

550 Park Avenue, 17E.

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550 Park Avenue, 17E

CO-OP | 4 BEDS | 3 BATHS | 1 HALF BATH

610 Park Avenue, PH16E

CO-OP | 7 BEDS | 5 BATHS | 2 HALF BATHS

1050 Park Avenue, 13A

CO-OP | 3 BEDS | 3 BATHS

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Completed in 1924, Carpenter’s 1150 Fifth — at 96th Street — is much revered for its prime address at the heart of Manhattan’s Museum Mile, directly across the street from Central Park and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. This two-bedroom residence inside the 70-unit, 14-floor building offers an ideal balance of timeless tradition and refreshing modernity. The proportions throughout are, predictably, grand: You’ll arrive through a 27-foot entrance gallery, which carries to a flowing living-dining room. There’s a wood-burning fireplace, through-wall air conditioning, and herringbone floors. A sleek, open kitchen showcases premium appliances and frosted glass cabinets. Add sunny exposures to the east and west and the coveted in-unit laundry — something that, in prewar inventory, can never be underrated. 1150’s own resident amenities include a swoon-worthy lobby, full-time doorman, gym, and a gorgeously-furnished roof terrace. Plus, pets are welcome.

1150 Fifth Avenue, 6E

CO-OP | 2 BEDS | 3 BATH

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Represented by The Carrie Chiang Team.

Represented by The Cathy Franklin Team.

Represented by Robert Judem-Cautin and Stephen S. Perlo.

Represented by James Kim and Marie M. Schmon

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