River House (New York City)#The River Club
{{Short description|Apartment building in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox building
| name = River House
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| image = River House Manhattan.jpg
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| building_type = Housing cooperative
| architectural_style = Art Deco
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| address = 435 East 52nd Street
| location_town = New York, NY
| location_country = US
| coordinates = {{coord|40.754613|-73.963000|region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| start_date = 1930
| completion_date = 1931
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| floor_count = 26
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River House is a co-op apartment building located at 435 East 52nd Street in Manhattan, New York City, with its rear entrance on East 53rd Street,{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-henry-adams/great-houses-of-new-york_b_354815.html | title=Great Houses of New York: River House, the Best Address, Part IV | work=The Huffington Post | date=November 11, 2009 | access-date= December 7, 2013 | author=Adams, Michael Henry}} and is technically therefore in the Sutton Place neighborhood.
History
The 26-story River House was constructed in 1931 on the site of a former cigar factory and designed by William Lawrence Bottomley in the Art Deco style.{{Cite news|last=Bernstein|first=Jacob|date=November 6, 2013|title=Roiling the Waters at River House|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/fashion/roiling-waters-at-river-house-in-Manhattan.html|access-date=November 24, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=Rubinstein|first=Dana|date=March 24, 2010|title=The Has-Been|url=https://observer.com/2010/03/the-hasbeen/|access-date=August 16, 2021|website=Observer|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Barbanel|first=Josh|date=September 26, 2013|title=A View and a Price, Both Astounding|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303342104579097741426130038.html|access-date=November 24, 2022|issn=0099-9660}} Designed for cooperative ownership, the building featured 78 apartments with 12 rooms, 6 baths, and two fireplaces.{{Cite web|date=May 15, 1966|title=River House: An Intimate Co-op With 18-Room Flats|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/05/15/90214122.pdf|page=90|access-date=August 16, 2021|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|language=en}} Originally, the building featured a pier where residents could dock their yachts, but that amenity was lost with the construction of the FDR Drive. The building has a gated cobblestone courtyard featuring a fountain.
During the Great Depression, residents defaulted on mortgage interest payments and the court ruled the property could be sold as a foreclosure in 1941.{{Cite web|date=July 15, 1941|title=River House Sale Ordered by Court; Foreclosure of Big East Side House and River Club to Follow Mortgage Default|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/07/15/87642917.pdf|page=35|access-date=August 16, 2021|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|language=en}} In 1948, the building was bought by Tishman Realty & Construction who wanted to split the suites into 170 smaller apartments.{{Cite web|date=May 28, 1948|title=Luxury Dwellers Face Moving Crisis; River House Sold, Buyers Set to Split Up 79 Apartments to Double the Capacity|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/05/21/109559818.pdf|page=25|access-date=August 16, 2021|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|language=en}} Tenants opposed the renovations and sought legal counsel to retain their apartments intact.{{Cite web|date=May 29, 1948|title=River House Tenants Organize to Oppose Eviction From Their Luxury Apartments|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/05/29/86903594.pdf|page=17|access-date=August 16, 2021|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|language=en}}
Historically, the co-op board was notorious for turning away applicants who failed to meet strict liquidity requirements or those whose "comings and goings would attract unwelcome publicity to the River House". Famously, Gloria Vanderbilt was rejected by the board in 1980. She accused the board of racism (she was in a relationship with African-American singer Bobby Short), while the board claimed she had been rejected on her merits.{{cite news | url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20076676,00.html | title=Gloria Vanderbilt Charges Bigotry, but a Co-Op Says She Was Snubbed on Her Merits | work=People | date= June 9, 1980 | access-date= December 7, 2013 | author=Burns, Cherie}} Other celebrities alleged to have been rejected by the board include Richard Nixon, Joan Crawford, Diane Keaton, and in 2014, the French Ambassador to the United Nations, François Delattre.{{Cite news|last=Barbanel|first=Josh|date=July 24, 2014|title=Manhattan Co-op Review Foils French Buying Bid|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/manhattan-co-op-review-foils-french-buying-bid-1406167409|access-date=November 24, 2022|issn=0099-9660}}{{cite web|last1=Roseberg|first1=Zoe|date=July 24, 2014|title=River House Co-Op Review Upends Sale of Sad Pad to France|url=http://ny.curbed.com/2014/7/24/10068954/river-house-co-op-review-upends-sale-of-sad-pad-to-france#more|website=Curbed New York|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=April 4, 2017}}
The River Club
Parts of the lower levels of the building are leased to the River Club, a private club that counts slightly more than half of the building's shareholders among its 900 or so members. It was the first social club with well-known members to accept both men and women. It featured a swimming pool, a terrace overlooking the East River, tennis courts, and a ballroom.
{{as of|2013}} the members, who include David H. Koch and Aerin Lauder, pay approximately $10,000 in annual membership fees. The club includes a restaurant, an indoor pool and tennis courts.
After several years of negotiations where the club attempted to negotiate the purchase of its space, the co-op board listed the club's space for sale as a private residence. Featuring approximately {{convert|62000|sqft|m2}}, five floors and a private entrance, the board set an asking price of $130 million. If the asking price is met, it would be Manhattan's most expensive residence.
Notable residents
- Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, businessman, film producer, philanthropist, polo player, government official, and owner of thoroughbred racehorses.{{cite magazine | last=Hellman | first=Geoffrey T. | title=The Man Who Is Not His Cousin. | magazine=The New Yorker | date=June 13, 1941 | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1941/06/21/the-man-who-is-not-his-cousin | access-date=August 16, 2021}}
- Edwin Howard Armstrong, inventor of FM radio
- Helen Bonfils and George Somnes, Broadway producers{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmfKN36ijkkC&pg=PA81 |title=High Altitude Attitudes: Six Savvy Colorado Women|first=Marilyn Griggs|last=Riley|year=2006|publisher=Big Earth Publishing|isbn=1555663753}}
- Catherine "Deeda" (Gerlach) Blair, wife of ambassador William McCormick Blair, Jr.
- Donald M. Blinken, ambassador
- Philip Bobbitt, author, academic{{Cite news|last=Rosenblum|first=Constance|date=January 24, 2014|title=Co-ops Chill, Condos Don't|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/realestate/co-ops-chill-condos-dont.html|access-date=August 16, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}
- Barbara Taylor Bradford, author
- Ferdinand Eberstadt, investment banker
- Greta Garbo, Actress
- Walter Hoving, businessman and former chairman of Tiffany & Co.
- Henry Kissinger, United States Secretary of State
- Isabel Leighton, actress and writer{{cite news |title=Isabel's Divine Party for 'Only You, Dick Daring' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92386680/isabels-divine-party-for-only-you/ |access-date=January 12, 2022 |work=Daily News |date=October 7, 1964 |page=20 |via=newspapers.com}}
- Joshua Logan, writer and director
- Malcolm Muir, magazine industrialist
- Alexandra Penney, author and magazine editor
- Holly Peterson, author
- Peter George Peterson, businessman and United States Secretary of Commerce
- Kermit Roosevelt, explorer and son of Theodore Roosevelt
- Robert Rosenkranz{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}
- Quentin Reynolds, journalist
- Uma Thurman, actress
- Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, businessman{{cite news|last=Kruk|first=Marynia|title=Board approved: Who are the distinguished residents of River House?|url=http://www.llnyc.com/42110-board-approved-who-are-the-distinguished-residents-of-river-house|access-date=February 14, 2017|work=Luxury Listings NYC|date=February 25, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215115541/http://www.llnyc.com/42110-board-approved-who-are-the-distinguished-residents-of-river-house|archive-date=February 15, 2017}}
- William Roberston Coe, businessman{{Cite news |date=March 16, 1955 |title="William R. Coe, 85, Sportsman, Dead" |pages=30 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/03/16/archives/william-rcoe-85-sportsman-dead-philanthropist-and-insurance.html |access-date=November 30, 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Midtown East, Manhattan}}
Category:1931 establishments in New York City
Category:1930s architecture in the United States
Category:Apartment buildings in New York City
Category:Art Deco architecture in Manhattan
Category:Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan
Category:Turtle Bay, Manhattan