Sutton House (Manhattan)

File:Midtown East farms.png

Sutton House is located at 415 East 52nd Street on the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The 19-floor building C faces East 53rd Street, and is technically, therefore, part of the Sutton Place neighborhood, while the 12-floor buildings A and B face East 52nd Street.

As of 1815, the Sutton House area was farmland.{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-68f2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (cartographic) Bounded by Fifth Avenue, 52nd Street, First Avenue and 31st Street (Turtle Bay, Murray Hill and Kips Bay), (1868) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=July 22, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}} According to The Iconography of Manhattan Island Volume 6, Block 1364, which is where Sutton House Lies, was split diagonally between the Edmund Seaman Farm and the George Youle Farm, also known as Spring Farm.{{cite book |last1=Phelps Stokes |first1=Isaac Newton |title=The Iconography of Manhattan Island |date=1928 |url=https://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_5800727_006/ldpd_5800727_006.pdf |publisher=Robert H. Dodd |isbn=1-886363-30-7 |access-date=22 July 2024}}

By 1879 a stoneyard had been developed and a planning mill had been erected where currently building C stands, facing E 53rd street, while townhouses faced 52nd st, in the area still owned by the descendants of Edmund Seaman.{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/f44585c0-0ada-0132-6f62-58d385a7bbd0 | title= (cartographic) Plate 19:, (1879) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=July 22, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}} The 1891 map shows the planning mill replaced by a building owned by Consumers Ice Co, and the stoneyard still active, at the site of building C.{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a1ebc562-2bb3-5f02-e040-e00a18064811 | title= (cartographic) Map bounded by Lexington Ave., E. 57th St., East River, E. 40th St., (1891) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=July 22, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}

In 1930, the Sutton House site continued occupied by townhouses facing 52nd St, and by the Knickerbocker Ice Company ice house facing 53rd Street.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/754d1f10-2197-0132-aa5b-58d385a7bbd0 |title=(cartographic) Plate 79, Part of Section 5, (1930) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=July 20, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}} Given that the Knickerbocker Ice company closed to the public in 1924, the area was not being used when construction started in 1954.

Sutton House was designed by John M. Kokkins and Stephen C. Lyras in the modern style and was built by Kolyer Construction Corporation, originally as a luxury rental building managed by Douglas Elliman. The 19-floor building C faces East 53rd Street while the 12-floor buildings A and B face East 52nd Street. Sutton House was developed to be a "Symbol of town Living for Perfectionists", per its marketing brochure found at Columbia University New York Real Estate Brochure Collection.

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The three buildings are connected by a T-shaped glass-walled lobby,{{cite news |last1=Foley |first1=Maurice |title=Housing Rising in Sutton Place Area |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/04/17/293891742.html?pageNumber=196 |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=New York Times |date=17 Apr 1955}} approached through a landscaped entrance, facing 52nd St on the south. Open areas between the buildings are private park-like settings.{{cite news |last1=Bradley |first1=John A. |title=Sutton House Buildings Joined By an Unusual Garden Entrance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/12/04/archives/sutton-house-buildings-joined-by-an-unusual-garden-entrance.html?searchResultPosition=4 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=July 20, 2024 |date=December 4, 1955}} The complex features a 2-story 160-car garage facing 53rd street, for easy access from FDR Drive, and totals 290 apartments, from suites to 5-bedroom penthouses. Most of the apartments feature balconies, and some include fireplaces. Sutton House is a white brick building designed in the modernist period, a style shared with the contemporaneous Manhattan House, which regained popularity in the 2010s.{{Cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Joanne |date=May 14, 2010 |title=Seeing White Brick Buildings in a New Light |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/realestate/16cov.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Sutton House's lobby and ground floor were described by the New York Times in 1956 as "landscaped", not "decorated".{{cite news |title='Landscaped' Interior Garden Planned For Unusual Lobby of East Side Suites |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/01/15/306721792.html?pageNumber=178 |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=New York Times |date=15 Jan 1956}} The public space design was done by Virginia Conner Dick, a prominent interior designer and a furniture designer. According to the Times, "The indoor-outdoor effect of the lobby and the glass-enclosed corridors connecting the building's three sections are achieved with large plantings near the large windows facing the private garden".

The facade is made of white bricks. Sutton House was the first of many buildings designed by Kokkins & Lyras using white bricks in their exterior between 1956 and 1959.

The building entrance is at 415 E 52nd St, with the restaurant space at 405 E 52nd St, and two offices also open towards E 52nd St. The building service entrance is at 420 E 53rd Street, with the Sutton House Garage entrance to the east.

The building was built with air conditioner outlets on every room, and window space for air conditioners, so they could be at the center of the room. The building is going through a conversion from window air-conditioners to PTACs, as can be seen on the images.

Balconies are present at most apartments, and terraces on the top floors of all three buildings.

Buildings A and B have 2 elevators each, one reaching the basement, while the larger building C has 3 elevators, one reaching the basement and the lower basement towards the garage.

Sutton_House_Building_A.jpg|Sutton House Building A

Sutton_House_Building_B.jpg|Sutton House Building B

Sutton_House_Building_C.jpg|Sutton House Building C

File:Sutton House Building Plan.png

Building A has five apartments per floor, A through E, on floors 2 to 9, where apartments B, C and D have balconies. Floors 10 and 11 have four apartments, including a terrace on the 10th floor for apartment D. The twelfth floor, the penthouse floor, has three apartments, all with terraces.

Sutton House Building A 2-9 Floorplan.png|Floors 2 to 9

Sutton House Building A 10-11 Floorplan.png|Floors 10 and 11

Sutton House Building A 12 Floorplan.png|12th floor penthouse

Building B has six apartments per floor, A through F, on floors 1 to 9. The first-floor apartments are connected to the main lobby through a lounge with windows toward the B–C garden. On floors 2 to 9 apartments C, D and E have balconies. Floors 10 and 11 have five apartments, with balconies in apartments B, C and D. Apartments A and B on the 10th floor have terraces. The twelfth floor, the penthouse floor, has three apartments, all with terraces.

Sutton House Building B 1 Floorplan.png|1st Floor

Sutton House Building B 2-9 Floorplan.png|Floors 2 to 9

Sutton House Building B 10-11 Floorplan.png|Floors 10 and 11

Sutton House Building B 12 Floorplan.png|12th floor penthouse

Building C has thirteen apartments per floor, A–G and H–N, on floors 1–9. The first-floor apartments are connected to the main lobby through a corridor with windows on both sides, defining the border of the A–C and B–C gardens. On floors 2–9 apartments G and H have balconies. Floors 10 and 11 have twelve apartments, with balconies on apartments G, and H. Apartments D, E, K and L on the 10th floor have terraces.

The penthouse floor on floor twelve has nine apartments. Apartments E and F have balconies. All apartments other than A on this floor have terraces.

Building C tower, floors 13 to 19, has three apartments per floor. On the thirteenth floor, all apartments have terraces.

Sutton House Building C 1 Floorplan.png|1st Floor

Sutton House Building C Left 2-9 Floorplan.png|Floors 2 to 9 (left side)

Sutton House Building C Right 2-9 Floorplan.png|Floors 2 to 9 (right side)

Sutton House Building C 10-11 Floorplan.png|Floors 10 and 11

Sutton House Building C 12 Floorplan.png|12th floor penthouse

Sutton House Building C 13-19 Floorplan.png|Floors 13 to 19

The ground level has a lobby connecting the three buildings, each with a different sub-lobby.

The garage was built to support 160 vehicles at 53rd Street. The garage continues to operate.{{cite web |title=Sutton House Garage |url=https://en.parkopedia.com/parking/underground/sutton_house/10022/new_york_city/?arriving=202407231930&leaving=202407232130 |website=Parkopedia |access-date=23 July 2024}}

Sutton House Lobby contains windows facing the internal and external gardens, and features floor to ceiling mirrors.

Sutton House has a kid's playroom, a modern gym/health center, bicycle storage, and three East River-viewing rooftop decks. Access to the courtyard is prohibited by coop policy.

Sutton_House_entrance_garden.jpg|Sutton House entrance garden

Sutton_House_AC_Garden.jpg|Sutton House garden between buildings A and C

Sutton_House_BC_Garden.jpg|Sutton House garden between buildings B and C

File:Sutton House ad Dec 1955.png

File:Sutton House ad Sep 1955.png

In 1954 a group of 7 individual investors, including Kukkins, Lyras, and Kulukundis, bought the parcels necessary to purchase the land to build Sutton House. Construction happened between 1955 and 1956, with the building designed by John M. Kokkins and Stephen C. Lyras and built by Kolyer Construction Corporation.

As the table shows, there was higher initial demand for 2, 3 and 4 room apartments than for the 5-room tower penthouses during the Sutton House initial sales release.

The building was rented and managed by Douglas Elliman.

=== Sale to Alex DiLorenzo Jr and Sol Goldman ===

In November 1964, Chatham Associates purchased 76% of Sutton House, leaving 26% in the hands of Kulukundis.{{Cite news |date=November 20, 1964 |title=EAST SIDE PARCEL IN COMPLEX DEAL; Kulukundis Interest Involved in Sale of Sutton House |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/20/archives/east-side-parcel-in-complex-deal-kulukundis-interest-involved-in.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} At that point in time, Kulukundis, once a shipping magnate, was already bankrupt.{{Cite news |date=August 12, 1988 |title=Manuel Kulukundis, Shipowner, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/12/obituaries/manuel-kulukundis-shipowner-dies-at-89.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The purchasing company, Chatham Associates, was only a front for Alex DiLorenzo Jr., Sol Goldman's business partner.{{Cite news |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=September 6, 1975 |title=Alex DiLorenzo Jr. Dies; Leader in Real Estate, 58 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/06/archives/alex-dilorenzo-jr-dies-leader-in-real-estate-58.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

With DiLorenzo's death in 1975, Sol Goldman and Alex DiLorenzo III (who inherited 74% of Sutton House from his late father), decided to split the old business partnership... with a coin flip. That said, there was a serious difference of opinion between the two about the value of Sutton House... which made Sutton House be sold in its entirety to Michael Kulukundis, for more than $7M. And with that, as of June 1979, Sutton House belonged entirely to Michael Kulukundis.{{cite web |title=Deed of sale to Bradford Properties |url=https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentImageView?doc_id=FT_1400008589740 |website=ACRIS |access-date=21 July 2024}}{{Cite news |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=June 3, 1979 |title=The Goldman-DiLorenzo Empire And the Toss of a Coin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/03/archives/the-goldmandilorenzo-empire-and-the-toss-of-a-coin-the-great.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Later in 1979, as the New York Times reported during the trial of Anthony Scotto, the American New York mobster and labor union racketeer in the Gambino crime family, it become public that Kulukundis had sold 13% of the corporation owning Sutton House for $26, while this portion of the building had been assessed to be worth $6.1M, and to have been sold to Mr Scoto for $7.1M in May 1978.{{Cite news |last=Raab |first=Selwyn |date=November 2, 1979 |title=13% Part in Building On E. 52d Street Cost Scotto $26 to Acquire |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/02/archives/13-part-in-building-on-e-52d-street-cost-scotto-26-to-acquire.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} On November 16m 1979, Mr Scotto sold his interest in the Sutton House Corporation.{{Cite news |date=December 17, 1979 |title=Scotto's Dealings With Politicians Are Subject of New Investigations New Investigations Examining Scotto's Dealings With Politicians Providing Funds and Workers Advice on Port Position A Hand in Other Appointments Carey 'Encouraged'Departure Scotto on State Board 'Not a Cup of Coffee'Response to Rackets Allegations Relationship to Governor Role in Newspaper Strike Settlement Before Election Day Investigation of Fabber Leases With the City 'Higher Standards' in Effect Favorable Financial Terms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/17/archives/scottos-dealings-with-politicians-are-subject-of-new-investigations.html |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Given the sponsor's financial and legal situation, on January 8, 1980, a cooperative initial offering plan was put together, and in 1981, Sutton House was converted from a rental building into a cooperative.

Per the initial offering plan, renters interested in becoming shareholders were to pay $97.50/share. This put a 2-bedroom 2-bathroom 1250sqft apartment at the cost of $90,187.5.

At the same point in time, a typical 2-bedroom apartment in Sutton Place would have cost $265,000 to $550,000.{{cite news |last1=Horsley |first1=Carter B. |title=STUDY SHOWS CO-OP PRICES NEARLY QUINTUPLED |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/30/realestate/study-shows-co-op-prices-nearly-quintupled.html |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=New York Times |date=30 Aug 1981}}

• Alex DiLorenzo III, son of Alex DiLorenzo Jr and partner of Sol Goldman, lived in the building in the 1970s.
• Aline Meyer Liebman, artist{{cite news |title=Aline Liebman Obituary |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/08/24/82888051.html?pageNumber=45 |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=New York Times |date=24 Aug 1966}}{{cite web |title=Aline Meyer Liebman |url=https://thejewishmuseum.org/collection/3859-portrait-of-aline-meyer-liebman |website=The Jewish Museum |access-date=23 July 2024}}
• Carol Alt,{{cite web |title=MORTGAGE |url=https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentDetail?doc_id=FT_1700000149170 |website=ACRIS |publisher=New York City |access-date=23 July 2024}} model and actress
• Dorothy Bell Lawrence,{{cite book |title=Oficial Proceedings of the ... National Republican Convention |date=1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv-xAAAAIAAJ&q=%22415+East+52nd%22 |access-date=24 July 2024}} a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 8th D.) from 1959 to 1963
• Earle I. Mack, businessman and former United States Ambassador to Finland.
• Edward Eager,{{cite news |title=EDWARD EAGER,53, AUTHOR, LYRICIST; Adapter of 'Rugantino,' With Alfred Drake, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/24/archives/edward-eager53-author-lyricist-adapter-of-rugantinowith-alfred.html |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=24 Oct 1964}} American lyricist, dramatist and writer of children's fiction
• Georges Briguet, who ran the Lé Perigord restaurant at Sutton House, among other restaurants in NYC, and lived in the building from 1964 until his death in 2022.
• Judy Sheindlin (known professionally as Judge Judy) and husband Jerry Sheindlin lived in apartment 4CC from 1997 until 2005.{{cite web |title=Gerald J Sheindlin |url=https://nuwber.com/person/563a8a837686b0176b57359e |website=Nuwber |access-date=21 July 2024}} Judge Jerry assisted in getting the building's CofO modified to allow a gym
• Keith Richards, from the Rolling Stones, who rented before the building was a coop, and used to have jam sessions at all hours
• Phil Rizzuto, baseball player for the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
• Ralph G. Gulley, architect, founder and first dean of the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.{{cite journal |title=Membership Directory |journal=Empire State Journal |date=April 1964 |volume=XXIV |page=24 |url=https://usmodernist.org/AIANYS/AIANYS-1964-03-04.pdf |access-date=22 July 2024}}{{cite news |title=Ralph G. Gulley, 87, Architect and Ex-Dean |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/20/obituaries/ralph-g-gulley-87-architect-and-ex-dean.html |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=20 March 1990}}
• Richard C. Casey, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, lived in apartment 12HC from 2006{{cite web |title=Detailed Document Information |url=https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentDetail?doc_id=2006111601558001 |website=ACRIS |publisher=New York City |access-date=21 July 2024}} until his death.{{cite web |title=Detailed Document Information |url=https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/DocumentDetail?doc_id=2008021100136001 |website=ACRIS |publisher=New York City |access-date=21 July 2024}}

Sutton House is mentioned in the following fictional works:

• Cahoots: A Comedy in Two Acts{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Rick |title=Cahoots: A Comedy in Two Acts |date=1990 |page=49 |publisher=Dramatists Play Service |isbn=978-0-8222-0173-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXKXqIYdYKAC&dq=%22415+East+Fifty+Second+Street%22&pg=PA49 |access-date=29 August 2024}}
• Rosa Ponselle: American Diva{{cite book |last1=Phillips-Matz |first1=Mary Jane |title=Rosa Ponselle: American Diva |date=1997 |page=XX |isbn=978-1-55553-317-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5stjCul4ctcC&dq=%22415+East+Fifty+Second+Street%22&pg=PR20 |access-date=29 August 2024}}
• Duffy's War: Fr. Francis Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan, and the Irish Fighting{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Stephen L. |title=Duffy's War: Fr. Francis Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan, and the Irish Fighting |date=2006 |publisher=POtomac Books |isbn=978-1-59797-338-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ne7AsKqAy3UC&dq=%22415+East+Fifty+Second+Street%22&pg=PT62 |access-date=29 August 2024}}

In 1998, Sutton House was picked as one of "New York's Top Ten Residences" by The Cooperator Magazine.{{cite journal |last1=Esposito |first1=Angelina |title=New York's Top Ten Residences |journal=The Cooperator |date=January 1998 |volume=17 |issue=December/January 1998 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980110072512fw_/http://cooperator.com/0198.htm |access-date=23 July 2024}} Sutton House was hailed for its three rooftop decks with views of the East River, its glass-enclosed lobby designed with marble floors and wood paneling, overlooking the gardens in front of the building and the courtyard in the center of the complex. Its glass-enclosed walkway from the lobby to the center building, behind the courtyard, was also praised, as well as its health club, on-site garage, basement storage, package room and a 24-hour doorman and concierge. The building was also praised for having apartments featuring European kitchens, hardwood floors, washers and dryers, marble bathrooms and lots of closets, also for many units with balconies or terraces with East River views. And all that with a relatively low maintenance cost, especially when compared to similar buildings in Sutton Place and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Sutton House is occasionally featured in articles on The New York Times "The Hunt" column.{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Joyce |title=Searching the East Side of Manhattan for a Two-Bedroom Co-op. What Could They Get for Around $1 Million? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/11/realestate/manhattan-east-side-apartment-sale.html |access-date=29 August 2024 |work=New York Times |date=11 July 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Midtown East, Manhattan}}

Category:1956 establishments in New York City

Category:Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan

Category:Modernist architecture in New York City

Category:Residential buildings completed in 1956

Category:Midtown Manhattan

Category:Turtle Bay, Manhattan

Category:Sutton Place, Manhattan