Last week, I was taking pictures of the bridge over 96th Street on Riverside Drive…
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…when a detail caught my eye on the apartment building to the north…
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This bit of decoration on the corner…
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…featuring a buffalo skull with ceremonial decorations:
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As I stared at it, I started to notice more interesting details, like two arrowhead spears flanking the skull…
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…along with these very strange faces on either side:
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Swinging around to the front of the building, I saw that the motif continued across the facade…
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…with mountain lions (surrounded by Mayan and Aztec-inspired imagery)…
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…a decorated buffalo head above the door, and even a couple of rattlesnakes if you look closely!
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In fact, the entire facade is dripping with southwestern imagery. So why such a unusual theme for an art deco building in the middle of Manhattan? The answer can be found in the building’s name: The Cliff Dwelling.
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In the early 1900s, people living in highrise apartment buildings were jokingly referred to as “cliff dwellers.” In 1916, when architect Herman Lee Meader, a devotee of Mayan and Aztec architecture, began designing 243 Riverside Drive, he decided to take the term literally and covered the facade with imagery inspired by Arizona cliff dwellers.
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This southwestern deco combination results in some really interesting quirks, like this bit of ornamentation above the door…
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…which once held a large metal and glass marquee to the building:
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The Cliff Dwelling was originally an apartment hotel, offering one and two-bedroom suites to occupants wishing to stay longer than a typical hotel visit, but still having the freedom to leave at any time (fun fact: a struggling L. Ron Hubbard was a guest at the hotel in 1940, and after an argument with a steward of German descent, attempted to denounce him to the FBI as a Nazi enemy of the state). In 1932, kitchens were added and the building converted into housekeeping apartments.
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Even in the brickwork, you can see the sort of patterns that one might find in, say, Navajo textiles.
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The theme continues right up to the roof…
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…with more zigzag patterns in the brickwork…
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Look really closely, and you’ll even find several swastikas, a sacred Native American symbol that was once quite common prior to its corruption by the Nazis:
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Was the interior as richly decorated as the exterior? I headed for the entrance…
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Love the the font used for the etched address on the glass doors…
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…especially the RSD portion:
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Inside, a cast iron door features this beautiful pattern…
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A close-up of the design:
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But ready for the best part?
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Seriously, how beautiful is that?
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The floor is covered in a gorgeous pattern of reddish-orange, black, green and white tiles:
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A close-up:
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Meanwhile, I love how the bricks are clearly meant to have a somewhat rough-hewn feel, as though you might be in a sandstone dwelling. Below, the mailbox alcove:
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The walls are accented with lines of symboled tiles:
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The lamps overhead match the motif:
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According to the NY Times, the lobby was once decorated in Navajo rugs and similarly themed furniture during its apartment hotel days.
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Finally, there’s an equally great sitting room in one corner, with more of that southwestern tilework. Such a wonderful interior:
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There’s one last unusual fact about 234 Riverside worth mentioning. If you go up to the north side of the building and peer through the fence, you’ll notice something odd…
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The building is only nine feet wide! (those buildings you see are the Cliff Dwelling’s neighbor).
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In fact, 234 Riverside is triangular in shape, narrowing down to a scant nine feet at its skinniest end. All of the building’s rooms face out onto Riverside (the apartments are said to be quite small; over time, many have been combined into larger units).
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What a great building. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a single historical record of the apartment hotel’s existence outside of a few address mentions – not even a newspaper ad or postcard. If anyone is able to, please email it along!
-SCOUT