Van den Heuvel Mansion, ca 1900. In 1792 a Dutch merchant who was becoming wealthy in the trade and finance markets of New York purchased a plot of land on what is now the Upper West Side. The large plot and small complex of buildings had earlier belonged to Charles Apthorp, whose land still abutted this property to the north. Jan Cornelius Van den Heuvel was long credited with building the mansion on the land, though it was likely there in some form since the mid 18th century. The home was a grand house two stories tall with a steep gabled roof. Van den Heuvel, despite his recent immigrant status, was named director of a U.S. Branch Bank in 1801 and his family moved to a lower Manhattan home as their "city dwelling" while the uptown manse remained their "summer house." The family sold the plot following Jan's death in 1822 and the land was divided. The plot that included the large house was leased to a William Burnham in 1839 who converted the building into a respectable hotel known variously as Burnham’s Mansion House, Burnham’s Hotel, and Burnham’s Tavern. The house was purchased by John Jacob Astor (whose wife was a Van den Heuvel) in 1879 and it was occupied by a floral business in the late 19th century. It is unknown when the full third floor was added. The home was demolished in 1902, though some of its interiors and furnishings were saved. On the now empty land, William Waldorf Astor had built a massive apartment building constructed called the Apthorp.

Arthorpe Apartments ca. 1905 Following the lead of the Dakota on Central Park West, many of the new apartment houses were built with large central courtyards. This one, which occupies an entire city block, was remodeled several years ago, splitting each apartment into two. The division of rooms was balanced by using the living room and bedroom for one new apartment and the dining room, kitchen, and maids' room for the other. This ingenious scheme produced two fully remodeled apartments where only one existed formerly.

Broadway, west side, north from West 77th (left) to 79th Streets, 1908.

The Apthrop, ca. 1905. Designed by architects Clinton & Russell for William Waldorf Astor, the Apthorp is a full-block apartment building. Named for Charles Ward Apthorp, who once owned the land, the Italian Renaissance Revival structure was completed in 1908. The large central barrel-vaulted entrance leads to a well-appointed interior courtyard and the building has four lobbies. The massive building originally had only 10 apartment to each floor. The floors were further divided in the 1930s and 1940s. Long a rental building, the Apthorp underwent a condo conversion in 2008, when the average price of apartments was offered at $6.5 million. Famous residents have included Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Nora Ephron, Joseph Heller, George Balanchine, Al Pacino, and Conan O'Brien.

LANDMARK WEST! is the proud curator of the over 3,500 designated landmarks between West 59th and West 110th Streets, Central Park to Riverside Park (up from only 337 when we began our work in 1985). We promote public awareness of these landmarks and the urgent need to protect them against insensitive change and destruction for the sake of our community quality of life. Here, we take you through a number of the building types that make up the Upper West Side.

Take a walk in the beautiful Upper West Side. Start at Columbus Circle and discover the cultural and religious landmarks and the extravagant apartment buildings of this affluent neighborhood.

Apthorp Apartments ARCHITECT: Clinton & Russell DATE: 1906-08 STYLE: Italian Renaissance This handsome apartment house built around a large central courtyard fills a short city block between Broadway and West End Avenue. Designed in the Italian Renaissance style by Clinton & Russell for the Astor Estate, it remains today much as it was when originally built with the exception that stores have been added at street level on the Broadway side. The most conspicuous feature of this handsome apartment house is the use of rustication as contrasted with the smooth ashlar masonry of the wall planes. Notable also is the adaptation of the Renaissance vocabulary from the scale of a single palazzo, perhaps three stories in height, to a block-long, twelve-story edifice.