El Dorado Apartments, ca. 1920.

The history of the El Dorado Apartments is similar to that of its nearby neighbor The Ardsley. The original El Dorado (seen in this photograph) was an eight-story speculative apartment house completed in 1902. Somewhat similar in design to the original Ardsley, the CPW front of the building had large rounded corners to allow for sweeping views of the park and good cross ventilation.

In the 1920s the real estate market on Central Park West boomed and a number of the older apartment houses were demolished and replaced. In 1929 investor Frederick Brown bought the first El Dorado and resold the site to Louis Klosk, a Bronx-based developer. The financial crisis that followed would eventually stall the construction and force Klosk to foreclose. The eventual building, finished late in 1931 under new ownership, was a 30-story, twin tower Art Deco building. Designed by Margon & Holder, and their associate architect Emery Roth (who designed the second Ardsley) the large building has terraced setbacks on the towers topped by abstract geometric spires.