The Architecture of Mott B. Schmidt

655 Park Avenue a Georgian-style co-op residential building on Manhattan's Upper East Side, located on Park Avenue between 67th Street and 68th Street, adjacent to the Park Avenue Armory. It was developed in 1924 by Dwight P. Robinson & Company. The building at 655 Park Avenue was designed by architects James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter, Jr., often referred to by the initials "J.E.R. Carpenter", and Mott B. Schmidt. Carpenter is considered the leading architect for luxury residential high-rise buildings in New York City in the early 1900s, while Schmidt is known for his buildings in the American Georgian Classical style, including Sutton Place and houses for New York City's society figures and business elite.

The building is centered around a courtyard garden facing Park Avenue with a limestone base on the lower floors, and brick masonry on the upper floors. The building's staggered height design, considered unique for Park Avenue co-ops of its era, was a result of restrictions placed on the developer by a syndicate of owners of nearby mansions who sold the land on which 655 Park Avenue was built. Andrew Alpern devotes an entire chapter in the book, "Historic Manhattan Apartment Houses", to the "Battle for Suitable Scale at 655 Avenue."

There are three wings, an 8-story wing on 67th Street, a 7-story wing on 68th Street, and the main mid-block building which is 11 stories. The building has a duplex penthouse with a 3000 sqft roof terrace, in addition to lower terraces on top of the 68th Street wing and the 67th Street wing. 655 Park Avenue has entrances on 67th Street and 68th Street and full time doormen and elevator operators.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
New York Times / Streetscapes: Letting the Sunlight In
City Realty: Building Review of 655 Park Avenue
Original Offering Prospectus: Entire Building
Original Offering Prospectus: Penthouse Units