Building: The Osborne

The Osborne, built between 1883 and 1885 and expanded in 1906, was the brainchild of the stone contractor Thomas Osborne and is a New York City landmark and has housed greats like Leonard Bernstein and Bobby Short. It was designed by James Ware with wealthy New Yorkers in mind and serves as a kind of Dakota across the street from Carnegie Hall. Each floor had four large apartments richly detailed with touches such as parquet floors, rare wood and plaster mouldings and tiled fireplaces. While some of the original apartments remain intact, about half have been broken up into smaller units.

The lobby serves as a testament to late-19th-century extravagance. The floors are a mix of small mosaic tiles and slabs of varicolored Italian marble. Complementary marble was used for the wainscoting and carved marble recesses with benches. Dancing nudes and intricately decorated archways take the eye to a ceiling done in rich hues of red, blue and gold leaf. Stepping inside one is instantly thrust back a hundred years in time and maybe even further. Andrew Lloyd Webber eat your heart out …

There is a 3% flip tax.

Description provided by Ricky Nelson and Jeffrey Rowe