227 Central Park West

The apartment building at the southwest corner of Central Park West and W. 83rd Street has stood here since 1888. The six-story building - also known as The Lolita - is notable for its projecting, rounded corner and its floral terra cotta ornamentation near windows and on three band courses. The building at 227 Central Park West is part of the National Register Central Park West Historic District, listed in 1982. The building's entrance is centered on the W. 83rd Street side so the building also goes by the address 2 W. 83rd Street.

Before the street grid of New York City extended this far north, the area where 227 Central Park West now stands was part of a tract owned by Samuel Stillwell. The Queen Anne style apartment building at 227 Central Park West was designed by the firm Thom & Wilson. It is composed of brick, brownstone, and Renaissance Revival style terra cotta ornamentation. There is a heavy, projecting cornice.

Thom & Wilson's office was located at 1267 Broadway in New York City. They also designed a new courthouse for Harlem, New York in 1890; this building featured a rounded corner, similar to our 1888 apartment building but topped with a tower. The architects designed the new Criminal Courthouse for New York in 1890 to 1891; there were only square corners on this building.

The apartment building at 227 Central Park West is dwarfed by most of its neighboring apartment buildings along Central Park West to the south. Only six stories tall, the apartments are more modest than those of its early twentieth century tall neighbors. Some of the apartments are just a one-bedroom, one-bath unit of 600 to 700 square feet; these sizes have sold for around $600,000 to $750,000 in recent years. A renovated luxury unit with four bedrooms plus three baths sold for almost $5 million in 2021; this eight-room apartment was the largest one in the building.

The current configuration of 227 Central Park West holds 22 co-op units. The lower two floors were refaced in concrete stucco in 1948. The building has been home to at least one notable person, actor Robert Soseby Woods. Woods has played the character "Bo" Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live since 1979 and won an Emmy for his work.

American Cement Company. History of the Portland Cement Industry in the United States. Philadelphia, PA. American Cement Company, 1895.

Covell, Anne B. Wilson, Suzanne J. Ruttenbaum, Steven R. NRHP Nomination of Central Park West Historic District. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1982.

Fandom. Robert Woods, Fandom. Accessed September 10th 2021. https://onelifetolive.fandom.com/wiki/Robert_Woods.

Howard, Alexandra Cushing. Building-Structure Inventory Form for 227 Central Park West, New York, N.Y.. Albany, NY. Division of Historic Preservation, New York State Parks and Recreation, 1975.

Salwen, Peter. Upper West Side Story: A History and Guide. New York, NY. Abbeville Press, 1989.

StreetEasy. 227 Central Park West, StreetEasy. August 1st 2021. Accessed September 9th 2021. https://streeteasy.com/building/227-central-park-west-w_york#tab_building_detail=2.

Ten-Tronck Staff. Celebrity Directory 2005-2006. Ann Arbor, MI. Axiom Information Resources, 2005.