The Beresford

The Beresford was constructed in 1928 and many celebrities and influential New Yorkers have called this massive apartment building home. Located next to Central Park and just north of the American Museum of Natural History, this 20-story, 30-bay wide building features three corner towers and was designed by architect Emory Roth and features an opulent lobby filled with marble and bronze and three entrances. The Beresford was converted to a co-op in 1962 and twenty years later, it was included in the National Register of Historic Place's Central Park West Historic District.

HRH Construction worked on The Beresford at the same time as The San Remo (also a Clio entry), just down the street to the south. The Beresford takes up the entire length of Central Park West from W. 81st to W. 82nd Streets. Before the apartment building was constructed, there was a hotel in this spot named Hotel Beresford (since 1899). Before the New York City street grid was extended north into this part of the city, this block of Central Park West and the block to the north was on a tract owned by Samuel Stillwell. Beginning in the mid 1870s, the American Museum of Natural History was constructed in the park called Manhattan Square, directly south of the spot where both Beresfords have stood

The Beresford is an Italian eclectic style building with a limestone three-story base, beige brick upper levels, and limestone detailing in Italian Renaissance motifs (cherubs peeking out from escutcheons and swags). Architect Emory Roth responded to city regulations about heights of buildings by stepping back the upper stories and the three corner octagonal pavilions that give the structure a castle-like appearance. This is the largest of Roth's apartment buildings on this street, by volume; ceilings soar from ten to twelve feet high. A garden and a fountain are found in the interior courtyard and there is a landscaped roof deck.

Some famous residents of The Beresford have included opera singer Beverly Sills, actor Tony Randall, tennis star John McEnroe, singer Diana Ross, and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Helen Gurley Brown, the iconic editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, lived in one of the corner penthouse pavilions from the 1970s until her death in 2012. When interviewed once and asked where she would like to live, Brown chose her four-story penthouse in The Beresford and called this the best apartment in New York. Brown's husband, David, the film producer best known for the movie Jaws, died in 2010. Another of the tower pavilion penthouses sold for over $15 million in 2004. A duplex apartment below one of the towers sold for $25 million in 2005.

The Beresford now holds 123 co-op units. The structure is almost like three buildings in one, with separate entrances and elevators at 1 and 7 W. 81st Street and 211 Central Park West. It is one of the few Central Park West apartment buildings to have two main facades, on the south - overlooking the museum - and to the east - facing Central Park.

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Priluck, Jill. "Co-Ops Live: A Penthouse at the Beresford Is Listed at $28 Million." New York Sun (New York, NY) August 2nd 2007.

Velsey, Kim. What Will Become of Helen Gurley Brown's Beloved Beresford Tower Penthouse?, Observer: Red carpet real estate. August 13th 2012. Accessed September 9th 2021. https://observer.com/2012/08/what-will-become-of-helen-gurley-browns-beloved-beresford-penthouse/.