251 West 71st Street

251 West 71st Street

Date:  1924

Type:  Apartment Building

Landmark Status:  Historic District

Architect:  Herts & Tallant

Façade (primary material):  Brick and Stone

Stories:  6

Wish List:  Wishes Come True

Located on a quiet midblock between Amsterdam and West End Avenues, the small, six-story apartment building at 251 West 71st Street represents one of the last works of architect Henry B. Herts (1871-1933), best known for his partnership in the celebrated firm Herts & Tallant. Herts attended Columbia University and later the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he met fellow architect Hugh Tallant. Their first commissions were primarily residential, but their designs for theaters throughout New York City, including the Lyceum Theater and New Amsterdam Theater (both 1903), soon brought them fame and fortune. By 1911, Herts & Tallant dissolved their partnership, and Herts resumed residential work. The sophisticated façade of the 251 West 71st Street is beautifully proportioned with a variety of visually arresting, yet subtle colors and textures, achieved through the creative use of brick, stone and terra cotta. The terra-cotta detailing around the arched portal that frames the main entrance to the building and along the second floor balcony is particularly fine. A unique mid-rise apartment building among the rowhouses that characterize most Upper West Side side streets, 251 West 71st Street warrants landmark protection.