The Dakota – New York City, New York
Are you a fan of famous people that live (or lived) in beautiful buildings in the city? If you are then you truly want to visit the Dakota and perhaps snap a photo of this historic building. Although you can’t tour it because it is a private apartment building you will probably be with a crowd of others taking pictures.
The building is located on the corner of 72nd St. and Central Park West. It was built between 1880 and 1884. The detail of the building is really stunning.
Some of those that have lived in this building included Judy Garland, Jack Palance, Leonard Bernstein, Lauren Bacall, Carson McCullers, Boris Karloff, Connie Chung, Paul Simon, and Roberta Flack. But, for those that are followers of more modern celebrities, you will want to know that John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived there. It was in the main entrance to this building that John Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman in 1980. There are often flowers left at the nearby Strawberry Fields memorial across the street in honor of John Lennon.
The building was also featured in the 1968 movie “Rosemary’s Baby”.
There is a story that says the reason the building has the name it does is that when it was built it was said that the upper west side of Manhattan seemed to be as remote as the Dakota Territory!
The architecture of the building is best described as North German Renaissance with some others telling you that the inside is decidedly French in character. It boasts high gables, balustrades, and terracotta spandrels and panels. The apartments inside the building range from 4 to 20 rooms. None of the 65 residences are the same with the exception that the parlors and master bedrooms are always located in the front with the other rooms overlooking the courtyard in the center of the building.
Some of the rooms are as long as 50 feet with ceilings as high as 14 feet. The floors are covered with mahogany, oak, and cherry woods.