Rudolph Apartment is Sold

The Fifth Avenue apartment Paul Rudolph designed in 1970 for Claire & Maurits Edersheim has been sold. Located within an austere limestone tower, the apartment features many of the characteristic elements of Rudolph's interior architecture from the mid-Sixties through the Seventies: extensive use of mirrors and reflective surfaces, plastics and other synthetic materials, curvilinear geometry, painterly use of color, and experimental lighting. It is unknown what changes the new owners will make, but prospects are not good for Rudolph's design. Few protections are available for private interiors, which are considered dispensible especially in the higher end of New York real estate. The interior of Rudolph's penthouse apartment at Beekman Place saw significant changes after being sold, and in November 2010 only the exterior became a New York City landmark.

In addition to this apartment, Rudolph also designed offices for Maurits Edersheim at Drexel Burnham Lambert and made extensive renovations to their property in Larchmont, NY. Read more about the apartment at the New York Observer. Please note the Observer article contains some factual errors (Larchmont is not in Long Island, for example,) but more importantly misses the fact that Paul Rudolph began his career designing houses in Florida and the Walker Guest House was recently voted the most significant house in the state by the Florida chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Even while working on larger and more prestigious commissions around the world, Rudolph continued to devote himself to residential design until his death in 1997.

Images: Paul Rudolph Archive, Library of Congress