995 Fifth Avenue is a 16-story co-op apartment building at 995 Fifth Avenue and East 81st Street in New York City, across Fifth Avenue from Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was constructed in 1926 as The Stanhope Apartment Hotel and designed by Rosario Candela. The building was converted to a residential co-op with 27 units in 2005 and renamed The Stanhope. It has since been renamed simply 995 Fifth Avenue.
History
The Stanhope Apartment Hotel opened in 1927 under the ownership of the 955 Fifth Avenue Corporation. It shortly passed into the ownership of Benjamin Winter, Inc. in 1928, followed by joint ownership among four banks, including the Bank of United States, in 1932, after Winter's default. Following acquisition by Hopestand Realty Corporation, the Stanhope Hotel built a reputation for luxury and live music. The hotel's Rembrandt Room cabaret featured George Feyer from 1968â€"1980, and Greta Keller for several weeks each year through 1964, returning for a week's encore in 1971.
Hotel ownership changed twice in 1961, first to Webb Knapp, Inc. in August, then to the Alliance Realty Company in October. The hotel continued its reputation as home to many well-to-do New Yorkers and entertaining celebrity visitors like Ringo Starr in 1969.
Judson Realty purchased the hotel in 1980 and renamed it the American Stanhope Hotel as a statement about several major local hotels passing into foreign ownership. In 1982, Herbie Mann established the music policy at the hotel's Saratoga Room restaurant.
The hotel was acquired by New York developer Gerald Guterman's Hanover Companies for $19 million in 1986. He undertook a $26 million Louis XV-style renovation with plans to sell the 132 rooms and suites as cooperatives while running the building as a luxury hotel. When the hotel reopened following renovations, it was among the first hotels in the city to pass the room cost of $200 per night. Unfortunately, the expected profit was not realized and the Hanover subsidiary that owned the Stanhope PRE-packaged and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 1988.
The hotel was purchased by Tobishima Associates at a November 1988 bankruptcy auction for $76 million.
In 1999, the building was purchased by Hyatt and subsequently operated as the Stanhope Park Hyatt Hotel. The hotel's cabaret was revived as the Melrose Room, featuring talents including pianist Steve Ross and soprano Anna Bergman. It ceased operation as a hotel on January 13, 2005. It was converted to co-op that year and first operated as The Stanhope, later changed to 995 Fifth Avenue.
Famous residents
- Daphne Guinness
Famous deaths
- 1946: Kiki Preston (née Alice Gwynne), plunged out a window.
- 1955: Charlie Parker, in the suite of Nica de Koenigswarter.
Fictional references
- The breakup scene in Woody Allen's film Manhattan (1979), between Yale Pollack (Michael Murphy) and Mary Wilke (Diane Keaton), takes place at the now-demolished sidewalk cafe that wrapped around the ground level of the Stanhope Hotel.
- The Hotel New Hampshire (1981) by John Irving. In this novel, the Berry family relocate â€" from Vienna, Austria to New York City â€" at which time the two sisters Franny and Lilly Berry take up residence on the 14th floor of the Stanhope.
- Sex and the City:
- Episode 39 Season 3: "Easy Come, Easy Go", Carrie goes to The Stanhope Hotel to get away from the noise in her apartment.
- Episode 5 Season 1: "The Power of Female Sex", Over dinner, a friend introduces a young, handsome architect to Carrie. Her evening ends at his luxurious hotel (The Stanhope). Waking up, she finds that the man has left her a considerable sum of money.
- The Melrose Room makes an appearance in Igby Goes Down.
- Lipstick Jungle Season 2 episode 11. James Lesure â€" Griffin Bell makes reference to living at The Stanhope.
- Chosen, Victor Davidson copyright 2003 David Bohanan - reference to walking towards and living in the "Stanhope Hotel"
- Roger Sterling mentions that he lives in this building in Season 5 Episode 12 of Mad Men.
See also
- List of former hotels in Manhattan
References
External links
- Official website
