THE GRINNELl
The Grinnell Co-op is a truly unique and majestic building. This iconic building sits in Washington Heights at the junction of Riverside Drive, 157th Street, and Edward Morgan Place with 80 spacious apartments. Often called “The Dakota of the North”, the triangular-shaped Grinnell boasts a porte-cochere entrance and unique interior courtyard, complete with a guard house. Initially designed to “meet the requirement of those accustomed to private houses,” the apartments carefully maximize exposure to natural light, with spacious rooms and high ceilings.
The central courtyard of the Grinnell features brick and limestone accents with classic lights and other decorative accents. The original layout featured ten apartments per floor, with sizes varying between a classic six on the small end and up to nine rooms with three baths on the largest. Throughout its many decades on Riverside Drive, the Grinnell and it’s apartments have been meticulously maintained, with much variety in the kinds of spaces available to shoot.
Built in 1910 by popular architectural firm Schwartz & Gross, most of the Grinnell is nine stories high, with three two-story-tall towers on each corner of the building. The architects of the Grinnell were active from 1901 until the late 1960s. Schwartz & Gross is most well known for building almost half of the apartment buildings in Morningside Heights, as well as eight now-historic buildings on Central Park West, including 55 Central Park West, also known as the “Ghostbusters Building” which was prominently featured in the 1984 movie.
According to the Audubon Park Historic District, until World War II, the Grinnell was fully staffed with 24 hour elevator service, mail delivery direct to apartment doors (twice a day), and a system of dumbwaiters which connected to each apartment, so all deliveries could be made through the rear entrance and basement. The unique triangular lot was once a cow pasture—the building now is surrounded by three streets on all sides “[setting the Grinnell] off from the rest of the neighborhood…” The building is named after the Grinnell family who once owned the land it now stands on.
800 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032
