37 W 12TH Street #7E

The Butterfield House, a Modernist masterpiece completed in 1962, was described by Paul Goldberger writing for The New York Times as one of the ten "Top Postwar Apartment Buildings." In its 1969 report on Greenwich Village, the Landmarks Preservation Commission noted "The delicacy of form and elegance of detail, inherent in the design, make it as one with its residential neighbors." The block-through co-op of 102 units consists of two buildings. The seven-story 12th Street building with twelve apartments occupies the site of Daniel Butterfield's house, a Union general in the Civil War whose father was a founder of the American Express Company. The twelve-story 13th Street building is far larger with eight apartments per floor, but only four per elevator landing, giving it an intimate scale. The buildings are connected by an undulated glass passage surrounded by a lushly landscaped garden with fountains, inspired by the Alhambra. Apartment 7E is the second-largest apartment line in the building. It is one of the floor-through apartments offering a city view to the North and a garden view to the South. The span from living room through dining room is nearly 55 feet. Two bedrooms and bathrooms occupy one side of the apartment, the windowed eat-in kitchen and bedroom with half-bathroom the other side. The living room, formal dining room, and entrance foyer provide a generous and gracious entertaining space uniting the apartment. This apartment is occupied by family members of the original owner. It awaits the vision of the next generation.