Mimi Sheraton referred to it as "one of the Village’s most coveted residences."[3] Architectural critic Paul Goldberger included Butterfield House on his list of the “10 Top Postwar Apartment Buildings” in New York City.[4]
The building shares the block of West 12th Street with historic townhouses and when the street received its landmark designation in 1969 it was described as "one of the most distinguished examples of street architecture of the mid-Nineteenth Century."[5]
Architecture
"The delicacy of form and elegance of detail, inherent in the design, make [Butterfield House] as one with its residential neighbors."
— New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 1969[6]
Rossant's obituary in the New York Times states, "Butterfield House was hailed as a model of how to integrate modern architecture into a historic townhouse district."[6]
The building has been referred to as "[one] of Manhattan's finest postwar apartment buildings".[11] In 2016, the building was included on a list of thirteen "Architectural Masterpieces" that you can live in.[12]
The building is notable for its deep bay windows, historic brown-brick façade, and floor-plan design where many of the units are floor-through apartments that offer views of the street on one side and the landscaped inner gardens and fountains on the other. The majority of the apartments have balconies or terraces facing the inner garden. Originally consisting of 102 apartments, including multiple penthouses, apartments have been combined over the years and Butterfield House now has fewer than 100 units. The architectural height of the building is 78.03 metres (256.0 ft). The Post-War Modern building's rear entrance address is on West 13th Street.
The AIA Guide to NYC calls it "The friendly neighborhood high rise", and the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission cites it as an example of "urban harmony" between modern architecture and older forms.[13]
George Lois – Advertising creative director, designer, and author. Famous for his Esquire magazine covers and allegedly the inspiration for the character Don Draper on the television show Mad Men.[23]
Ariel Pakes – Frisch Medal winning economist. A professor at Harvard University, he is famous for the Berry Levinsohn Pakes (BLP) approach to demand estimation and the Olley and Pakes approach to estimation of production functions.
