Master Apartments
A 27-story Art Deco landmark on the Upper West Side, the Master Apartments pioneered corner windows and multicolored brick facades while housing a museum and arts school dedicated to modernist culture.
At a glance
The Master Apartments stands at the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and West 103rd Street. Completed in 1929, it was the tallest building on Riverside Drive at the time of its construction and introduced two architectural innovations to New York City: corner windows and an exterior of bricks in varying colors.
History
The building emerged from the vision of the Master Institute of United Arts, founded in 1920 by Nicholas and Helena Roerich. Financier Louis L. Horch purchased lots beginning in 1925 and secured funding in 1928. The completed structure opened in 1929 with lower floors dedicated to a museum, arts school, and international art center.
Financial instability arrived quickly; foreclosure came in 1932. A dispute between Horch and the Roeriches led the museum to close and prompted an unsuccessful lawsuit. By the 1950s, as the surrounding Manhattan Valley neighborhood declined, the cultural programming gradually ceased—the museum and center closed by 1971, though the auditorium remained active for events.
Sol Goldman purchased the building after Louis Horch’s death in 1979 and converted it to a housing cooperative. Renovations completed in 2005 reconfigured units and modernized amenities, restoring the building’s residential appeal.
What you see
Designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett of Helmle, Corbett & Harrison with Sugarman & Berger, the Master Apartments exemplifies Art Deco style in its proportions and detailing. The facade’s innovative use of varied-color brick creates visual depth across the 27 stories, while the corner windows—a first for New York skyscrapers—maximize light and views over the Hudson River.
Cultural significance
The Master Apartments represents a pivotal moment when avant-garde artistic ambition met metropolitan development. Its architectural innovations influenced subsequent skyscraper design, and its role as a combined residence-museum-school embodied early twentieth-century ideals of integrating art into urban life. The building’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places (2016) recognizes its dual legacy as both design pioneer and cultural institution.
Key facts
- Address: 310 Riverside Drive, Manhattan
- Country: United States
- Year completed: 1929
- Coordinates: 40.8005, -73.97126
- Architects: Harvey Wiley Corbett, Helmle, Corbett & Harrison, Sugarman & Berger
- Stories: 27
- Style: Art Deco
- National Register of Historic Places: 2016
Practical information & getting there
The Master Apartments is a private residential cooperative and not open to public tours. It remains visible from Riverside Drive and West 103rd Street on the Upper West Side. The building’s exterior architectural innovations can be appreciated from street level.
Sources & resources
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