Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section...
1) History Lessons: wherein we explore our city's past, from Bronx to Battery.
Ever really checked out the architecture at City College? Though it's a textbook case of rugged Neo-Gothicism, the original campus was actually designed by Beaux-Arts master George B. Post. According to The Times, Post submitted two designs in 1897 when the College held an architectural competition for its new Harlem location. One was classically Gothic, in the style of the traditional European university; the other was Beaux-Arts. Critics (both historical and contemporary) seem to agree that the chosen Gothic design leaves a lot to be desired, and one wonders what the campus would have looked like had the College trusted Post's expertise and gone with the Beaux-Arts version. Judge for yourself at an exhibition of Post's original designs, beginning on February 3 at the Spitzer School of Architecture, 141 Convent Avenue (135th Street). ["The Very Model of a University"; photo via kiminnyc/Curbed Photo Pool]
2) Every "The Hunt" column begins with the Hunters describing the apartment they want, and ends with them rationalizing whatever they came away with. This is The Hunt: Dreams vs. Reality
The Hunters: a couple of geniuses looking to buy
Price
Dream: $1.4-1.6 million
Reality: $1.595 million
Neighborhood
Dream: Upper West Side
Reality: Upper West Side
Amenities
Dream: Spacious, washer/dryer
Reality: Spacious, sunny, washer/dryer
Summary
This week's Hunters include a violist/Julliard professor and a Columbia mathematics professor, so get ready to feel inadequate! As always, the couple was expecting a baby and needed more space, preferably on the Upper West Side for commute purposes. During the search, they decided they definitely wanted to go pre-war, finally settling on the first apartment they looked at: a spacious two-bedroom on West End. In the end, they bought the place for the asking price of $1.595 million. [The Hunt/"Striking While the Iron Is Hot"]