The Dakota

Perhaps more renowned for its resident John Lennon who was shot outside by Mark David Chapman in 1973, the Dakota was one of the first large apartments built on the West Side. In order to attract upscale residents to what was then an almost rural location, the building is loaded with amenities. Carriages would enter through a porte cochere. There are elevators as well as staircases. Each of the 65 apartments is unique, all of the rooms are very large; living rooms are 45' long and 14' high and have windows on several sides. The building also featured a large dining hall with dumbwaiters for food to be transported to the apartments. For exercise, children could play in a penthouse playroom and gymnasium. Outside there was a garden, croquet lawn, and tennis court. It generated its own electricity. There was central heating which was unusual for the 1880's. Famous residents included Judy Garland, Yoko Ono, Lauren Bacall, Rosemary Clooney, Boris Karloff, Rudolph Nureyev, Leonard Bernstein, and Connie Chung.