The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-08-16
FINE FLATS FOR
NlILLIONAlRES
Very Expensive Apartments to Be
Hired Nowadays.
RENTS UP IN THE THOUSANDS.
Several Apartments III New York
Whose Decorations and Special
Furnishings Represent an Out
ofS2OO,OOO or More.
RENTS UP IN THE THOUSANDS
at r;ch Americans are willing

fltteQ up dl dll ehpeilSS u PAo''''S 80
considered luxurious almost anywhere on
earth. To cxpend so much money in TT
ting I'D an apartment, a suite Of rooms not
owned by the tenant, but rented by lle
year. was unheard of a few years ago. yeI
such lavishness Is not uncommon III i!Ai'
country now, and there are SeerVal apart
ments in the city Of New York "hoSe
decorations and special furnishings repre-
sent an outlay of 100000 or even more.
Excellent four-story private residences III
New York city may be rented for s',cto
or $500 a year. That many citizens to
whom money is no object prefer apart
mentS nowadays to owning their own
homes or renting private houses is shown
by the fact that every apartment in the
city which rents at the top price, So, 900 a
year, is occupied, and the waiting lists
are long. The owner OF a hish-priced
apartment building said on this point re-
Gently:
81 have never had any trouble in renting
$4,000 apartments. and if I had six or seven
more of that kind they would be taken i'm
meLiatelv. for all I would have to do would
be to send word to a few people on my
waiting list VINO are anxious to abandon
their private residences as soon as they
can find suitable apartments When we
first opened our house we were prepared to
throw a series of rooms into a suite. the
rental Oh WnlCn would nave Decil S-V,uVV d
year but at that time there was call
for It, The greatest demand seems to be
for suites of five rooms, with baths, which
rent for 1850 a year. These prices are for
unfinished rooms
a New York architect who has built sew
eral high-class apartment houses is just
completing one which is eight stories high
one apartment to a floor, and the rental Of
each is 0,00o-unfurnished. of course
There are no fewer than fifty buildings in
the country in which rents for apartments
run as high as $500 TO $500
LARGE INCOMES.
1t Is safe TO say that the income Of
such an apartment dweller must generally
be at least 100000 year and in many
cases it is more. Basing a conclusion on
the present popularity of high-priced apart
1nents. it seems clear that there are
surprising number of men in the United
States whose incomes are S150G0o or more
year An officer of the New York Chamber
OF Commerce recently said that 500 would
be a. very conservative estimate of the
number of men in New York alone whose
incomes are three or more times as large
as that of the President of the United
States,
One curious development OF the apart
ment-house idea is joint ownership OF
buildings by the tenants: great buildings
in which the tenants purchase their apart
ments outright. As much as 100000 has
been paid for a single apartment of this
kind in the knickerhocker. at the corner
az Fifth avenue and Twenty-eighth Street
New York. Two other well-llnuwn apart
mant houses. the Gramercy and the
Chelsea. have made q. success of this sys
tenn. In the Gramercy the highest price
paid by the original stockholders for
apartments of ten rooms was $1,000. and
for apartments Of seven rooms from $3.50
I
stockholders. each owning his apartments
These form stock company, which owns
the ground upon which the building stands
There are a number of other apartments
for renting the income from which is
supposed to nay all the general running
expenses of the house
All Of the rooms IN the Knckerbocl1er
except the bachelor quarters on the tenth
floor and the stores on the ground floor
We're bought outright. The apartments
sold for from s15,0G0 to $4,000 each to the
original purchasers and have changed
hands subsequently at large premiums.
The revenue from the bachelor quarters
and stores pays the running expenses.
Most OF the apartments are Of two stories.
a private stairway running from the first
floor in which are the drawng-roon1 din
ing-room. hutler's pantry library. &c. TO
the floor above. where are the bedrooms.
kitchen. &c AS many as twenty rooms
are In single apartment, and servants
quarters on the eleventh floor are included
in the sale.
One tenant in a New York apartment has
spent more than 100000 on his apartment,
Although there are only three in his fam
ily he has ten servants on the premises.
including coachman. footman. chefs Wallets
and maids. More than s2250.00o was spent
BY another tenant in fitting his anartment
with specially built furniture, rich tapes
o,1l RI n
is the estimated cost Of another gorge
ouslv appointed apartment IN this house.
II IS no common thing for a tenant IN
moving into a suite which rents for Si,eoV
or so to remodel and redecorate II at an
EXPENSE OF slO.Ono One tenant. though her
lease ran only three years. went TO great
eypense in having thee rooms remodelled
;,fo theatre. A millionaire who occupies
twenty rooms on an eleventh floor Is now
having alterations made. principally to ms
dini:g-room. involving an outlay OF SiV.oVo'
He has lived there seven years and has
lust signed lease of ten years.
MILLIONAIRES IN SCHOOLS.
The Central Park Apartment Buildings,
at Fitty-Ninth Street and Seventh Avenue.
are the largest in the world. their esti-
mated cost being more than $1,000. 900.
There are eight distinct buildings. con-
nected by arcades. all under one roof and
to all anpearanceS forming one gigantic
house. There are tSt t4t'di tilisiitS. ietibiiiS
from s.. 400 to 5000 a year. More Million
eires live there than were ever before
gathered under one home roof.
The Bolkenhayn, at Fifth Avenue ana
Fiftv-eighth Street occupies four city
lots. is six stories high and has two apart
ments on a floor. When it is CONSIDERED
that the building cost more than SSes,coo'
and TINT it takes many thousand an
nually to maintain 1t. 1t Is easy 10 see
that its twelve tenants must nave large
incomes In order to pay the rents de-
manded: and yet the waiting list is large.
The house is mined in honor or the
owners old home. in the little town Oh
Bolkenhayn, Silesa. and. instead OF beng
numbered. each apartment is named after
one of the llustrious Hohenzollerns. or
after such prominent men as Bismarck
Won Moltke and others who have been
closely Identified with the dynasty. Each
of the apartments is equal in size to an
ordinary four-story city house
A novel feature of the New Century
apartment house, which is now being
built at seventy-ninth Street and West
End Avenue shows how builders keep
abreast of the times. and how considerate
~ - xp