When in 1604 the Dutch sent Henry Hudson to America to find the Northwest Passage, he found Native Americans who lived on the Island that is now called ‘Manhattan’. Twenty years later, the Dutch bought the land they found from the Indians for a few US Dollars. More and more Dutch arrived in Manhattan in the coming years and the Island was soon to be called: ‘New Amsterdam’.
After the Duke of York took ‘New Netherlands’ from the Dutch in 1664, Manhattan got named ‘New York’ and its name has never changed.
Now, almost 350 years later, Dutch history is still present in Manhattan. Great examples of this are the now called ‘Hudson River’, named after Henry Hudson, The street ‘Amsterdam Avenue’: One of the longest streets in Manhattan, and the famous Brownstone houses that are mainly located in Harlem, the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and a few in the West Village.
Now, a new Dutch landmark will be introduced to New York’s Manhattan:Van Berkel’s ‘Five Franklin Place’: A 55-residence condominium, being built on the outskirts of Tribeca. The prices of these residences, ranging from $2 to $16 million, will be determined by the type (2 or 3-bedroom residences, lofts and penthouses), the size (1,200 to 3,400 square feet) and features, such as a rotating bedroom walls that can create a whole new dimension to the space.
Even though the building is going to be extremely modern (eg. “Invisible” door frames and in Corian-sculpted kitchens), the Dutch architect (Van Berkel) says they ‘picked up the strong horizontal cornices and decorative details of Tribeca’s architecture, re-formed them and transported them onto [their] building in a very contemporary way that makes them truly functional’.
Perhaps in the future, New York Habitat will also rent accommodations in this building. For now, we have some available apartments of other Dutch influence that might interest you include a Harlem 2 bedroom townhouse apartment (ny-12256).
But if you rather stay in a luxurious apartment, more like van Berkel’s ‘Five Franklin Place’, we can recommend this One bedroom apartment in Battery Place (NY-14403) for a more modern option.
I enjoy following your blog! The Bend Oregon real estate market continues to slow. It looks like a good time to buy in your area.
I totally enjoyed reading your brief history on the purchasing of New York City. Couldn’t imagine that it was just for couple bucks though and these streets we walk on today was once the domain of the Indians. I’m dying to experience one of these apartment.