What's the significance of a pre-war building?

I keep reading that as a feature of the UWS. Are we talking WWI or WWII or earlier? I also remember a co-worker who was moving to NY calling apartments and asking if they were pre-war buildings. It seemed to be a requirement for him.

What's the significance of a pre-war building?

Many large apartment buildings built before 1950 are beautiful, garganutan examples of sturdy, indestructable architechture with meaningful and beautiful aesthetic details (like gargoyles, etc.)

Some older building have really cool Art Deco tiles and borders in the lobby. Plus, if it hasn%26#39;t been gutted, subdivided and ';renovated'; - and I use that term loosely - , you might be lucky enough to find details like ';dressing rooms'; (tiny rooms with a closet inside it), ';maid%26#39;s rooms'; with a W/C (my mom%26#39;s first apt in NYC was the maid%26#39;s room of an older lady on the UWS), mantlepieces, artistic transoms and grilles, and built-in cabinets and shelving.

Did your co-worker read the obituaries? ;o)

What's the significance of a pre-war building?

I think with many of the iconic buildings of the UWS having been built round about the turn of the century, I imagine they%26#39;re talking about WW1. Have a look here for a detailed intro to the UWS: http://www.thecityreview.com/uwsintro.html which explains the whole thing much more eloquently than I ever could.

They usually have higher ceilings, larger rooms and more moldings/character, etc. Building like mine that were built in the 50s are ugly, white brick things with boxy, smaller rooms.

It really depends on the building. I stayed in a friend%26#39;s 1 BR prewar while I was renovating, and despite the gorgeous art deco lobby, the apartments were probably carved up into smaller units and it was very depressing compared with my studio! She had a really hard time selling it - a 1BR on Central Park West in this market!

My ex is on the parlor floor of an upper west side prewar building. He as at least 20 foot ceilings, the most gorgeous window molding and a huge unworking ornate fireplace.

World War II

forgot to mention that

That sounds beautiful! Your desription reminds me of the architecture on the Univ of Pittsburgh campus which is gorgeous. It sounds like I%26#39;ve picked the right area to stay.

I%26#39;m sure he did. We endured weeks of at least 10 calls a day asking ';is your buidling pre-war?';, so I know he researched it thoroughly. He moved there without much of an increase in his salary from here, so I don%26#39;t see how he was able to afford it. But that%26#39;s another story....

Pre-war refers to buildings built before WWII. Actually, it%26#39;s a misnomer, and the term refers to pre-Depression buildings. Before the Stock Market crash of %26#39;29, there was money to be spent developing real estate. When you see buildings built then, they had higher ceilings, thicker walls, larger rooms, and amenities.