Villa Charlotte Brontë

Thanks to an anonymous reader we have been directed to this recent article of the Real Estate section of the New York Times (registration or bugmenot required), where we are introduced to Villa Charlotte Brontë [that] resembles a quirky sand castle perched high above the Hudson River in the southwest corner of the Bronx.

Picture Credits: James Pomerantz for The New York Times (source)

THE steep cliffs along Palisade Avenue in Spuyten Duyvil create spectacular Hudson River views for anyone living in a tall postwar apartment tower. But for pure drama, the towers cannot compare with the tiny co-op complex at 2501 Palisade Avenue called the Villa Charlotte Brontë. John J. McKelvey, a lawyer, writer and developer, built it in 1926 and advertised it in The New York Times for anyone whose “soul is hungry for the majesty of the river” — a fair description even today. (...)

A 1926 picture of the villa can be found on the article.

[In 1926] he put up his chef d’oeuvre, the Charlotte Brontë, just north of Independence Avenue. It has unobstructed views up and down the Hudson and cling to what must be a 65- or 70-degree slope.

His architect, Robert W. Gardner, designed the Brontë’s 17 co-op apartments in two sections separated by a central courtyard, the individual apartments connected by walkways, freestanding stairs, stone arches and other details that make it seem all akimbo. (...)

At the turn of the century, any building named after Rosa Bonheur, a radical French painter of the 19th century, or Charlotte Brontë, the author of “Jane Eyre,” would have been unusual. Two of Mr. McKelvey’s children — Louise McKelvey Holsapple of North White Plains and John J. McKelvey, of Ridgefield Springs, N.Y. — recall that their father had a literary bent, and Mrs. Holsapple said that he particularly appreciated the work of the Brontës. (Christopher Gray)

EDIT:
Check this YouTube video with views of the exterior and interior of the villa.

Categories: In the News , Charlotte Brontë , Weirdo