740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building

Usually, I tend to read books that come recommended by friends or acquaintances, or that somehow find me. It seemed that an entire book devoted just to one apartment building was somehow significant, and, I'd seen this pop up in several places. I'm also a real estate agent in Philadelphia, so all the more reason to get it. No regrets...It's a terrific read and I cannot put it down! I was hooked and reeled in from page 1.If you love money, real estate, history, and stories about the rich (and who among us doesn't?!), you'll love this book. It's a great beach or plane read, not too dense but jam-packed with tons of facinating information. I'd give anything to journey back in time to the Gilded Age and see how these people lived and experience these spaces. Some readers have commented about the lack of photos, but the fact that there weren't many just intensifies the allure and increases my curiosity even more! When I arrive, my first phone call will be to a New York real estate agent. Hopefully one of these will be available. Read it enjoy the ride!

It's very interesting. Almost like a serial of different families, sometimes connected, who bought and rented apartments in this awesome building. It's fast-paced entertainment and I can't always keep track of the names of who's who, but that doesn't really matter. Recently, saw an advertisement for a duplex at this address for 27,400.00 so I guess it was a good investment! I find it amazing that people lived like this, and still do in NYC where I grew up just 17 blocks north. And, although we were considered upper-middle class, we couldn't even touch the toes of these tony souls.People always speculate on whether the rich are very different from the rest of us and, believe me, they are!

This book is an incredible history about the people who built America. Yes it’s about 740 Park Avenue but also about the people who have lived there. I’m a history buff and know lots about the Guilded Age but this book was full of things I didn’t know. Loved it. Plan for it to be my 2022 Christmas present all around

OK, I admit it up front: Hi, I'm severely addicted to shelter porn. I adored "Philistines at the Hedgerows" and thought "Gilded: How Newport Became America's Richest Resort," was fascinating. A glimpse at "740 Park" made me think the hefty volume was going to be enthralling, but it was more a head-scratcher. First, I give major props to the author for what had to be a mind-boggling amount of research. OMG, the details in the book were a wonder to behold. Too bad they were so difficult to process and keep in order. What the book needed more than anything was a floor plan of each apartment with the names of the tenants and the years they lived in each. My husband only reads business and finance books along with some technology and other detailed non-fiction. I told him he might enjoy parts of this volume because it goes into such detail regarding the shenanigans of the bankers leading up to and during the Depression. I managed to read the whole book and did enjoy parts of it. Had no idea that Jackie Kennedy's grandfather, James Lee, was such a wheeler-dealer (he was the builder) or that she actually preferred her father, Black Jack Bouvier and his family. to the severe, humorless Lee family. The machinations of the board that ran the building when it was a co-op were interesting, as well. And, of course, all of the famous residents were subject to delicious stories. I just wish I could have kept it all straight as I slogged through. But, again, wow on the research.

I'm a big time reader and reading occupies at minimum 95% of my day.I was unfamiliar with the author so I looked forward to seeing what he had to say about "740".The first time I read and finished it I was left with a dizzying spell of nausea and a host of questions running thru my mind. I waited 2 weeks and re-read it. I have come to a few conclusions.1:Well researched2:Well written/keeps one on edge of seat (at least it did me)3:I discovered where the money came from and where it went.4:If we lived in a marxist/totalitarian state this would be a damning indictment of capitalism & crony capitalism but most likely if those living rebel lives in a truly totalitarian state would deeply treasure this book.5: I'll re-iterate point #3: Where the money came from and where it went.6: After the second reading i still came away sick to my stomach & I'm a free-market gal-I support capitalism, i'm a conservative, too.7: I'm still trying to figure out why I got dizzy & nauseous the second time.

This book is stuffed with several lifetimes of research. So much detail. It covers 1925ish to about 2000 with stories about each person who bought or lived in each apartment and their heritage back to 1600. It is the story of wealth and ambition, marriage and divorce, struggle and death. Truth is so much more amusing than fiction!

I enjoyed reading 740 as I have a mild interest in architecture. This book told about the beginning of 740 during the great depression. It traced the history of the occupants; some good some not so good. It was amazing to learn what some of these famous people did for a living and their philanthropy.

More characters and players than a Russian novel; I plan to reread but this time I will use pencil and paper to record and make pertinent notes of each and every player. So much information I had trouble holding all of it in my 76 year old brain. I plan to read other works by this author.

Great Read!

Great

As the cover says "740, Park Avenue is the pinnacle of social ascent, the best-known and most lusted-after apartment building in New York City.........." and that's about it really. For those who are fascinated by and are covetous of that rarefied collection of individuals whose wealth or their parents or spouses hand-downs, that can afford the obscenely extortionate 'key-money' and the rigours of appearing before the Co-operative Approval Inquisition, then this is the book for you.Again quoting from the book's blurb "Tantalizing....intimate....intriguing. Sneaks the reader past the doorman," and gives you the low down, likes, dislikes, eccentricities, dalliances, background and excesses of the most famous of its residents.Although wholly inconsequential in the general game-plan of life's relevancies, "700, Park" does cater to our more basic envy and 'nosey' instincts and to this end has been well researched and written.

Came in perfect condition.

Readable in the extreme.