The Orwell House (257 Central Park West)
257 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
- Year built
- 1905
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 69
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark
- Designated
- Subletting
- Permitted with board approval
Every recorded sale at this building, 2005–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 4BR+ median
- $9.1M
- Recent range
- $1.6M – $9.1M
- Avg vs. ask
- -7.6%
- Recorded transfers
- 65
The Orwell House at 257 Central Park West has one of the most distinctive histories of any CPW building. Completed in 1906 by Milliken & Moeller as the "Central Park View" — a luxury apartment house — the building was reconfigured in 1918–1920 into the Hotel Peter Stuyvesant, a Manhattan residential hotel that operated for nearly six decades. In 1978, the hotel was converted to a residential cooperative under its current name, the Orwell House, and has operated as a co-op for the past 47 years.
This sequence — luxury apartment → residential hotel → cooperative — is unusual on CPW. Most CPW pre-war buildings were either purpose-built as apartments and converted to co-ops in waves between 1958 and the 1990s, or remained rentals (like 241 CPW). The Orwell House's intermediate hotel phase produced specific architectural and operational legacies: smaller unit footprints than typical pre-war Manhattan apartments (reflecting the hotel-residential format), distinctive lobby and common-area proportions, and a service signature that retains echoes of the hotel era.
Designed by Milliken & Moeller — a New York architectural firm active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Manhattan apartment-house and commercial work — the building's Beaux-Arts composition in red brick with limestone detailing was characteristic of the era's mid-tier luxury residential design. At 13 stories, it sits below the height of the later Art Deco twin-towers but above the smaller pre-war buildings of similar vintage.
For buyers who want pre-war CPW architecture, a particular building history (apartment → hotel → co-op trajectory), and a smaller-format unit mix appropriate to single buyers, couples, or pied-à-terre owners, the Orwell House occupies a particular niche.
Architecture and unit composition
The Orwell House's 69 apartments reflect the building's hotel-residential heritage. Unit footprints are generally smaller than typical pre-war Manhattan layouts; the building does not have the large family-apartment configurations characteristic of contemporaneous CPW peers like the Langham (135 CPW) or the Brentmore (88 CPW).
Most apartments are one- and two-bedroom configurations, with some combined units producing larger layouts. Pre-war signatures throughout: high ceilings (typically 9–11 feet, somewhat lower than the most generous pre-war CPW buildings), period architectural detail in varying states of preservation, hardwood floors, and Park-facing exposures on the eastern flank.
Park-facing apartments occupy the eastern flank with direct Central Park views; corner Park-facing units (Park + West 86th Street exposure) command meaningful view premium.
Building operations
The Orwell House operates as a full-service pre-war cooperative with 24-hour doorman, attended elevator service, on-site superintendent, laundry, and private storage. The building converted to cooperative ownership in 1978 — among the later CPW conversions of the wave that swept the avenue from the late 1950s through the 1980s.
The building participates in the NYC Cooperative & Condominium Property Tax Abatement Program for qualifying primary-residence shareholders. Specific policy details (flip tax structure, financing cap, sublet fee) are not publicly published by the building; buyers should review the current proprietary lease and house rules during due diligence.
Recent sales
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 10, 2026 | 9A | 3 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,600 sf Closed Apr 11, 2026 (recorded Apr 9) at $5.1M — 14.93% under the $5.995M asking. 9A — 3BR at 2,600 sqft = ~$1,962/sqft. Substantial trophy discount — $895K absolute-dollar gap on an A-line apartment. | $5,100,000 | $1,962/sf | -14.9% |
| Mar 4, 2026 | 7F | 4 BR · 2.5 BA Closed Feb 18, 2026 (recorded Feb 19) at $2.8M — 3.28% under the $2.895M asking. 7F — 4BR/2.5BA. Tight discount-to-ask discipline on the F-line. | $2,800,000 | -3.3% | |
| Oct 30, 2025 | 5B | 1 BR · 1 BA Closed Oct 22, 2025 at $1.61M (recorded transfer; no public public listing data listing at this closing). 5B — 1BR. Same #5B cross-cycle: $900K (Feb 2019) → $999,999 (Sep 2021) → $1.61M (Oct 2025) = +79% across 6.6 years on this specific apartment. | $1,610,000 | off-mkt | |
| May 8, 2025 | 11F | Closed Apr 30, 2025 (recorded May 8) at $1.95M (recorded transfer; no public public listing data listing at this closing). 11F — upper-floor F-line. | $1,950,000 | off-mkt | |
| Aug 23, 2024 | 11AB | 4 BR · 3 BA Closed Aug 15, 2024 (recorded Aug 21) at $9.1M — 9% under the $10M asking. 11AB combined — 4BR/3BA. Substantial trophy combination. Same #11AB previously traded at $9.15M (Mar 2014) — virtually flat pricing across 10 years on this specific combined apartment. | $9,100,000 | -9.0% | |
| Mar 21, 2024 | 10C | 2 BR · 2 BA Closed Mar 15, 2024 (recorded Mar 20) at $2.325M — 3.13% under the $2.4M asking. 10C — 2BR C-line. | $2,325,000 | -3.1% | |
| Dec 30, 2022 | 3F | 4 BR · 3 BA Closed Dec 31, 2022 (recorded Dec 27) at $1.75M — 5.41% under the $1.85M asking. 3F — 4BR F-line. | $1,750,000 | -5.4% | |
| Nov 2, 2022 | 10F | 3 BR · 3 BA Closed Nov 3, 2022 (recorded Nov 2) at $2.9M — 3.33% under the $3M asking. 10F — 3BR upper-floor F-line. | $2,900,000 | -3.3% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,962/sf across 1 sale. Sales close on average -4.8% below ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2021 | 5B | $999,999 |
| Mar 5, 2021 | 6/7D | $3,750,000 |
| Nov 17, 2020 | 4C | $1,900,000 |
| Sep 8, 2020 | 5G | $630,000 |
| Oct 18, 2019 | 12D | $1,580,000 |
| May 29, 2019 | 10C | $2,110,000 |
Full closing history with price-per-square-foot over time, the complete retrade record, and every line that has traded.
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01199-0036) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know if you’re buying
Smaller-format units are the building's signature. Reflecting the hotel-residential heritage, one- and two-bedroom configurations dominate. For buyers who want CPW architecture without needing a full pre-war family apartment, the Orwell House is one of the more accessible CPW options.
Pricing per square foot is competitive within mid-CPW pre-war inventory. The smaller unit format and somewhat lower ceiling heights combine to produce per-sf pricing below the larger-format CPW pre-war landmarks.
Board approval is rigorous, consistent with mid-CPW co-op standards. Strong financial profiles and primary-residence intent are advantageous.
Renovation is constrained by historic district status and pre-war detail. Combined units (where the building has permitted them) offer opportunities for renovation that respects period elements while expanding apartment scale.
View permanence is excellent. Central Park at the eastern flank; West 86th is a residential street with stable building heights.
What to know if you’re selling
Smaller-unit pricing strategy benefits from apartment-specific marketing. With 69 units in mixed configurations, comparable-sales analysis is moderately useful; broker familiarity with the building's unit mix is advantageous.
Buyer pool spans first-time CPW buyers, single owners, couples, and pied-à-terre seekers. The smaller-format unit mix attracts a broader entry-point buyer profile than at the larger CPW pre-war landmarks.
Mansion tax effects depend on apartment scale. Most one- and two-bedrooms trade below the $2M mansion tax threshold; larger combined configurations transact above.
Closing timelines are co-op standard. 4–8 weeks from contract signing to closing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Orwell House, also evaluate:
- The Alden (225 CPW) — Roth pre-war apartment-hotel-turned-coop (similar heritage)
- The Bolivar (230 CPW) — Neo-Georgian pre-war co-op nearby
- The Eldorado (300 CPW) — Art Deco twin-tower landmark, north
- The Beresford (211 CPW) — Roth three-tower landmark
- 241 CPW — Schwartz & Gross 1931 rental (not for sale)
The Roebling Team at The Orwell House
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper West Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because CPW buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, and the realities of pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
In-building experience. We are currently representing the seller of apartment #5H at 257 Central Park West, actively listed at $445,000 (May 2026). Live representation at a building produces the kind of granular intelligence — current board pacing, package expectations, buyer-pool composition for the building's most actively-traded unit format — that retrospective comp analysis can't match. The same #5H apartment previously traded at $355K (Dec 2016) and $255K (Nov 2011), one of the building's clearest long-cycle pricing datapoints on a single apartment.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at The Orwell House, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the full context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires — financial structuring, board approvability, comparable analysis at the apartment level, and the pacing strategy that fits your timeline.