Emery Roth (Hungarian: Róth Imre, died August 20, 1948) was a Hungarian-American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details. His sons continued in the family enterprise, largely expanding the firm under the name Emery Roth & Sons.
Emery Roth
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| Born |
Gálszécs, Kingdom of Hungary, (now Sečovce, Slovakia)
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| Died | August 20, 1948 (aged 77)
New York City, U.S.
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| Citizenship |
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| Occupation | Architect |
| Notable work | Hotel Belleclaire (1903) Ritz Tower (1925) The El Dorado (1929–31) The San Remo (1930) The Ardsley (1931) 2 Sutton Place South (1938) 300 East 57th Street (1947) |
| Spouse | Ella Grosman |
| Children | 4 including Julian |
Born in Gálszécs, Kingdom of Hungary (now Sečovce, Slovakia to a Jewish family, Roth emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 after his family fell into poverty upon his father's death. He began his architectural apprenticeship as a draftsman in the Chicago offices of Burnham & Root, working on the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. Roth also designed one of his first solo projects at the Exposition: a pavilion that housed a chocolatier.[1]
At the Exposition, Roth met Richard Morris Hunt, who was impressed with his skills and invited Roth to work in his office in New York. Following Hunt's premature death in 1895, Roth moved to the office of Ogden Codman Jr., a designer and decorator with a Newport, Rhode Island, clientele. In the interwar years, the firm of Emery Roth delivered some of the most influential examples of architecture for apartment houses in the at-the-time fashionable Beaux Arts style, especially in Manhattan.[2]
Many of his most notable projects are located on the Upper West Side, specifically Central Park West which is home to the San Remo, the Beresford, the Ardsley, and others. In 1938, Roth included his sons Julian and Richard as partners.
| Building | Year | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Saxony | 1899-1900 | 250 West 82nd Street | |
| Hotel Belleclaire | 1903 | 250 West 77th Street (aka 1271–1277 Broadway) | |
| The Adath Jeshurun of Jassy synagogue | 1903 | 58Rivington Street | |
| Whitestone | 1909 | 45 Tiemann Place | Builder Charter Construction Co. |
| 601 West End Avenue | 1915 | 601 West End Avenue | |
| The First Hungarian Reformed Church | 1915 | 346 East 69th Street | |
| 1000 Park Avenue[3] | 1916 | Park Avenue and East 84th Street | |
| 570 Park Avenue | 1916 | Park Avenue and East 63rd Street | |
| 151 East 80th Street | 1922 | 151 East 80th Street | |
| The Whitby | 1924 | 325 West 45th Street | |
| The Gilford | 1924 | 140 East 46th Street | |
| 110 West 86th Street | 1924 | 110 West 86th Street | |
| Chester Court[4][5] | 1924 | 201 West 89th Street | |
| 243 West End Avenue | 1925 | 243 West End Avenue (Manhattan) | |
| Mayflower Hotel | 1925 | 15 Central Park West | demolished in 2004 |
| 221 West 82nd Street | 1925 | 221 West 82nd Street | |
| 930 Fifth Avenue | 1940 | 930 Fifth Avenue | |
| Ritz Tower | 1925 | 465 Park Avenue (101 East 57th)[6] | With Thomas Hastings. New York's first residential skyscraper introduced terraces at the setback levels. |
| 41 West 96th Street | 1926 | 41 West 96th Street | |
| 65 Central Park West | 1926 | 65 Central Park West; Lincoln Square | |
| The Alden | 1927 | 225 Central Park West; Upper West Side | |
| The Oliver Cromwell | 1927 | 12 West 72nd Street | |
| Warwick Hotel | 1927 | 65 West 54th Street | |
| Hotel Benjamin | 1927 | 125 East 50th Street | |
| Hotel Carteret | 1927 | 208 West 23rd Street | |
| 580 West End Avenue | 1928 | 580 West End Avenue[7] | |
| Manchester House | 1928 | 145 West 79th Street | |
| The Belvoir | 1928 | 470 West End Avenue | |
| The El Dorado | 1929–1931 | 300 Central Park West / Central Park West Historic District | |
| The Beresford | 1929 | 211 Central Park West | |
| 15 West 81st Street | 1929 | 15 West 81st Street | |
| 300 West 23rd Street | 1929 | 300 West 23rd Street | |
| 35 Prospect Park West | 1929 | Prospect Park; Brooklyn | |
| Hotel St. George | 1930 | 100 Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights | |
| Hotel St. Moritz | 1930 | 50Central Park South | |
| 993 Fifth Avenue | 1930 | 993 Fifth Avenue | |
| 784 Park Avenue | 1930 | 784 Park Avenue | |
| The San Remo | 1930 | 145 and 146 Central Park West | The first of the twin-towered residential skyscrapers. |
| The Ardsley | 1931 | 320 Central Park West | Roth's outstanding Art Deco residential skyscraper. |
| 275 Central Park West | 1930–1931 | 275 Central Park West | |
| 299 West 12th Street | 1931 | 299 West 12th Street | |
| 140 East 28th Street | 1932 | 140 East 28th Street | |
| 888 Grand Concourse | 1937 | 888 Grand Concourse | |
| 880 Fifth Avenue | 1948 | 880 Fifth Avenue | |
| 2 Sutton Place South | 1938 | 2 Sutton Place South | |
| 41 West 96th Street | 1925 | 41 West 96th Street | |
| 310 West End Avenue | 1927 | 310 West End Avenue | |
| The Normandy | 1938 | 140 Riverside Drive | Last of the twin-towered residences, and Roth's choice for his retirement apartment. |
| [Shenandoah Apartments] | 1929 | 10 Sheridan Square | |
| The Grasmoor House | 1940 | 2370-2380 Madison Road, Cincinnati Ohio | An amazing 55 unit Art Deco residential condominium. |
Despite the fact that Roth's sons, Julian and Richard, had joined the firm many years earlier, it was not until 1947 that the firm's name was changed to Emery Roth & Sons, approximately one year before Roth's death.[8]: 50 Julian (1901–1992) specialized in construction costs and building materials and technology, while Richard (1904–1987) was named the firm's principal architect.[8]: 51
In the 1950s and 1960s Emery Roth & Sons became the most influential architectural firm in New York and contributed substantially in changing the appearance of Midtown and Lower Manhattan. In that particular period of time Emery Roth & Sons designed dozens of speculative office buildings, mostly with curtain wall facades, which soon became a ubiquitous feature of the city.[8]: 51
Beginning in the mid-1960s, the firm was also hired as associate architects in large-scale projects like the Pan Am Building (1963), the World Trade Center (1966–1973) and the Citicorp Center (1977). In the early 1960s, Richard Roth's son, Richard Roth, Jr. (b. 1933) became the third generation to join the firm, eventually rising to chief architect CEO and shareholder.[9]
As the firm expanded and diversified over six decades, it remained a family business through the 1990s. In 1988 Richard Roth Jr's daughter Robyn Roth-Moise joined the firm as comptroller. Richard Roth Jr's son Richard Lee Roth joined the firm in 1982 and became the chief specification writer for Emery Roth & Sons. Both retired from the firm when Richard Roth Jr retired and was replaced as the company's CEO in 1993 by Robert Sobel, Roth's cousin.[10]
Only three years later, in 1996, the firm ceased to operate, apparently because of financial distress.[11] Emery's great-grandson Richard Lee Roth currently works in the architectural profession and resides in South Florida.
The extensive architectural records and papers of both Emery Roth and Emery Roth & Sons are now held in the Department of Drawings & Archives at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts LibraryatColumbia University.
