{"nrhp_refnum":"84002784","name":"Level Club","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"253 W. 73rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.78027036000003,"lon":-73.98279385399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-04-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 15-story clubhouse and hotel building at 253 West 73rd Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side, built 1925-27 and designed in a neo-Italian Romanesque style with Masonic ornament.","why_significant":"It is argued to be a representative example of eclectic 1920s high-rise design shaped by New York's 1916 zoning law, with setbacks and extensive historically derived ornament. It also typifies the high-rise urban club that became standard by the 1920s, and is notable as a fraternal club with distinctive Masonic symbolism. The exterior retains an outstanding degree of integrity.","narrative":"Rising fifteen stories on West 73rd Street near Broadway, this building was erected between 1925 and 1927 as both a clubhouse for the Level Club, a local Masonic social organization of about 5,000 members, and a hotel for Freemasons from anywhere in the world. Clinton & Russell, Wells, Holton & George designed it with straw-colored brick, cast stone and terra cotta, and its upper floors step back in the pattern required by the 1916 zoning law. Italian Romanesque motifs and Masonic emblems such as compasses, a trowel and a level decorate the facade and the principal interiors, including a three-story lobby and a double-height assembly hall. Facilities included a swimming pool, gym, squash courts and ballroom. The club later lost the building to financial difficulties; it served as a hotel, then housed a rehabilitation program from 1976, and was sold in 1983 for conversion to apartments. Its largely intact exterior illustrates 1920s skyscraper design and the shift to high-rise clubs.","period_of_significance":"1925-27","architect_builder":"Clinton & Russell, Wells, Holton & George","architectural_style":"Neo-Italian Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Being converted to apartments at the time of nomination, with work in progress on some interior floors; most significant original interior spaces remain.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.240942-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/84002784.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002784/72cb9d4c64-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002784/72cb9d4c64-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Level_Club_253_W73_jeh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Level_Club_253_W73_jeh.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319688","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Level_Club","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7747020"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/level-club-84002784/"}