778 Park Avenue is a luxury residential building in theUpper East Side Historic District on the northeast corner of73rd Street andPark Avenue. The 18-story English Renaissance apartment house was designed byRosario Candela who is widely considered to have been America's greatest designer of luxury apartment buildings. It was built in 1931 and is one of the most coveted buildings inNew York City. It has a four-story limestone base.[1] In 1983 it won the first annual Excellence in Conservation Award fromFriends of the Upper East Side.[2]
The building's ground floor maisonette – which also boasts its own private, and symmetrical, address of 73 East 73rd Street – entertained legions of New York City's elite as the headquarters for high-society conservatism with the home's hosts.[3]
Veronica Cooper (née Balfe) married actorGary Cooper on December 15, 1933, at her mother's home in the very exclusivecoop; the wedding had been planned for theWaldorf Astoria hotel, but the location was probably changed to avoid public attention.
The building has been mentioned in James Trager's literary book titledPark Avenue, Street of Dreams[4] and Kirk Henckles' and Anne Walker's book titledLife at the Top: New York's Exceptional Apartment Buildings.[5]
