Prewar Building

What's a prewar building?

Updated July 6, 2023

Noted for their Old World elegance, historic charm and one-of-a-kind distinctive character, prewar apartment buildings are defined as those that were built before World War II. The construction time span for these iconic urban buildings is usually defined as 1900 to 1939, but apartments dating back to the 1880s are often included in the prewar category.

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Prewar buildings can be found in many major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston, but the term is most commonly used in New York City real estate circles. Prewar buildings are more commonly found in the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx rather than Brooklyn, where townhouses predominate. Still, though, you can find them in Park Slope, East Flatbush, Brooklyn Heights and other Brooklyn neighborhoods that saw a building boom in the early 20th century. 

Prewar buildings have Old World elegance and historic charm, and are particularly popular in some New York City neighborhoods like the Upper West Side and Brooklyn Heights. Photos: Clay LeConey/Unsplash

In Manhattan, prewar buildings by such legendary architects as Rosario Candela and Emery Roth have helped define the skyline and architectural character of many neighborhoods, including most famously the Upper East Side, the West Village, the Upper West Side and Brooklyn Heights. Some of the best-known prewar buildings in Manhattan include the Dakota and the Beresford on the Upper West Side, 740 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side, the twin towers of the San Remo on Central Park West, and the Apthorp, whose residents have included Al Pacino, Nora Ephron, Lena Horne and Joseph Heller. Well-known prewar buildings in Brooklyn include 9 Prospect Park West in Park Slope and 2 Grace Court in Brooklyn Heights.

In New York City real estate, apartment buildings are classified into three broad categories:

  • Prewar buildings constructed before World War II
  • Postwar buildings constructed after World War II and before 1990
  • New construction buildings erected since 1990

Prewar buildings are often built around a courtyard or series of courtyards that provide bright natural light, ventilation and shelter from street noise. Many have central laundry and storage facilities, usually in the basement, and they tend to have grand spacious lobbies with decorative details like coved ceilings and marble floors.

Other common prewar features include:

  • Spacious layouts, with generously proportioned formal rooms, ample closets, high ceilings (generally over nine feet), wide hallways and foyers, larger bedrooms and typically a higher bedroom count than more modern buildings, making them ideal for families looking for three- and four-bedroom units.
  • Solid construction, with solid-core wood doors, hand-finished plaster walls, lots of large windows, thick plaster walls and poured concrete flooring for soundproofing, and plank hardwood flooring, usually in solid oak and sometimes in a herringbone pattern
  • Decorative architectural details, including archways, intricate millwork, ceiling medallions, detailed crown moldings and baseboards, brass and nickel-plated fixtures, wood frames around the doors and windows, and decorative tile work in kitchens and bathrooms
  • Smallish kitchens, which were often used mostly by staff, and bathrooms
  • Other distinctive features might include sunken living rooms, wood-paneled libraries, galleries, alcoves, built-in bookcases, recessed shelving, and wood-burning fireplaces with decorative hearths and mantels

On the down side, prewar buildings often need maintenance, and some may have a history of environmental problems, including lead paint and asbestos-wrapped water heaters. They may have small doorways and hallways and awkward steps. For full-scale renovations and historic restorations, skilled artisans and tradespeople are often needed. The plumbing and electrical wiring systems may be outdated and insufficient for today’s needs. 

Enlarging and updating small bathrooms and cramped, closed-off kitchens can be expensive. Further, renovations may require additional permits and permissions from historic review boards.

Prewar buildings may also lack modern services and amenities such as in-house gyms, central air conditioning and in-unit washers and dryers, more common in newer buildings. They may have noisy and difficult-to-regulate steam heating systems. And without central air conditioning, the façade of the building may be marred by the sight of individual air-conditioning units cluttering the windows. Further, those units block lots of natural light that the apartment interiors would otherwise get.

In New York City, most prewar residential buildings are either co-ops, where residents own shares of the building rather than their individual units, or rentals. Condos in prewar buildings are a rarity. Because co-ops require board approval and larger down payments than condos, they may be out of reach for some buyers. For the most part, though, prewar buildings remain a good investment for buyers, especially ones that plan to buy and hold for at least 10 years. 

Classic and solidly built prewar buildings with good reputations and finances have timeless appeal, and they tend to maintain their value and appreciate faster than recent condo developments.