The Dakota at 1 West 72nd St. #54

An original Dakota jewel! The livingroom has an angular park view and faces north onto 73rd street along with the 3 bedrooms. The large eat-in kitchen and the dining room/salon are connected by a nice pantry andface south with views over the courtyard. There is a large walk-in larder attached to the kitchen and a walk-in closet with a window between the 2 bathrooms, allowing for expansion of the bathroom or for a computer room. Additionally, a large storage room comes with this apartment. This original jewel was the home of model and actress Ruth Ford, for whom her boyfriend, William Faulkner, wrote “Requiem For A Nun.” She starred in the Broadway production with her future husband, Zachary Scott. Ms. Ford made her home into a salon and the likes of Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Terrence McNally and Truman Capote frequented it. “West Side Story” was hatched in her living room, where a chance encounter between composer Stephen Sondheim and librettist Arthur Laurents led to their collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, another Dakota neighbor. Her brother, poet, novelist and artist Charles Henri Ford, lived upstairs.