Built c. 1869 as a five-story brownstone residence, it was substantially redesigned in the late 20th century by Paul Rudolph, an American architect and one-time dean of Yale University.

It consists of the original brownstone residence, along with a four-story steel skeletal penthouse with concrete wall panels, which is cantilevered slightly over the street.

The penthouse originally received negative feedback from neighbors, who expressed concerns that it would draw excessive attention to the area and that it would block their own views of the river.

The Paul Rudolph Apartment & Penthouse is at 23 Beekman Place in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.

[4] With the surge of immigration from Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century, the area's well-off residents gave way to impoverished workers employed in the East River's coal yards, although Beekman Place's rehabilitation began in the 1920s.

[5] 23 Beekman Place is designed as two distinct parts: the original five-story masonry structure, as well as a four-story penthouse addition over the front and back of the building.

[2][7] The original structure, dating from the 1860s,[4] was redesigned in the late 20th century by architect Paul Rudolph, a former chairman of Yale University's School of Architecture.

[a] In his late career, Rudolph designed buildings in Southeast Asia, and his renovation of 23 Beekman Place included some aspects of these projects.

While technically an alteration, 23 Beekman Place is among New York City's few remaining structures designed by architects or artists as their own residences.

[13] The cantilever was meant to provide extra space for the guest room, as well as for the terrace staircase, but it also served to increase privacy for the top floors.

The eastern end of the sixth floor's south wall contains a small rectangular window, visible from the southeast, while the eastern end of the seventh floor's south wall contains a wide rectangular window separated by vertical mullions and glass panes.

[17] The penthouse includes one terrace with a metal-grating floor overhanging the street several stories below, in what Progressive Architecture magazine called "a gantry from nowhere".

'"[19][20] When Rudolph moved into the house in the 1960s, he configured his fourth-floor apartment with mirrors, exposed lighting, and curtains composed of plastic discs.

[12][22] The curtains consisted of nylon wires with disk mirrors, which allowed the illumination of the interior to be shown at night, while making it nearly invisible from the outdoors during the day.

[21][23] Rudolph also built his own bookshelves; installed plastic furniture, panels, and doors to give a united character to his small apartment; and decorated his spaces in white.

[6] Rudolph's penthouse residence was characterized largely by obscured boundaries, which was in part due to its shiny materials and multilevel living spaces.

[18][26] The elevator from ground level to his residence, which could fit one person at a time, was reached by a passageway with niches that were lit up and decorated with toy soldiers.

[6][25] The writer Joseph Giovannini recalled visiting the house in the 1980s and placing a wine glass on what he assumed to be a transparent shelf, only for it to fall three stories.

[47] According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the couple's private lives were relatively unknown in comparison to their public appearances.

[48] The couple had three residences by the 1940s: their Beekman Place townhouse; a weekend house at Sneden's Landing on the Hudson River in Palisades, New York; and a vacation home at Martha's Vineyard.

[48][55] Rudolph's initial changes to his Beekman Place apartment were meant to maximize use of the relatively small space, as his unit only covered 800 square feet (74 m2).

In February 1977, the proposal was presented to the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), which had authority to override legislative limits.

[12] Donald Luckenbill, an architect at Rudolph's firm, designed the renovations,[25] while Marco Martelli was the general contractor and Vincent J. DeSimone was the structural engineer.

[12] The renovation involved destroying the rear wall and installing a new facade of steel and glass, which extended up to 17.5 feet (5.3 m) past the previous lot line.

[63] Rudolph's estate sold the house in May 2000 for $5.5 million[64] to Gabrielle and Michael Boyd, architectural historians from California who moved into the space with their two young sons.

[35][62][65] The Boyd family expressed appreciation for Rudolph's work and promised to restore the interior to match his intent as closely as possible.

Rupp erected a brick wall between 21 and 23 Beekman Place in August 2001, blocking some windows on the third through fifth stories, prompting the Boyds to file a complaint with the city government.

[70][b] Campus began planning a renovation of the house to convert the penthouse unit into a usable space and preserving some of its design features.

[31] Sorkin, writing for House & Garden in 1989, called it "easily one of the most amazing pieces of modern urban domestic architecture" created in the United States.

[73][82] Nuvo magazine wrote in 2023 that "the penthouse is a provocative piece of work" because of its unconventional design elements, including glass floors.