Sumith Prasad
Paramount+’s psychological horror film ‘Apartment 7A’ mainly takes place in a New York City apartment complex called the Bramford. The establishment appears before the protagonist, Theresa “Terry” Gionoffrio, as a symbol of what she cannot achieve with her struggling acting career. That’s why she is captivated by Roman and Minnie Castevet’s offer to let her live in one of their apartments in the same building. As the prequel to ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ concludes, the actress learns that the complex is actually the base of a Satanic coven that targets vulnerable women like her. The franchise’s ardent admirers can visit the Bramford in real life, but not as a worship venue of Satan!
The Dakota Doubles For the Bramford in Apartment 7A
The Bramford is a fictional apartment complex created by Ira Levin for ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ the source novel of Roman Polanski’s film of the same name and ‘Apartment 7A.’ In these movies, The Dakota stands in for the apartment complex. Located at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, the cooperative apartment building is a captivating establishment designed in the German Renaissance style. It is preserved as a National Historic Landmark and an entry on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was once home to some of the most famous people to ever exist on the planet, including John Lennon.
Having said that, Terry Gionoffrio’s apartment is not exactly in The Dakota. The building is known for being not filming-friendly, forcing the production department to seek an alternative place to shoot the interior scenes. Thus, Natalie Erika James, the director, joined her production designer, Simon Bowles, to build the Bramford apartments on the soundstages in the Pinewood Studios in London, England. The interiors we see in the film are sets Bowles constructed referring to ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and other sources. The staircases, door handles, and lights in the prequel were then designed accordingly.
Along with setting up the interiors in London, Natalie sent a skeleton crew to New York City to shoot the scenes outside The Dakota. Since the real-life building is featured in ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ the director was adamant about ensuring continuity in the prequel. The crew members who visited The Dakota struggled because of the limitations within the apartment complex. “We approached them to measure the sentry box where the doorman sits, and even that was tricky. We ended up distracting the guy while somebody took photos with a tape measure against the side of it,” Bowles told Town & Country.
After its appearance in ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ The Dakota became an unignorable landmark in New York City. The building is featured in Al Pacino’s cop drama ‘Serpico,’ Tom Cruise’s psychological thriller ‘Vanilla Sky,’ and Bradley Cooper’s biographical drama ‘Maestro.’ Since Lennon was tragically assassinated right outside the apartment complex, the place is a holy site for the ardent admirers of the Beatles as well.
