272-278 West 86 th Street Significance for West 80s Neighborhood Association
Introduction This report is an evaluation of the significance of 272-278 West 86 th Street in relation to the proposed Riverside Drive-West End Historic District Extension 1. The report was prepared by Mary B. Dierickx, Historic Preservation Consultants, Mary Dierickx, Project Director, and Sandra Levine, Consultant Architectural Research and Historic Preservation, for the West 80s Neighborhood Association. Methodology Information in this report derives from site visits and research at collections, libraries and institutions in New York, by the consultants. The buildings were analyzed based on the NYC Landmarks law which states that a landmark or historic district must have "a special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value in order to be designated. The characteristics analyzed include, but are not limited to: significance of architect, importance of history, workmanship, embodiment of style and type, influence of style, type and design on other properties, rarity, and impact on district and urban fabric. Summary 272-278 West 86 th Street is a row of four houses designed by the prominent architect CPH Gilbert in 1895. The row contributes to the proposed Riverside-West End Historic District Extension 1 through its quality of design and workmanship, date, architect, and location. The row of four is significant as an excellent example of a Renaissance Revival style row, which is characteristic of the first phase of development of the West End neighborhood, and as a model of the important architect CPH Gilbert s early row house period. The primarily intact row exhibits a high quality of design and workmanship, as seen in the carved stone ornament in classical styles, dramatic bow fronts topped by balustrades, and line of modillioned cornices. The row is located in the historic West End neighborhood, between Broadway, the old Bloomingdale Road, and Riverside Park, both historic and natural boundaries of the proposed extended historic district. In addition, the row is part of a larger group of five, late 19 th century row houses on the West 86 th Street block between Broadway and West End Avenue that also includes an early 20 th century Renaissance Revival style flats building, two early 20 th century Renaissance Revival style apartment buildings, and a landmark church. The block merits inclusion in the extended historic district for its quality of architecture and its representation of the major periods in the historical and architectural development of the district. 1
272-278 West 86 th Street 272-278 West 86 th Street is significant as a handsome and intact example of a Renaissance Revival style row, characteristic of the first phase of development of the West End neighborhood. It is equally significant as a fine representation of the architect CPH Gilbert s early row house period. 272-278 is a row of four, five-story brick and stone houses. They were designed as single-family residences in 1895 by the prominent architect CPH Gilbert for John O. Baker. 1 The elegant Renaissance Revival style houses are three-bays wide, each with a four-story bow front with a dentillated stone cornice with a garland frieze, and topped by a stone balustrade. The façades are light beige Roman brick, which was just becoming popular for use with the eclectic classical styles of the period, with limestone trim. Nos. 272-8 have been lightly coated, the original color can be seen on No. 280. The row is laid out in an ABBA pattern, with the two center bow fronts next to each other and the other two bow fronts at each end. Each row house has a modillioned metal roof cornice. The limestone fifth floor functions as a decorative frieze for the cornice, with carved stone cartouches between windows outlined with egg and dart molding. It is a well-thought out classical composition with excellent workmanship in the design, the materials, and the ornamental stone work. The rectangular third and fourth floor windows have splayed brick lintels while the second floor windows are set apart by a lintel in the form of a cartouche and stone balustrades. The limestone ground floors are simple, with rectangular door and window openings and low steps. There have been minor alterations to the ground floor ironwork, steps, and nee walls. Row houses with this American basement plan were built in this period in the neighborhood. The ground floors are likely original, and similar ground floor treatments can be seen in Gilbert s row houses within the Riverside-West End Historic District. These similarly designed row houses are 327-333 West 87 th Street, 321-331 West 89 th Street, and 254-258 West 93 rd Street (see Photos 3-5 below). 1 NB 1258-95, Municipal Archives. four 5-story brick dwellings, block 1233, lot 57-60.. 2
Photo 1. 272-278 West 86 th Street, 2011 Photo 2. 272-278 West 86 th Street, c1940 (Municipal Archives) This 1940 photo shows that there were very few alterations to the row in the 20 th century. 3
The row of houses at 272-278 West 86 th Street compares favorably to the row houses presently in the Riverside-West End Historic District. The houses combine to form an elegant Renaissance Revival style row, designed in the same period as those within the district, with a high or higher level of architectural integrity, and designed by a prominent architect, CPH Gilbert, who was responsible for three very similar rows within the present historic district. Photo 3. 327-333 West 87 th Street (CPH Gilbert, 1892) Within the present Riverside-West End Historic District Photo 4. 331-321 West 89 th Street (CPH Gilbert, 1893) Within the present Riverside-West End Historic District 4
Photo 5. 254-258 West 93 rd Street (CPH Gilbert, 1893) Within the present Riverside-West End Historic District Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (1861-1952) CPH Gilbert was one of the major architects of turn-of-the-20 th -century New York City. He was responsible for six individual NYC landmarks and dozens of buildings in historic districts. He is specifically listed as one of the significant architects in the Upper East Side, Metropolitan Museum, Park Slope, Riverside-West End, and West End Collegiate historic districts, where he designed dozens of important residences. He established a practice in New York City in the 1880s and by the 1890s he was designing homes for prominent members of New York society. He designed a number of iconic mansions, including the Isaac D. Fletcher Mansion (1897-99), the Felix Warburg Mansion (1906-08), and the Otto Kahn Mansion (1913-18 with JA Stenhouse) on the Upper East Side and the J. R. De Lamar House in Midtown. 2 He designed as many as 100 major houses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. 3 2 Landmarks Preservation Commission, Riverside-West End Historic District Designation Report, New York: NYCLPC, 1989, p. 264-67; A Dolkart & M Postal, Guide to New York City Landmarks, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons; Andrew Dolkart, West End Avenue Survey, NY: West End Preservation Society, 2009. 3 Christopher Gray, Streetscapes/Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert; A Designer of Lacy Mansions for the City s Eminent, New York Times, 2/9/2003. 5
The Block: West 86 th Street between Broadway & West End Avenue The area west of Broadway from about the West 70s through the West 90s was developed in a short period of time, from the 1880s to the 1920s. This area, known as the West End, developed later than the Upper West Side east of Broadway. The whole west side, from about 25 th to 125 th Street, was known as Bloomingdale in the 19 th century. Bloomingdale Road formed the historic boundary. This road was widened into a wide boulevard (called Boulevard ) in the late 1860s and was renamed Broadway in the late 1890s. 4 Broadway still forms a natural boundary for the neighborhood today. Riverside Park, the other natural boundary, was finished by about 1880. The proposed extension of the historic district to Broadway as well as to the south, recognizes its historical development and historic and natural boundaries. The block of 86 th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway embodies the historical period and the type of architecture of the West End. There is a group of five row houses typical of the first phase of development in the 1880s-90s as well as an individual landmark, the Church of St Paul & St Andrew (RH Roberston, 1895-97). The early 20 th century flats building and two early 20 th century apartment buildings are characteristic of the second phase of development, from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The flats building at 250 West 86 th Street, at the south west corner of Broadway and 86 th Street, was designed by Hill & Turner Architects in 1900 for Le Grand K Petit. It was built as a twin with 251 West 85 th Street. The handsome seven-story Classical Revival style red brick and limestone flats buildings exhibit a high quality of design and workmanship, with notable carved limestone ornament. The twin flats buildings are fine examples of the district building type. 250 West 86 th Street, 2011 4 Landmarks Preservation Commission, West End-Collegiate Historic District Designation Report, NY: NYCLPC, 1984, p. 15. 6
The south side of the block contains a group of five, 19 th century row houses. They include the subject 272-278 West 86 th Street (CPH Gilbert, 1895) as well as 280 West 86 th Street. This is a Flemish Revival style row house, built for J.D. Caldwell in 1887 originally as part of a row of six buildings. This is the only one left. The architect was Joseph H. Taft, who designed other similar row houses in the Riverside-West End Historic District. 5 They are all in the Flemish Revival style, with their characteristic peaked, front-facing gables atop three-bay, bow-fronted, decorative brick and stone facades. They include 313 West 88 th Street, 304-314 West 88 th Street, and 308-310 West 89 th Street, and 560 West End Avenue, all of which he designed for W.E.D. Stokes. Joseph H. Taft was the chief architect for developer W.E.D. Stokes, who was very active in the West End area, developing properties and promoting the neighborhood. Stokes didn t always put his name on the New Building Applications, so it is not known if he was responsible for the No. 280 row. 6 The Flemish Revival style is uncommon in the West End, the major exception being the Heins & LaFarge 1904 IRT subway station at West 72 nd Street, a designated landmark. 280 West 86 th Street, 2011 5 Real Estate Record & Guide, 1887 "86th St., s.e. cor., west End av, six four-story and basement stone and brick dwellings, irreg. 6 54, tin and slate roofs, cost $20,000, J.D. Caldwell, 156 West 97th Street, archt J.h. Taft. The 1889-90 Robinson Atlas map shows the row of six with no buildings adjacent, all with the same footprint. 6 Riverside-West End Historic District Designation Report, p. 14. 7
304-314 West 88 th Street (Joseph Taft, 1889-90) Within the present Riverside-West End Historic District 313 West 88 th Street (Joseph Taft, 1889-90) Within the present Riverside-West End Historic District 308-310 West 89 th Street (Joseph Taft, 1887-89) Within the present Riverside-West End Historic District 8
The five other buildings in the 1887 Taft row were on West End Avenue. They were replaced by 530 West End Avenue, the handsome Renaissance Revival style corner apartment building designed by Mulliken & Moeller Architects in 1914. Harry B. Mulliken was also the owner and developer. The architects were responsible for a number of major early 20 th century apartment buildings on the Upper West Side. They were featured in a Streetscapes column in the New York Times in 2003. 7 No. 530 was described as having some 17-room apartments inside its rich brown brick and Spanish Baroque terra cotta facade. 530 West End Avenue, 2011 The other early 20 th century apartment building is on the north side of 86 th Street, No. 257. This 14-story Renaissance Revival style building was designed by well-known apartment building architect Pollard & Steinam in 1906 for the West 86th St Studios corporation. 257 West 86 th Street and Church of St Paul & St Andrew, 2011 7 Christopher Gray, Mulliken & Moeller, Architects; Upper West Side Designs in Brick and Terra Cotta, New York Times, 9/14/2003. 9
Conclusion The row of four houses at 272-278 West 86 th Street should be included in the Riverside- West End Historic District extension. The row of four is an excellent example of the Renaissance Revival style row house as designed by significant architect CPH Gilbert. The mainly intact row is characteristic of the first phase of development of the historic district. The row is located between Broadway, the old Bloomingdale Road, and Riverside Park, both historic and natural boundaries of the proposed historic district. The block itself is significant and should be included in the extended historic district. It contributes to the historic district, with its five 19 th century row houses, 1900 flats building, and two early 20 th century apartment buildings, anchored by a landmark church. 10