Tag Archives: residential / commercial

Lord & Taylor Building

Lord & Taylor Building, an individual New York City landmark and part of Ladies Mile Historic District, was decaying despite its protected status, until Spanish investors resuscitated the structure in 2009. However, 901 Broadway is only part of the store that existed from 1870 to 1914. A larger, L-shaped portion was separated in 1914 and remodeled – it’s now known as 897 Broadway.

The store was not the first cast iron building in New York, but architect James H. Giles innovated by letting the cast iron show, instead of disguising it as stone – common practice at the time, according to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Lord & Taylor Building Vital Statistics
Lord & Taylor Building Recommended Reading

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Warren Building

Warren Building is a neo-Renaissance gem with exquisite detail, refurbished in 2012. Though stripped of its original first floor colonnade and fourth floor balconies, the building’s marble and terra cotta trim, combined with roman brick, are stunning.

The prominent firm of McKim, Meade & White designed this seven-story building – and also designed the Goelet Building diagonally across Broadway. Broadway cuts diagonally across E 20th Street, making corners a little awkward (because we expect building corners to be right angles). McKim, Mead & White finessed the Warren Building’s corner with a chamfer; the Goelet Building’s corner is rounded.

Warren Building Vital Statistics
Warren Building Recommended Reading

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1 Fifth Avenue

1 Fifth Avenue, a pre-war apartment cooperative, was built as a “hotel” to justify its 27-story height. To meet zoning requirements, apartments lacked kitchens, instead had “pantries” – which tenants later converted to kitchens.

Thin vertical stripes of white and black brick on the flat facades give the illusion of projecting pillars, from a distance, emphasizing the building’s height.

1 Fifth Avenue Vital Statistics
1 Fifth Avenue Recommended Reading

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Scheffel Hall

Scheffel Hall, named for German poet Joseph Victor von Scheffel, recalls the days of Kleindeutschland (Little Germany), home of German immigrants on the Lower East Side.

Carl Goerwitz, a waiter who emigrated to New York in 1873, took over the lease on 190 Third Avenue in 1894. He hired the architectural firm of Weber & Drosser to remodel the building and join it to adjacent buildings that he already owned. The elaborate facade mimics Friedrichsbau at Heidelberg Castle. According to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, the building is among the earliest surviving examples of terra cotta cladding.

In 1904 Goerwitz subleased the building, and it was eventually bought by adjacent Allaire’s restaurant. In the early 1900s the establishment was popular with politicians and writers (including O. Henry).

In more recent years the building was home to jazz club Fat Tuesday’s. It is now a pilates studio.

Scheffel Hall Vital Statistics
Scheffel Hall Recommended Reading

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