303 West 92nd Street

303 West 92nd Street

NB Number: NB 212-1900

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  True, Clarence

Developer/Owner/Builder: Riverside Building Co

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report: Riverside Drive- West End Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Jacobean Revival

Primary Facade:   Limestone and Roman Brick

Stories: 5

Window Type/Material: See structure

Basement Type: American

Roof Type/Material: Pitched/Slate

Structure: This group of five five story beige Roman brick and limestone houses are two to three bays wide and have American basements. The houses were designed with a unified appearance intended to create the overall visual impression of one large mansion. The row, which turns a corner, encompasses two identical houses fronting on West End Avenue, each approximately thirty-eight feet wide (the corner house is numbered 301 West 92nd Street); two houses on West 92nd Street ( Nos. 303 and 305), each twenty-five feet wide and designed as mirror images, which are separated by a courtyard that resembles the grand entrance of a large residence with the entrances located on either side of the courtyard near the back; and No. 307 West 92nd Street, seventeen feet wide, which is similar to its neighbor and with it forms the end pavilion of the ensemble. The houses are unified by materials, continuous limestone banding at the ground story, quoins and keyed limestone surrounds, decorative wrought iron grilles, two story three sided oriel windows with carved spandrel panels, regularly aligned window heights, uniform stringcourse and cornice lines, and slate covered pitched roofs punctuated by triangular gabled dormers. The original windows in this row have one-over-one double-hung wood sash; most of these windows are extant.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations: The glass and aluminum door is a replacement. The wrought iron grilles at the first story are not original. The brick at the ground story has been painted brown. Seventeen openings for air conditioner sleeves have been cut into the wall facing the recessed courtyard. Light fixtures were placed at the door. The roof has been removed and a fourth and fifth story brick addition with a flat roof was constructed. The areaway fence has been removed and the areaway altered.

History: Built in 1900-01 for the Riverside Building Company, this five-house group was designed by the prolific New York architect Clarence True whose work is also represented by eight other rows in the district. True is said to have designed over 400 houses in the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights and popularized the American basement plan in rowhouse design. Selected Reference: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, E 1293.