312 West 88th Street

312 West 88th Street

 

Date: 1889-90

NB Number: NB 1501-1889

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  Taft, Joseph H.

Developer/Owner/Builder: James B Gunn

Row Configuration: ABCCBA

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report:  Riverside Drive- West End Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Flemish Revival

Primary Facade:   Brownstone

Stories: 4 and basement

Window Type/Material: placeholder

Basement Type: Raised

Stoop Type: placeholder

Roof Type/Material: placeholder

Structure:   These six four-story houses on raised basements were designed as a unified row of alternating house types; the three designs within this row are arranged in a rhythm of ABCCBA. The facades, three bays wide are characterized by brown iron-spot brick fronts above brownstone faced basements and first stories, brownstone trim, projecting bays and oriels and alternating stepped gables and crenelated cornices.  The original windows were probably one-over-one wood sash with stained glass transoms at the parlor story (as can be seen at No 310.) There are carved keystones above the parlor story windows and doors of the four center houses. The original pitched roofs probably had standing seam metal surfaces (as can be seen at No 314) with stepped parapet walls separating the buildings at the roof.

Nos 306 and 312 are type “B” houses which originally had arched windows and and entrance at the parlor story (still retained at No 306.) Slightly projecting squared oriels unite the second and third stories, the fourth story windows are arched, and crenelated masonry cornices cap the facades.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations:  The stoop was removed (possibly in 1951) and the arched openings at the parlor story reduced in height and squared, although the keystones have been retained. A basement entranceway was created; a light fixture has been installed above the door. The basement story is resurfaced in brick veneer, the parlor story is painted brown, and the second and third stories are painted a brick orange color. The windows are aluminum replacements and the window grilles at the parlor story are not original. The areaway wall is a replacement. 1951: Alt 815-1951 (Source: Alteration Application] The building was converted from a single-family house to ten apartments. The basement front was brick veneered. Architect — Joshua Tabatchnik Owner — Philip Teitcher

History:  Designed by Joseph Taft, this complete raw of six houses, built in 1889-90, was probably built for the major West Side developer, W.E.D. Stokes, although the owner of record is listed as James B. Gunn. Stokes was responsible for many rows west of Broadway and north of 81st Street, although he frequently had others file his applications at the Department of Buildings; Taft was Stokes’s architect.between 1887 and 1890. These houses resemble No. 313 West 88th Street, the survivor of a four-house row located across the street, which was also designed by Taft and built in the same year. Selected References: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, E 1294. Lori Zabar, “The Influence of W.E.D. Stokes’ Real Estate Career on West Side Development,” Master’s Thesis Columbia University, 1977, 19.

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