330 Riverside Drive

330 Riverside Drive

Type:  Mansion

Architect:  Janes & Leo

Developer/Owner/Builder: Joseph A. Farley (building firm), Brothers of the Christian School (current owners)

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report: Riverside Drive- West 105^th Street Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Beaux-Arts

Primary Facade:   Brick, Buff brick, Limestone, Metal, and rusticated limestone

Stories: 3 with basement

Description: While it shares many of the design elements of the row houses on 105th Street, it does not merely reflect their facades. Decoration is restricted here to the enhancement of the openings, while large surfaces are left unadorned. Set on a basement of rusticated limestone, the upper floors are composed of buff-colored brick and are trimmed with beautifully finished and carved limestone. The richly ornamented recessed doorway, located in a central section of the main facade facing 105th Street, is surmounted by large console brackets supporting a stately balcony. Three tiers of triple windows in this central section are doubly enframed by smooth limestone piers and by quoins, and crowned at the top by an arch with a large cartouche. Above this arch there is a balustrade capped in turn by a pyramidal roof with crestings. To the east of this impressive central section is a four-bay facade, each level distinguished by a particular ornamental element. At the basement level, the windows are covered with grilles; at the second floor, delicate metal balconies ornament the windows. At the third level, a balustrade is supported on paired console brackets and the windows have “broken-arch” pediments. A mansard roof with arched dormers and simple cresting appears above the dentiled roof cornice.
This selective use of ornament underscores the care taken in every aspect of the design of a building such as this to create a coherent and dignified whole. At the east end of the facade, acting as a transition between the row houses and the mansion, there is a single story glazed conservatory, set above the basement and crowned by a “broken-arch” pediment. The single bay to the west of the entrance displays many of the same design elements as the area to the east, and the facade facing Riverside Drive also repeats the same motifs. It differs only in the second floor windows which have colored glass panels.

Historic District: Riverside Drive-West 105th Street HD