607-613 West End Avenue

607-613 West End Avenue

NB Number: NB 492-1925

Type:  Apartment Building

Architect:  Candela, Rosario

Developer/Owner/Builder: 607 West End Avenue Corporation

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report:  Riverside Drive- West End Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Neo-Renaissance

Primary Facade:   brown brick, Stone, and Terra Cotta

Stories: 15

Window Type/Material: Six-over-six/Wood

Structure: This fifteen story apartment building is located in the middle of the block on the western side of West End Avenue between West 89th Street and West 90th Street, extending approximately seventy-three feet along the avenue. It is faced in brown brick laid in Flemish bond with stone and terra cotta trim.

West End Avenue Facade: The two story stone base and thirteen story brick shaft of this facade are articulated by alternating paired bays and single bays grouped in pairs. The original window type is six-over-six wood sash. The entrance is flanked by double height rusticated pilasters supporting a segmentally arched pediment that frames the center bay of the third story. Lanterns of metal and yellow glass are attached to the pilasters. The entrance is flanked by four window openings on each side, and capped with a carved stone panel below a tripartite bay. The upper stories of the facade are embellished with elaborate terra cotta balconies and window enframements at each end of the fourth story and belt courses above the twelfth and thirteenth stories. The facade is surmounted by a dentilled and bracketed green copper cornice.

Northern Elevation: The northern elevation, visible above the neighboring building, is faced in buff colored brick with a brown brick return and has one window opening per story.

Southern Elevation: The southern elevation, visible above the neighboring building, is faced in buff colored brick with a brown brick return and has one window opening per story.

Western Elevation: The western elevation is visible from West 89th Street. It is faced in buff-colored brick and has two fire escapes and four window openings per story.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations: : Approximately forty percent of the original windows (painted brown) survive. The remainder have been replaced by one-over-one aluminum sash, many covered by aluminum storm sash. The two story limestone base has been painted white. The entrance contains recent paired plate glass doors shielded by a gray canopy.

History: Erected in 1925-26 for the 607 West End Avenue Corporation, this apartment building was designed by architect Rosario Candela, whose work is also represented within the district at 302-06 West 89th Street. The present apartment building replaced four four story rowhouses with raised basements: two faced in brick and two in stone. Selected References: George Bromley, Atlas of the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan (Philadelphia, 1899), vol. 3 plate 11. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, E 1295.