103 Manhattan Avenue

103 Manhattan Avenue 

Date: 1890

NB Number: 1122-1889

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  Angell, Edward L.

Developer/Owner/Builder: Joseph Turner (owner)

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report: Manhattan Avenue Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival

Primary Facade:   Brick, Metal, and Stone

Stories: 3 and basement

Historic District: Manhattan Avenue HD

History of 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119 and 121 Manhattan Avenue: These eleven Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival row houses were developed by Joseph Turner and designed by architect Edward L. Angell. Commenced in August 1889, construction of the row was completed in May 1890, at a recorded cost of $10,000 per house. Angell established his architectural practice in New York City by 1886. During his career, Angell worked in various popular styles, designing Queen Anne, Romanesque, neo-Grec, and Renaissance Revival works in mainly Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side. His earliest known commissions were 241-49 Central Park West (1887-88, altered), 340-48 West End Avenue, 262-68 West 77th Street (both 1889-90), and the Hotel Endicott (1890-91), at Columbus Avenue and 82nd Street. All are extant and located in historic districts on the Upper West Side. The dwellings in the historic district were somewhat smaller than the average row house of the late nineteenth century, apparently intended for middle-class occupation. A large number of the tenants had Irish or German backgrounds, though many were U.S. born and had moved here from other states. Occupations included salesmen, real estate brokers, physicians, as well as a janitor, engineer, teacher and bookkeeper. Many of the households employed servants, mainly of Irish descent. In subsequent decades, an increasing number of lodgers and boarders were recorded by census enumerators, and many of the houses were divided into rooming houses following the First World War.

Description of 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119 and 121 Manhattan Avenue: The eleven row houses designed by Angell are varied and picturesque, featuring scalloped Flemish gables, distinctive decorative cornices, double height tripartite bay windows, wide arched entrances, textured stone, and various types of brick. Like the other rows in the Manhattan Avenue Historic District, no house is identical to its neighbor, but specific elements repeat to establish a sense of visual coherence. For instance, many of the houses feature projecting bay windows and rounded arch windows and doorways, and several have continuous brick facades. Each house was originally accessed by way of a conventional stoop, some of which have been removed or replaced. Much of the original ironwork is still in place at areaways, as well as beneath remaining stoops.

Description: Roman brick facade above rusticated brownstone basement, first story and conventional stoop; smooth stone course above water table; alternating smooth stone bands at first story; arched entryway featuring window with curved upper-sash and paneled wood-and-glass double doors with curved transom; possibly historic door enframent, including glass transom, denticulated transom bar, and paneled reveals; smooth cut sandstone voussoirs above first story fenestration and entryway; sandstone bands at first and second stories form projecting window sills; rectangular sandstone lintels at second story; two pairs of engaged sandstone columns between second story windows; additional sandstone details at second story; three-sided recessed window at third story, featuring two-over-two double-hung sashes at central opening, engaged colonette mullions, simulated nail-studded top rail, stone lintel with circle details and stone sill with stepped brick base; wood windows at all stories; pressed metal cornice with denticulated, modillion and rosette molding; basement courses abut stoop of 101 Manhattan Avenue; ironwork at areaway featuring animal claw holding sphere

Alterations: painted window frames, third story lintel and cornice; security grilles at basement and first story; gate under stoop; entryway security gate; lighting at entryway and stoop