117 Manhattan Avenue
117 Manhattan AvenueÂ
Date: 1890
NB Number:Â NB 1122-1889
Type: Â Rowhouse
Architect: Â Angell, Edward L.
Developer/Owner/Builder:Â Joseph Turner (owner)
NYC Landmarks Designation:Â Historic District
Landmark Designation Report:Â Manhattan Avenue Historic District
National Register Designation:Â N/A
Primary Style: Â Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival
Primary Facade: Â Â Brick, Metal, and Stone
Stories:Â 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:Â 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: Mirror image of 105 Manhattan Avenue; projecting sandstone lintel above metal bay; pressed-metal cornice with decorative molding and brick parapet; sandstone band beneath cornice; facade continuous with 115 Manhattan Avenue
Alterations:Â basement and first story stuccoed and painted; pressed-metal bay painted; stoop removed; original entryway converted to window and original basement windows converted to garage prior to c. 1940 tax photograph; garage widened after 1940; paneled wood-and-glass double door entry and garage door at basement level; non-historic windows and sashes; possibly originally arched fenestration altered to tripartite rectangular window at first story and singular rectangular window with rectangular sandstone lintel at third story prior to c. 1940 tax photograph; brick sills and courses beneath first story fenestration; historic multi-paned casement windows and transoms removed; garland band removed from parapet; ironwork and security gate at areaway