262 West 88th Street

262 West 88th Street

Date: 1884

NB Number: NB 1283-1884

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  Whipple, Nelson M.

Developer/Owner/Builder: Thomas Butler

Row Configuration: ABCDC

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report:  Riverside Drive- West End Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Renaissance Revival

Primary Facade:   Brownstone

Stories: 3 with basement

Basement Type: Raised

Stoop Type: Unknown

Roof Type/Material: Flat

Structure: These five brownstone-fronted rowhouses are each three stories above raised basements and eighteen feet wide. They have regularly aligned windows and combine both rock-faced and smooth ashlar in their facades. There are four house types in the row which are arranged in an ABCDC pattern. Although Nos. 264 and 266, which were originally part of the row have been demolished, all of the houses were probably designed to have a unified appearance, with three houses with flat roofs and continuous cornices flanked by two houses at each end with slate-tiled peaked roofs (as can be seen at Nos. 254 and 256) and projecting bays capped by gables. All of these houses have been altered, but all originally had stoops leading to parlor-story entrances, decorative wrought-iron grilles at the basement story, and one-over-one double-hung wood-framed sash windows.

The type “C” houses (Nos. 258 and 262) have flat roofs and each is three bays wide and has rock-faced ashlar at the basement and parlor stories and smooth ashlar above. The two openings at the parlor story of each house have arched lintels and voussoirs. The opening for the original entrance has a carved keystone and the basket-arch opening has mullions forming a tripartite window design with transoms. The metal cornice has a frieze with continuous floral ornament.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations: he stoop was removed and a basement entranceway created, which has a light fixture above the door. The original parlor-story entrance has been replaced by a window. The areaway wall has been replaced by a wrought-iron fence.

History: These houses are the survivors of a seven-house row which originally extended from No. 254 to No. 266. The earliest in the district, this row was designed by Nelson M. Whipple and built in 1884 for Thomas Butler. The 1898-1909 Bromley Insurance map denotes the footprint of this row, and shows three flush-facade houses flanked on both sides by two houses with projecting bays, all with brownstone fronts. Nos. 264 and 266 were demolished for the erection of The Chautauqua apartment building in 1911. Selected Reference: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, G 2032. 2