270 West 77th Street

270 West 77th Street

NB Number: NB 1320-91

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  True, Clarence

Developer/Owner/Builder: Francis M. Jenks

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report: West End – Collegiate Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Eclectic with references to Elizabethan Renaissance

Primary Facade:   Limestone and rock-faced limestone

Stories: 4 1/2 with basement

Elements: Four-and-one-half-story limestone rowhouse with basement; rock-faced base, smooth upper stories; mansard roof with end gable; original windows were one-over-one with wood sash; low limestone stoop; molded, round-arched entry with double-leaf, round-arched wood and plate glass doors; round-arched window; decorative parapet above first floor; three-story angled bay with inset spiral moldings at corners; curved shelf sills at third story; roof gable with ornamental detail and balcony with balustrade; ridgecap on roof and stepped party wall with chimney; wrought-iron window grille at first floor.

Historic District: West End - Collegiate HD

Alterations: Fourth floor windows replaced with one-over-one aluminum sash and with an aluminum fixed single pane window; asphalt shingles replace original roof tiles; entry lamp added.

History: Built as one of a group of seven houses (Nos. 350-356 West End Avenue and 270-274 West 77th Street). Sold to Frederick Snow on July 10, 1893. Inhabited 1906-1911 by J. Louis Schaefer, a lifetime employee and vice president of W.R. Grace and president of Grace National Bank. He chartered a steamship company during World War I to bring home Americans stranded in Italy. Inhabited 1937-1947 by Emery E. Cochran, a Brooklyn high school teacher who was the chief military censor of the War Department during World War I.

References: New York City, Department of Buildings, Manhattan, Plans, Permits and Dockets.
New York Times, Feb. 6, 1927, 11:1; July 9, 1968, 35:7