308 West 88th Street
308 West 88th Street
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Date:Â 1889-90
NB Number:Â NB 1501-1889
Type: Â Rowhouse
Architect: Â Taft, Joseph H.
Developer/Owner/Builder:Â James B Gunn
Row Configuration:Â ABCCBA
NYC Landmarks Designation:Â Historic District
Landmark Designation Report:Â Riverside Drive- West End Historic District
National Register Designation:Â N/A
Primary Style: Â Flemish Revival
Primary Facade: Â Â Brownstone
Stories:Â 4 and basement
Basement Type:Â Raised
Stoop Type:Â Unknown
Roof Type/Material:Â Pitched
Structure:  These six four-story houses on raised basements were designed as a unified row of alternating house types; the three designs within this row are arranged in a rhythm of ABCCBA. The facades, three bays wide are characterized by brown iron-spot brick fronts above brownstone faced basements and first stories, brownstone trim, projecting bays and oriels and alternating stepped gables and crenelated cornices. The original windows were probably one-over-one wood sash with stained glass transoms at the parlor story (as can be seen at No 310.) There are carved keystones above the parlor story windows and doors of the four center houses. The original pitched roofs probably had standing seam metal surfaces (as can be seen at No 314) with stepped parapet walls separating the buildings at the roof.
The type “C” houses at Nos 308 and 310 have three sided oriels with shallow hipped roofs which united the second and third stories and have carved spandrels and bases. The houses have stepped gables which match those found at the type “A” houses. No 310 has its original box stoop which has a quarter turn and faces eastward. The stoop at No 308 was probably reversed so that both stoops faced toward each other.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations: The stoop has been altered and the stoop railing is a replacement, Metal bulkhead doors have been added to the stoop wall facing the sidewalk. The building is painted and there has been some weathering of the brownstone at the parlor story. The windows have aluminum replacement sash, and a replacement metal door is located at the parlor story. Above the door are two light fixtures. A metal downspout has been installed across the gable and down the western side of the facade. The parlor-story window grilles are not original. The roof has a tar shingle surface.
History:Â Â Designed by Joseph Taft, this complete raw of six houses, built in 1889-90, was probably built for the major West Side developer, W.E.D. Stokes, although the owner of record is listed as James B. Gunn. Stokes was responsible for many rows west of Broadway and north of 81st Street, although he frequently had others file his applications at the Department of Buildings; Taft was Stokes’s architect.between 1887 and 1890. These houses resemble No. 313 West 88th Street, the survivor of a four-house row located across the street, which was also designed by Taft and built in the same year. Selected References: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, E 1294. Lori Zabar, “The Influence of W.E.D. Stokes’ Real Estate Career on West Side Development,” Master’s Thesis Columbia University, 1977, 19.