309 West 71st Street

309 West 71st Street

Date: 1895-96

NB Number: 520-95

Type:  Townhouse

Architect:  Friend, Frederick

Developer/Owner/Builder: Caroline Hartwell

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report: 

West 71st Street Historic District Report

No. 309 is one of six two-bay, four-and-one-half story houses designed as a row on the north side of the street. The end houses of the row (No. 307 and No. 317) both project slightly to serve as a pavilion to the four center houses (Nos. 309, 311, 313, 315) which have gentle bowing at the second story. On each house, the lowest two stories are faced with smooth, ashlar limestone while the two middle stories are faced with Roman ironspot brick surrounded by a limestone enframement. The houses are in the row are in various shades of tan. There are two different ground story configurations in the row. Alternate houses have two bays on the ground story with a steep, narrow stairway leading to a basement door below the small stoop. The others have three openings on the ground story, including a door with a similar small stoop, a window, and a doorway to the basement, and no areaway. No. 309 is of the latter plan. The ground floor windows were originally covered with decorative wrought iron grilles, which remain on many of the houses. Each stoop is flanked by wing walls and newel posts. Continuous stone ornamental stringcourses link the houses at the ground story level but alternate the design from house to house. Individual stringcourses formed of a Greek key motif set off the third stories. Limestone enframements surround the window openings on the third and fourth stories. These houses originally had one-over-one, double-hung wood sash windows but only No. 307, No. 315, and No. 17 retain historic windows at this time. The fifth story of each house is finished with pressed metal panels between the windows, embellished with fleur-de-lys on the end houses and fleur-de-lys and pilasters on the center houses. A broad, modillioned metal cornice caps each building.

National Register Designation: 

Primary Style:  Renaissance Revival

Primary Facade:   Brick and Limestone

Stories: 5

Window Type: one-over-one, double-hung wood sash windows with decorative wrought iron grilles (only No. 307, No. 315, and No. 17 retain historic windows at this time)

Historic District: West 71st Street HD

Wish List: 

Alterations: 

Metal one-over-one double hung windows are on the first, second and third stories. Metal sliding windows are on the fourth and fifth stories. Before 1939, the entrance was moved from the easternmost bay to the westernmost, which was originally a door to the cellar. The replacement entrance door is wood, with a square, wire-glass panel in the upper section and a fixed transom above it. The stoop and areaway wall were removed. Lights were installed around the door and grilles were placed over the ground story windows. A section of the decorative metal panel was removed at the fifth story for the installation of a through-the-wall air conditioner, with another one at the fourth story. All the limestone has been painted white, while the metal on the fifth floor and the cornice are black.