315 West 91st Street

315 West 91st Street

NB Number: NB 55-1896

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  True, Clarence

Developer/Owner/Builder: Smith & Stewart

Row Configuration: ABCBDBC

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:   Limestone and Roman Brick

Stories: 4 1/2

Window Type/Material: One-over-one double-hung/Wood

Basement Type: American

Stoop Type: Unknown

Roof Type/Material: Mansard/Tile

Structure: These seven, four and a half-story houses were designed as a row and are unified by rusticated limestone ground stories, common cornice, roof and sill lines, mansard roofs, originally covered with tile (still present at No. 309), and roof dormers with swan’s neck pediments. Parapets with chimneys mark the divisions between the houses at the roofline. The historic windows are one-over-one double-hung wood sash and most original wrought-iron grilles survive covering the first story windows, service doors and cellar windows. Each house, designed with an American basement, is twenty-five feet wide. The facades are arranged in an asymmetrical rhythm of ABCBDBC (from east to west).

The C type houses, Nos. 307 and 315, have full bow fronts, smooth rusticated limestone facing on the ground and fourth stories, rough faced limestone facing on the second and third stories, and a pedimented tripartite window at the second story. No. 307 retains a centrally placed columned entry portico surmounted by a balustrade and decorative wrought-iron grilles at the flanking windows. The western side wall of No. 315 is Roman brick in stretcher bond with a rusticated schist foundation.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations: The main entrance is not original and may have been relocated from the center of the bow front. New wrought iron balusters lead to the door which is of aluminum and glass. Two recent light fixtures are placed at the door. The limestone facing at the ground level has been painted cream. A new fence leads to the alley at the left. The windows in the bow front are replacements. The roof is covered with black asphalt shingles. New wrought iron bars are placed over the two dormers. The side wall is painted cream.

History: This row of seven houses was designed by the prolific Upper West Side architect Clarence True, and built in 1896-1897 by developers Smith & Stewart. Selected Reference: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, C 734.