317 West 88th Street

317 West 88th Street

NB Number: NB 122-1896

Type:  Rowhouse

Architect:  Thomson, Theodore E.

Developer/Owner/Builder: James Carlew

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: 4 with basement

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

Basement Type: Raised

Stoop Type: Unknown

Structure: These five brownstone-fronted houses are arranged in a pavilion design, with the end houses (Nos. 315 and 323) projecting slightly from the building line of the rest of the row. Each house is twenty feet wide, four stories above a raised basement, and has a three-bay design, with a two-story curved oriel capped by a carved frieze above the third story. The rowhouses have continuous roof and stringcourse lines and identical sheet metal cornices with deep decorated fascias. Pilasters are used as mullions in the oriels and flank the fourth-story windows. Carved panels-separate the parlor-story openings. There is basically one house design in this row, the houses varying only slightly in the carving at the base of the oriel-and in the use of rock faced or smooth ashlar at the basement story; Nos. 321 and 323 have smooth ashlar and the others have rock-faced ashlar. No. 315 projects slightly and has a curved corner where the wall recesses to meet the center houses. All originally had stoops leading to a parlor-story entrances, windows with one-over-one double-hung wood-framed sash, stained glass transoms above the parlor-story doors (as seen at No. 317), and grilles in the basement-story windows.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations: The stoop was removed in 1920, in the same manner as at No. 315. The windows at the fourth story have exterior storm sash. The parlor story grilles are not original. There are light fixtures beside the door. The areaway wall has been altered with the addition of brick newels and an iron railing to the door. 1920: Alt 785-1920 [Source: Alteration Application] Both Nos. 315 and 317 were converted from single-family residences to non-housekeeping apartments. Architect — George F. Pelham Owner – Mark Levy

History: The 1920 stoop removal on this house, in conjunction with its conversion to apartments, is an early alteration of this type. The architect for the alteration, George F. Pelham, was responsible for the design of numerous buildings in the district.