334 West 89th Street
334 West 89th Street
Date: 1893-94
NB Number: NB 977-1893
Type: Rowhouse
Architect: Townsend, Ralph S.
Developer/Owner/Builder: Wilcox & Hoyt
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: Brick and Limestone
Stories: 4
Window Type/Material: See structure
Basement Type: Raised
Stoop Type: Original
Structure: These five four story houses on raised basements have identical brick and limestone fronted facades. An undulating rhythm is achieved through the use of projecting three-sided bays rising to the second story, placed asymmetrically on the eastern side of each three bay facade. The basement and parlor stories are limestone, as are the balustrades atop the projecting bays; the window surrounds are terra cotta. Except for No. 332, all of the stoops and areaways are intact. A carved door surround with an arched pediment supported on brackets remains at each parlor story. There are three windows at each story above the second story; those at the fourth story are arched. A continuous modillioned cornice is shared by all of the houses. The original windows probably had one-over-one double-hung wood framed sash. Examples of the original door style, with wood framed glass double doors and transom covered by wrought-iron grilles, exist at Nos. 326 and 334.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations: This house has been recently cleaned and may have had a pink stain applied at this time. The windows all have aluminum replacement sash. The areaway wall has been altered and a tall wrought iron fence installed on it. The grilles at the basement and second stories are not original.
History: Designed by the well-known New York architect Ralph S. Townsend, this row of five houses was built in 1893-94 for Wilcox & Hoyt. The houses are illustrated and described in the 1895 advertising brochure “The Beautiful West Side: A Complete List of West Side Dwellings.” Selected References: Frank L. Fisher, The Beautiful West Side: A Complete List of West Side Dwellings (New York, c. 1895), 42, 59, 60. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection,,H 2370. New York Public Library, Photographic Views of New York City 1870’s-1970’s from the Collections of the New York Public Library (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1981), microfiche nos. 0619 E5.