600 West End Avenue
600-606 West End Avenue (602 West End Avenue, 604 West End Avenue, 606 West End Avenue)Â
600 West End Avenue
Date:Â 1910-11
NB Number:Â NB 571-1910
Type: Â Apartment Building
Architect: Â Schwartz & Gross
Developer/Owner/Builder:Â West End Construction Co.
NYC Landmarks Designation:Â Historic District
Landmark Designation Report: Riverside Drive- West End Historic District
National Register Designation:Â N/A
Primary Style: Â Neo-Renaissance
Primary Facade: Â Â Brick, Limestone, and Terra Cotta
Stories:Â 12
Architecture:Â This apartment building, of twelve stories with a basement, is located on a lot at the northeast corner of West End Avenue and West 89th Street which extends approximately 101 feet along the avenue and 100 feet along the street. It is faced in brown brick laid in stretcher bond with limestone and terra-cotta trim. In plan it is arranged around an interior court which opens to the east.
West End Avenue Facade: The two-story base, the six-story midsection set off by transitional third and tenth stories, and the two-story top of this facade are articulated by two paired window bays at each end with five single bays grouped in the center. The original window type is six-over-one wood sash, with multipane casement doors in the openings fronted by balconies. Above a high granite water table the base is clad in limestone. The basement contains eight window bays with wrought-iron grilles. The entrance, enhanced by classically-inspired ornament featuring a cartouche inscribed with “600”, is crowned by a wrought-iron balcony and flanked by double-height pilasters with consoles supporting a stone balcony at the third story. The transitional third story is faced in brown brick banded with contrasting white stone. The two paired window bays at the fourth story are fronted by stone balconies. Stories four through nine are faced in brown brick and punctuated by stone balconies with wrought-iron railings. The transitional tenth story is enhanced by terra-cotta brackets supporting a continuous balustrade at the eleventh story. The richly decorated two-story top features terra-cotta spandrels with green plaques and arched openings at the twelfth story with the paired end bays set in inscribed arches reminiscent of Gothic tracery. large green terra-cotta shields are surmounted by a dentiled terra-cotta cornice and a parapet wall.
West 89th Street Facade: This facade, articulated by twelve window openings which are grouped in threes (paired at the center and at the western end), features the same overall design and articulation of detail as the West End Avenue facade. The eighth bay from the west has one-over-one wood sash windows with stained glass in the upper sash of stories five, ten, and twelve. The eastern portion of the facade has an areaway enclosed by freestanding stone posts with a wrought-iron railing.
Eastern Elevation: An alleyway behind an ornate wrought-iron gate separates the eastern elevation from the neighboring building. The
elevation, divided into two wings by an interior court, is faced in tan brick and has four segmentally-arched one-over-one wood sash windows visible per story.
History: Built in 1910-11 for the West End Construction Company’, 600 West End Avenue was designed by the architectural firm of Schwartz & Gross, whose work is well represented within the district. This apartment building was constructed on the “Evans Block,” the site of the Evans Homestead, a wood-frame dwelling with two attached stables and grounds which once occupied the entire block. The site had been purchased by Thomas Evans in 1873. During the early part of the twentieth century the building was occupied by squatters until it was demolished in 1909 to make way for the present buildings.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations:Â Approximately seventy percent of the original windows (painted brown) survive; the remainder have been replaced by dark brown one-over-one aluminum sash. The large metal cornice has been removed. Almost every story has vents cut into the facade. The recent paired metal and glass entrance doors are shielded by a dark gray canopy.