608-610 West End Avenue: The Evanston

 

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608-610 West End Avenue

 

Date: 1910 NB Number: NB 651-1910 Type:  Apartment Building Architect:  Blum, George and Edward Developer/Owner/Builder: 89th & 90th Street Construction Co NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District Landmark Designation Report:Riverside Drive- West End Historic District National Register Designation: N/A Primary Style:  Neo-Renaissance Primary Facade:   Buff brick, Stone, and Terra Cotta Stories: 12 Window Type/Material: See Structure/Alterations Structure:  This apartment building of twelve stories with a basement is located on a lot at the southeast corner of West End Avenue and West 90th Street which extends approximately 101 feet along the avenue and 163 feet along the street. It is faced in buff colored brick laid in Flemish bond with stone and terra cotta trim. In plan the building is arranged around a courtyard which opens to West 90th Street. The building is lined at the sidewalk level with an areaway enclosed by an ornate wrought iron fence. West End Avenue Facade: The base (one story with a high basement), the ten story midsection, and the one story top of this facade are articulated by three tripartite window bays in the center flanked by single windows, with paired windows at each end. Original window types include wood-framed nine-over-one sash and multi pane casement sash. The banded base features window openings with squared enframements and an entrance at the southern end with paired multi paned wood doors and a transom. Stories two through eleven are faced in buff colored brick with coursed brick quoins at each end. The second and eleventh story windows have decorative terra cotta enframements, and keystone brackets at the eleventh story support three-sided terra cotta balconies with spiral motifs at the twelfth story. A parapet with plaques and an elaborate terra-cotta spiral frieze caps the facade. West 90th Street Facade: This facade features the same overall design and articulation of detail as the West End Avenue facade. A courtyard, containing the main entrance, separates the facade into two wings. The western wing has five paired window openings per story; the bay adjacent to the courtyard is ornamented with terra cotta. The eastern wing contains four openings per story, three tripartite bays with one paired bay adjacent to the courtyard. The main entrance, flanked by lights with multiple globes mounted on the wrought iron areaway fence, is an elaborate pavilion featuring paired iron and glass doors with ornate sidelights and transoms. Above the entrance, the courtyard has three bays per story in the western wall, two in the southern wall, a projecting bowed bay at the juncture of the eastern and southern walls, and five in the eastern wall. Eastern Elevation: An alleyway separates the eastern elevation from the neighboring building. The elevation is faced in buff colored brick with a return of the West 90th Street facade and has three visible bays per story. Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD Alterations: Approximately fifty percent of the original windows have been replaced by one-over-one aluminum sash. The stone at the base of the building has been painted beige and the base of the eastern elevation has been painted gray. The metalwork at the entrance pavilion has been painted green, and the entrance is shielded by a recent green canopy. Brackets at the second story suggest supports for balconies (now removed). History: Built in 1910 for the 89th and 90th Street Corporation, the Evanston was designed by the architectural firm of George & Edward Blum. This apartment building takes its name from its site, that of the Evans Homestead, a wood frame dwelling with two attached stables and grounds which formerly occupied the entire block known as the “Evans Block.” It was 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. Selected References: George Bromley, Atlas of the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan (Philadelphia, 1899), vol. 3 plate 11. “Is the Apartment-Hotel to be Revived?,” Real Estate Record & Guide 86 (Aug. 6, 1910), 232. Museum of the City of NY, “Squatter Mansion, West End Avenue & 89th Street, June 25, 1903,” Photo Collection, 1980. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, G 2042. “The Rebuilding of the Bloomingdale District,” Real Estate Record & Guide 87 (Feb. 4, 1911), 200-01.