631 West End Avenue

631 West End Avenue

NB Number: NB 1028-1893

Type:  Rectory

Architect:  Heins & La Farge

Developer/Owner/Builder: Fourth Presbyterian Church

NYC Landmarks Designation:  Historic District

Landmark Designation Report:  Riverside Drive- West End Historic District

National Register Designation: N/A

Primary Style:  Gothic Revival

Primary Facade:   rock-faced ashlar limestone

Stories: 3

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

Basement Type: Raised

Roof Type/Material: Pitched, Dormered

Structure:  The two-bay, twenty-foot wide house is faced in the same materials found in the adjacent church complex, with smooth limestone ashlar at the first story and rock faced ashlar above. It has three stories above a raised basement and features a three-sided projecting bay on the north side of the facade and a stoop in the flush southern bay. The wood door has tripartite glazed panels with tracery and a transom. The pitched roof has a two-window gabled dormer; the dormer windows have transoms. The areaway wall has a decorative wrought iron fence. All of the windows were probably originally one-over-one double-hung wood-framed sash. Northern Elevation: Visible above the roof of the hail which once connected the rectory to the church, the elevation is fronted in rock-faced ashlar and has a prominent chimney. There are no windows.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations:  The windows of the dormer have aluminum replacement sash, and the basement-story windows have exterior storm sash. The roof is surfaced with asphalt shingles. There are light fixtures above the parlors tory and basement doors.

History: Originally the rectory of the adjacent Fourth Presbyterian Church complex at No. 633 West End Avenue, this house was built in 1893-94 and designed by the noted architectural firm of Heins & La Farge. It is now divided into five apartments. Selected References: New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, C 734. Lisa M. Schroeder, “Upper West Side Religious Properties,” Preservation Studio II, Columbia University, LPC Research Files, 1984.