680-692 West End Avenue, AKA 267-271 West 93rd Street

680-692 West End Avenue, AKA 267-271 West 93rd Street

NB Number: NB 243-1916

Type:  Apartment Building

Architect:  Rouse & Goldstone

Developer/Owner/Builder: 690 West End Avenue Corporation

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 and basement

Basement: Raised

Window Type/Material: See Alterations

Structure:  This apartment building, of twelve stories with a basement, is located on a lot at the northeast corner of West End Avenue and West 93rd Street which extends 129 feet along the avenue and 100 feet along the street. It is clad in buff colored brick laid in English bond with brown brick, stone, and terra cotta trim. The building is U-shaped in plan with an interior courtyard opening to the east.

West End Avenue Facade: This facade is divided horizontally into a base, a midsection, and a top. The high granite basement is punctuated by four service entrances and seven window openings with the original wrought iron grilles, and has the number “680” inscribed at the southern corner. The facade is eleven bays wide, with a slit window at the center flanked on each side by a single bay, two wide paired bays, and two single bays at the ends. The first story is surmounted by a projecting stone beltcourse and the third story is capped by a dentiled cornice with a brick frieze. Stories four through ten form the midsection of the building. The fourth story has terra cotta window enframements with projecting segmentally arched pediments at each end and at the two bays flanking the center; the fifth story has simpler surrounds at the corresponding bays. The seventh story is enhanced by a stone balcony with a wrought iron railing spanning the five center bays. The eleventh and twelfth stories are faced in light brown and dark brown brickwork creating a striking diagonal pattern. The projecting window enframements of the eleventh story mirror those of the fourth, and the building is surmounted by a dentiled and modillioned terra cotta cornice enhanced by lions’ heads.

West 93rd Street Facade: This facade, seven bays wide, continues the same overall design and articulation of detail as the West End Avenue facade. The entrance, located in the fourth bay from the west, has a classically inspired stone surround with Corinthian pilasters supporting a broken segmentally arched pediment.

Eastern Elevation: An alleyway enclosed by a wrought iron fence separates the eastern elevation from the neighboring building. Faced in buff colored brick, it is separated into two wings by an interior court. Three window openings are visible per story.

Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD

Alterations: The original six-over-one wood sash windows have been replaced by dark brown one-over-one aluminum sash. The service entrances of the West End Avenue facade contain metal doors (painted gray). Patch repointing of the brickwork, especially the imposts of the window enframements, is evident on both facades. The main entrance has recent paired doors with a transom, and is flanked by lanterns and shielded by a brown canopy which are also not original. The five openings east of the entrance have recent grilles. Scars at the seventh story on the West 93rd Street facade suggest the presence of a balcony, now removed.

History: Built in 1916-18 for the 690 West End Avenue Corporation, this apartment building was designed by the architectural firm of Rouse & Goldstone. It was constructed on the site of two brick-faced rowhouses of five stories each and three unoccupied lots. Selected References: George Bromley, Atlas of the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan (Philadelphia, 1899), vol. 3 plate 11. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives • and Record Collection, G 2042