Hartley House | apartment building, 1892_construction

 apartment building, 1892_construction

5-story community center completed in 1892 as four separate 4-story townhouses. Founded in 1897, Hartley House exists to serve school-age children, youth, and seniors in Hell’s Kitchen by enriching their lives, expanding their opportunities, and building a sense of community. Still located in the original four adjoining brownstones on West 46th Street and Ninth Avenue, Hartley House offers Family Day Care, an After School Program, a Summer Day Camp, English as a Second Language classes, GED classes, Citizenship classes, social activities for seniors, art and pottery classes, and a Home Outreach Program for Elders case management program for seniors.

The unified facade is clad in red brick above a brown-painted brownstone ground floor, organized as four sections of three bays each, corresponding to the layouts of the original houses. The western two retain the high stoops to parlor-floor entrances, while at the eastern two the stoops have been removed, the former entrances replaced with parlor-floor windows, a ground-level window added, and one of the ground-level windows replaced with a metal service door. All the ground-level openings are segmental-arched, except for where the stoop was at the 2nd-from-east section, which now has a square-headed niche for a standpipe; all the non-door openings at the ground floor have iron grilles.

The two parlor-floor entrances have green metal gates and are topped by flat brownstone lintels, as are all the windows, which also have flat brownstone sills. There is a row of wall-mounted lanterns at the 2nd floor as well. The 4th floor is topped by a beige stone cornice and fascia board decorated by a few Greek-fret designs. Above, a 5th floor was added at the three western sections - it is also faced in red brick, with beige stone piers dividing the three bays. Each bay has a large panel of brown brick, outlined with a rope molding; the middle panel has metal letters affixed, reading \"HARTLEY HOVSE\". This newer top floor is crowned by a green metal roof cornice with widely-spaced small brackets.