Hawes Building

USA / New Jersey / West New York / Broadway, 872
 commercial building  Add category

4-story Beaux-Arts mercantile building originally completed in 1847 as a rowhouse. The building was first partially converted from a private residence to commercial use sometime in the 1850s; by the late 1850s, George C. Anthon's school and R.H. Timpson & Brother, grocers, occupied the building.

In 1901, the Hawes Building (named for its owner at that time, B.F. Hawes) underwent substantial alterations, including the erection of a new stone facade on Broadway, a slight increase in the height of the building, and the reconstruction of the 4th floor of the East 18th Street facade to make the building conform to a regular cornice line.

The Broadway facade is clad in stone above a modern glass, brick, and white-painted aluminum storefront at the ground floor, which is capped by a dentiled cornice. The upper floors are articulated by two vertical bays containing iron-framed tripartite show windows separated by iron spandrels original to the 1901 facade. The triple-height bays have coursed enframements with molded reveals rising to the 4th floor, where they are highlighted by large terra-cotta scallop shells. The building is accented by a coursed corner pier serving as a transition to the East 18th Street facade which has a 1-bay return of the stone-framed show windows set into the brick. A modillioned iron cornice surmounts the facade and continues along East 18th Street; "Hawes Building" is inscribed in the center of the frieze.

The East 18th Street facade is clad in red brick (painted dark red). The western end of the facade has a 1-bay return of the modern Broadway storefront at the ground floor, surmounted by a bay of tripartite show windows set in a stone enframement which echoes the design of the Broadway facade. The windows have simple sills and flush stone lintels. The arrangement of the window openings is somewhat irregular; this is due to the 1901 alteration in which the building was partially re-constructed. There is a small metal fire escape near the center.

The ground floor on Broadway is occupied by Fresh cosmetics.
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Coordinates:   40°44'15"N   73°59'23"W
This article was last modified 6 years ago