Gorham Building (New York City, New York)

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9-story Queen Anne-style residential building completed in 1883. Designed by Edward Hale Kendall as a store and apartment building, it was an early example of a mixed-use building in New York - combining first-class bachelor apartments with two stories of retail space for the Gorham Manufacturing Company, one of the nation's leading manufacturers of fine silver at the end of the 19th century. It was later taken over entirely by the Gorham company.

In 1905 the Gorham Company moved uptown to 36th Street, opposite the new Tiffany store. In 1912, the Gorham Building was converted to lofts and offices for Robert Reis & Company, manufacturers of B.V.D. (Bradley, Voorhees, and Day) brand underwear. The building was extensively altered again in 1977, when it returned to commercial and residential use. It was last renovated in 1989.

The building has a chamfered corner, and is faced in reddish-pink brick with terra-cotta and light grey Belleville sandstone trim. A high-pitched slate roof enriched with copper elements and iron cresting crowns the building. On Broadway the facade is divided into three bays. The two lower stories act as base and were originally articulated by 2-story piers decorated with foliate reliefs. In 1912 the present 5-bay limestone storefront was installed, changing the rhythm of the ground-floor articulation. Much altered, the storefront still retains its entrance bays and dentiled cornice.

In the center bay on the 2nd floor where originally there was a pediment over the Gorham store entrance, are three windows in a rectangular frame. The end bays retain their original wood arched enframements within rectangular frames, though the triple windows are modern. Original iron panels beneath the window sills are decorated with paterae. A stone cornice with keyed projections over the arches separates the commercial base from the upper floors.

Above the 2nd floor the three Broadway bays are practically identical, although the middle bay is slightly narrower than the others. Within the bays the metal spandrels and mullions and paired windows are modern. Much of the masonry remains intact, retaining such features as stone banding on the piers and brick panels beneath the 3rd-floor windows. The ornament becomes more elaborate as it approaches the top of the building. Decorated segmental-arches used above the 5th-floor windows in the outer bays are flanked by iron tie rods in the form of sunflowers, a hallmark of the Queen Anne style. The 6th-floor windows in the same bays are flanked by volutes outlined with stone, and the center bay on the 7th floor is crowned by a broken segmental pediment. Pedimented dormers were installed on the pitched slate roof in 1912, replacing the pediments and gablet that had once punctuated the roofline. Still remaining are the small windows with copper hoods, copper flashing, and unusual iron cresting. A large penthouse was erected on the northern portion of the roof in 1977.

At the corner a projecting shop window dates from 1912. Above is a stone panel that was once carved to match the panels on the adjoining piers. The 2nd floor retains its original arched window surround embellished by a stone keystone and a molded brick panel beneath a stone sill. Until 1912 a tower with cupola rose from the 3rd to the 8th floor. It was replaced by a chamfered corner with rectangular window openings; the corner terminates in a pedimented dormer.

The wider 19th Street facade is divided into seven bays. The original articulation of the 2-story commercial base on Broadway is repeated, but here the masonry remains intact and many elements from the original cast-iron window frames survive including the pilastered vertical members and swagged spandrel panels. (The galvanized-iron crossing bars supporting the ground-floor transoms date from 1912; the projecting show window was installed in 1894.) Above the 2nd floor the windows are arranged in two patterns. The 1st, 4th, and 7th bays are identical to the end bays on Broadway and are topped by dormers. The 2nd and 3rd, and the 5th and 6th bays are grouped in pairs and surmounted by stepped gables. Among the noteworthy features of this facade are the terra-cotta relief panels decorated with escutcheons, cornucopia, and floral motifs used above the 5th-floor windows and on the stepped gables. A 1912 elevator penthouse on the west end of the roof is shingled and flashed to harmonize with the older portions of the roof.

The Gorham Building's north elevation is partially visible from Broadway. The older portions of this wall are faced with red brick; there is one window at the center of the 7th floor. The less-visible rear portion of this wall which rises to nine stories over an elevator penthouse is faced with yellow brick. It has one window at the 8th floor. The ground floor is occupied by Fishs Eddy dinnerware store.