White House Building

 office building  Add category

150-foot, 12-story Neo-Gothic office building originally completed in 1912. Designed by Herts & Tallant, the north section was built first, with a matching addition to the south erected shortly after. The resulting terra-cotta-clad Park Avenue facade consists of - from north to south - a narrow end bay, a wide span of four windows, another narrow bay matching the end bay, two bays of three windows each, and a final narrow end bay.

At the 2-story base, all three narrow bays have entrances that have been modernized with glass doors. The white terra-cotta surround at the north bay has been replaced by red granite. The 2nd floor of each of these bays feature a single window framed by concave piers with Gothic ornament and sills decorated with rosettes. The bays in between have modernized, replacement infill of metal and glass, with colorful panels between the two floors. The base is capped by a band of small, pointed arches, with more carved Gothic ornament above the piers in the narrow bays.

At the white terra-cotta upper floors, the narrow bays each have narrow double-windows. There are four of the same-size double-windows between the two north narrow bays, and two groups of three at the south. Paneled spandrels separate the floors within each wider section. The spandrels above the 3rd floor has a different pattern and extend partly onto the narrow bays.

A dentiled string course runs above the 10th floor, wrapping around the bases of the projecting, chamfered pilasters than run up the center of the piers at the top two floors. The 12th floor has segmental-arched window openings, and there are patterned spandrels in every bay. There is a cornice above the 12th floor, topped by a tall parapet wall with crenelations. The projecting pilasters have finials that rise above the parapet.

The north facade matches the eastern one in ornament and details, with two narrow end bays framing a central section with four bays of three windows each. There is a service entrance at the western bay, set under a Gothic arch. The ground floor is occupied by Felkix Roasting Company, and a TD Bank branch.