313 East 58th Street

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2-story Greek-revival/Italianate house completed in 1857. Designed and built by Hiram G. Disbrow for his own use, it was one of the earliest buildings on this stretch of 58th Street. The Disbrow family moved to 165 East 50th Street in 1862. In the mid-1890s James Jordan lived at 313 East 58th. His next door neighbor, at No. 311, was the Prussian-born merchant Mathias Down. Down had owned that house since 1877 and now his grandson, Herman Weiden, lived there as well. Down died before 1920 and at some point Weiden purchased No. 311 as well. By now not only had apartment buildings closed in around the houses, but the massive Queensboro Bridge had wiped out much of the old neighborhood, having been built in 1909. Its approach was mere yards from the properties.

In 1928 No. 313 was purchased as the headquarters for the Humane Society of New York, which continued to operate from the house for three more decades. The Humane Society of New York moved to its new headquarters in 1974, but interestingly later ended up back in the building directly to the north at 306 East 59th Street. The East 58th Street building was purchased by Paul Steindler and his wife, Aja, who transformer the interior into a restaurant named The Czech Pavilion. Although the building was still owned by the Steindlers, in 1981 The Czech Pavillion became Le Club, described by a newspaper as "the disco for New York's power elite." When Le Club moved out late in 1996, the building became The Landmark Club, which was actually another restaurant, not a traditional club. Finally, in 2010 artist John Ransom Phillips purchased the 154-year old house as his residence and studio.

Three windows wide, with an entrance door at the right, the building is only two stories high. It has white-painted brick walls and black-painted stone and wood trim. A front porch roof is supported by four black, squared pilasters. The 2nd-floor windows have black, flat stone sills and lintels, with similar lintels over the ground-floor entrance and French doors. The 2nd floor is capped at the south and west elevations by a black metal roof cornice with narrow, paired console brackets. A white picket fence fronts both this house and the one next door.