39-45 West 68th Street (New York City, New York)

USA / New Jersey / West New York / New York City, New York / West 68th Street, 39-45
 townhouses  Add category

Four 5-story Northern Renaissance-revival (with Romanesque-revival elements) residential buildings completed together in 1894. Designed by Henry Andersen, they all have variations on the same thematic elements. The brownstone facades are painted varying shades of light grey at the three western addresses, and brown at No. 39. Only Nos. 39 & 41 retain their stoops - a high stoop with sweeping sidewalls at the west end of No. 41, and a curving stoops that bends to the left with stair-stepped sidewalls at No. 39. The raised basement level of No. 39 has two single-windows next to the stoop, and No. 41 has a double-windows; there are basement entrances below both stoops. The eastern three facades have rough-faced, rusticated basement levels; Nos. 41 & 43 have lightly rusticated parlor floors, while No. 39's has rough-faced banding. The parlor-floor entrance at No. 39 has glass-and-wood double-doors and a transom with a stone molding and some foliate ornament. To its left are two tall parlor-floor windows. No. 41 also has glass-and-wood double-doors with a transom that is framed by rounded pilasters topped by an intricate interlaced frieze and cornice; to the right of the door is a round-arched window with a foliate carved panel below and one on each side; there is also a wide panel of carved foliate ornament below the parlor-floor windows of No. 39. The parlor-floor windows of Nos. 39 & 41, and all the basement-level windows have iron grilles. The former basement level on No. 43 has an entrance with a glass door down several steps that replaces the stoop. To its right is a double-window. The next floor at this address has two double-windows. No. 45 also has a former-basement-level entrance replacing the original stoop; it has wood-and-glass double-doors. The east end of its facade projecting out in a shallow curve, with two windows; this 2-window curving, projecting bay continues up through the 3rd floor. The 2nd floor here (former parlor floor) has a single-window at the left with a very small iron Juliet balcony. The 3rd floor is similar, but without the balcony, and the projecting bay is capped by a fluted stone cornice. The 4th floor has only two windows, with a curved iron railing fronting the base of the eastern window. The 5th floor has three smaller windows - the eastern two are round-arched, and the other square-headed and flanked by rounded, projecting pilasters, with another at the east end. A simple gable pokes above the roof line above the two eastern windows.

The three eastern facades all have rounded, projecting bays at the 3rd floors, each with two windows. They each have a foliate bracket below, and Nos. 41 & 43 have blind arcades of small arches along the tops with decorative panels at the centers. No. 41 also has small corbelled brackets at the top, carrying a small dentiled stone cornice. No. 39 has a dentiled cornice, and the projecting, rounded bay continues onto the 4th floor, also with two windows, ending in a simple band course. The 4th floors at Nos. 41 & 43 are the same, with two single-windows above which are a drip molding below a row of sunbursts and a dentil course setting off the top floor. This floor has three windows framed by Ionic pilasters. No. 43 is topped by a high parapet, while No. 41 has a lower parapet surmounted by a steep-sloped tile roof and copper crest. No. 39 also has three windows on the top floor, crowned by a rough-faced gable with a central finial.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°46'28"N   73°58'45"W
This article was last modified 5 years ago