35-61 West 88th Street (New York City, New York)

 rowhouse, apartment building

A row of 14 (originally 16) 4-story (plus raised basements) Renaissance-revival (with Romanesque and Gothic elements) residential buildings completed together in 1894. Designed by Neville & Bagge, they are clad in sandstone, brownstone, brick, terra-cotta, and ironwork.

No. 35 at the east end is clad in red brick with cream-colored stone trim on the upper floors, and cream-colored stone at the base. The stoop has been replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a step from the sidewalk, with a glass-and-metal door, sidelights, and transom. It is set in a simple surround, and there is a low, red-brick wall in front of the facade, topped by plantings, with an opening at the right. To the left of the entrance is a rounded, projecting, 2-window bay that ends below the top floor. At the lower level, the windows have iron grilles that bow out at the bottoms, and the piers have rough-faced stone. The former parlor-floor has transoms above the windows, including at the small double-window on the right that replaces the original entrance. There are carved panels of foliate ornament above the windows, and two large, elaborately carved console brackets framing the east bay and supporting a cornice. A stone band setting off the next floor has a 2-row grid of small, recessed squares where it wraps around the bowed bay. The next two floors have single-windows in the east bay, surrounded by stone quoins, and thin pilasters framing the windows in the projecting bay, all with upper transom panes, and with rounded pediments above the single-windows. The projecting bay is capped by a band of foliate ornament. The top floor has three bays of single-windows framed by quoins and topped by cornices. The facade is crowned by a rust-red metal roof cornice with brackets and a frieze of wreaths.

No. 37 is faced in brown-painted stone and has a dog-legged box stoop winding down and left from a round-arched parlor-floor entrance with wrought-iron-and-glass double-doors and a fanlight, set in a double-molded surround. The stoop has balusters at its mid-way landing, a small, arched opening at the base of the front wall, and some panels of Renaissance ornament, with a pair of carved heads at the top, facing inward toward the doorway. The two round-arched single-windows to the left of the entrance, and the two square-headed windows at the basement level, have iron grilles that bow out at the bottoms. The parlor floor is lightly banded, and has keystones above all three openings, the outer two carved with lion-like faces, and the middle one with acanthus leaves and supporting the base of a curved, projecting, 3-window bay at the center of the 2nd floor. The pilasters around the windows here are fluted at their mid-points, with Corinthian capitals above and Renaissance ornament panels below, and there is more Renaissance ornament across the base, including a vase, draperies, and ribbons. The top of the projecting bay has a band of foliate ornament, surmounted by a dentil course and parapet with square cutouts. The 3rd floor has three square-headed single-windows - the arrangement has quoins at the edges, fluted pilasters in between, and a cornice across the top, with a rounded pediment in the center. The 4th floor has three round-arched windows with drip moldings, with saucer-shaped sills at the outer bays. The facade is crowned by a pale-green metal roof cornice with scalloped shells between the brackets.

No. 39 is also clad in brown-painted stone. Its stoop is replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a few steps from the sidewalk, with a wrought-iron-and-glass door. To the left is a 3-story curved, projecting bay of two windows. This bay is lightly banded at the former parlor floor, where the original entrance is replaced by a round-arched single-window; all the basement and parlor-floor windows have iron grilles that bow out at the bottoms, and the parlor-floor windows have keystones with bearded faces. This is foliate ornament in the band below the next floor, where the single-window on the right is edges in quoins and has a rounded pediments, and the two windows in the projecting bay are flanked by fluted and ornamented pilasters to the outside, with a carved panel of ornament in between. A dentil course and parapet with a row of circular openings caps the projecting bay. The next floor has three round-arched windows with quoins at the sides and dentiled moldings along the tops, sprining from small bases in the form of faces. There are two medallions placed high between arches. The top floor, set off by a ribbed band course, has three square-headed windows with drip moldings and projecting ball ornaments on the piers. The facade is crowned by a black metal roof cornice with brackets and a frieze of wreaths.

No. 41 matches No. 37, but with wood-and-glass double-doors at the parlor-floor entrance, and the roof cornice is painted black.

No. 43 is clad in red-painted brick on the upper floors, with white stone trim, above white-painted stone lower levels. The high, straight stoop on the right has red-painted steps and white sidewalls, with an arched basement entry in the west side. The parlor-floor entrance has glass-and-wood double-doors and a transom separated by a thin stone band with a leafy pattern. To the left is a 3-story, rounded, projecting bay of two windows. It has rough-faced, rusticated stone at the basement level, with iron grilles on the windows. The parlor-floor windows have transoms like the entrance, and all three openings are topped by tall, splayed lintels. The parlor floor is capped by a band course with two rows of egg-and-dart moldings above small, ornamented brackets. The 2nd floor has white stone quoins around the windows, with flat lintels across the top, and iron railings over the bases of the windows. The projecting bay is capped by a dentil course and a parapet of stone and wrought-iron. The 3rd floor has two pointed-arched single-windows edged in white stone, with a narrow sill course, and the top floor has a sill course with an egg-and-dart molding and a row of four smaller round-arched windows. They are framed by colonnettes and have molded lintels. The facade is crowned by a thin, dark-green metal roof ornice above a 4-row grid of projecting dentils and a red-painted frieze with four simple medallions between white console end brackets.

No. 45 is painted light, bright brown on the lower floors, with red brick and brown stone trim on the upper floors, and has a dog-legged box stoop winding down and left from a parlor-floor entrance with wood-and-glass double-doors below a separate fanlight. The stoop has an arched opening at the base of the front wall and a round-arched basement entry in the side. To the left are two basement windows with iron grilles, and the parlor floor has two windows with separate fanlights. A pair of console brackets carries a rounded, projecting, 3-window bay at the center of the 2nd floor, with quoins at the edges. The two pilasters in between the windows have Corinthian capitals, and the bay is capped by a dentil course and stone-and-iron parapet. The 3rd floor has two wide single-windows edged in brick quoins, with tall splayed stone lintels on top. The top floor, set off by a dentiled string course, has three round-arched single-windows with stone surrounds topped by drip moldings. The facade is crowned by a tan metal roof cornice with brackets and frieze with a foliate design.

No. 47 also has red brick on the upper floors with brown stone trim, and stone lower levels painted a darker brown shade than No. 45. It repeats the design of No. 43, but with the stoop replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right with a glass door in a grey granite surround, down a few steps from the sidewalk. A low brick wall topped by iron fencing surrounds the projecting bay to the left. The original parlor-floor entrance has been replaced by a wide single-window with a separate transom. All of the trim on the upper floors is painted light-brown.

Nos. 49 & 51 have the same design, both clad in off-white stone. Both have also had their stoops replaced by ground-level entrances on the right, down a few steps from the sidewalk. No. 49's has a wood-framed glass door and narrow, paneled wooden sidelights, while No. 51 has a more utilitarian metal-and-glass door. A slightly-projecting surrounds frames the entry at No. 49, with a short balustrade between two end posts ornamented with flowers fronting the base of the French doors that replace the original parlor-floor entrance. The entry surround at No. 51 has been rather unsympathetically covered in white stucco, and the former parlor-floor entrance is replaced by a window. The basement levels have two windows, and the piers are rough-faced at No. 49. All of the openings on the former parlor floor are topped by arched fanlights (some with leaded-glass), with drip moldings anchored by small ornamental balls. The next floor has a projecting, 3-window bay with angled sides at the center of both facades, the bases of which are carved with foliate ornament around cartouches. There are bead moldings around the windows, and foliate panels above them, surmounted by balustrades that cap the projecting bays. The next floor has two bays of single-windows with quoins and beaded drip moldings anchored by balls, and the top floors have central square-headed windows flanked by round-arched windows with quoins. There are projecting, saucer sills at the middle windows and pointed-arch moldings above. Both facades are crowned by metal roof cornices with brackets, larger spiral end brackets, and friezes with central wreaths flanked by foliate ornament - painted black at No. 49 and grey at 51.

No. 53 repeats the design of Nos. 43 & 47, with a high stoop on the right leading up to black wood-and-glass double-doors. The upper floors are red brick with brownstone trim, and the lower levels are brownstone, with the basement level rough-faced and rusticated.

No. 55 repeats the design of No. 45, with red brick and bright, light-brown stone on the upper floors and the lower levels also painted a bright light-brown. The stoop has been replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a couple steps from the sidewalk. The basement level is rough-faced and rusticated, and the original parlor-floor entrance is replaced by a narrow double-window below a fanlight. Both the basement windows and those above have iron grilles. The roof cornice is dark grey.

No. 57 repeats the design seen at Nos. 43, 47, & 53, painted in the same scheme as No. 55. The stoop is replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a few steps from the sidewalk, with a wooden door. A single-window replaces the original parlor-floor entrance. The roof cornice is red, with a black upper section.

No. 59 is painted white, and repeats the design of Nos. 37 & 41. The stoop is replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down two steps from the sidewalk, with a wood-and-glass door. The original parlor-floor entrance is replaced by a round-arched window, making three matching window bays across this floor. The cornice has been removed from the roof line.

No. 61 at the west end repeats the design of No. 39 and is painted brown. The high stoop on the right leads up to a parlor-floor entrance with glass-and-wood double-doors. The stoop has round cutouts on the sidewalls, and squared newel posts at the base with panels of Renaissance ornament. The roof cornice is black. The west elevation is a blank wall of brick, covered with red smooth stucco.

Nos. 37, 41, 45, and 53 have been redeveloped into singe-family townhomes, while the others have been divided into multiple units.