The Dwight School (New York City, New York)
USA /
New Jersey /
West New York /
New York City, New York /
West 88th Street, 21-23
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/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ West New York
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A complex of what was originally three 4-story (plus raised basements) Romanesque-revival (with Queen Anne and Flemish elements) residential buildings on 87th Street completed together in 1892, and a 1912 school building on 89th Street that was expanded into the adjoining row house at 22 West 89th in 2012.
Designed by Dennison, Hyrons & Darbyshire, the original 4-story school building at 18-20 West 89th was built as the Franklin School, in an Early 20th-century Functional style. It is clad in variegated grey-brown brick. The ground floor has a central entrance atop two grey granite steps, with double-doors of metal and leaded-glass in an interesting pattern. They are set below a large fanlight with similar metal tracery and a shield, topped by a keystone. There is a narrow double-window to either side, with white stone sills and lintels, black iron mullions, and stained-glass transoms. Below these are low basement window openings at the sidewalk level.
The upper floors, set off by a stone string course, have two bays of large triple-windows with iron mullions. There are beige stone spandrels below the 2nd- & 3rd-floor windows, and stone sills at the 4th floor. The 2nd-floor windows are fronted by curved iron railings at their bases. An iron shield decorates the center of the roof parapet, with has a stone coping and is stepped up in the center and slightly at the ends. The east elevation has more reddish-brown brick. At the front is a bay of triple-windows, followed by (on the ground floor, a double-window; on the 2nd floor paired windows, and on the 3rd & 4th floors single-windows), and triple-windows on the 2nd-4th floors. Farther back, the newer section is clad in red-painted brick, with three bays of short, horizontal windows, and narrow vertical windows at the rear.
In 1964, the rear addition was built to connect the school to the buildings at 17-19 West 88th Street, designed by Switzer & Zegler.
Designed by Henry Davidson, the buildings on 88th Street are the eastern three of a row of four houses; the eastern two were altered/demolished and rebuilt into a joined building in 1970, and No. 21 was gutted and internally joined in 2018.
The original row of four was symmetrical, with the middle two houses mirror-images and sharing clustered columns with shared Romanesque capitals at the 1st and 3rd floors. In between they shared a large projecting bay with an arched pediment. In 1963 No. 19 was demolished by the Franklin School to be replaced by a featureless grey box. In doing so No. 21 lost its visual balance and the sliced-in-half bay looked awkward at best. In the meantime, the house was converted to four apartments. At the same time the lower three floors of No. 17 were extended with the new facade matching that at No. 19. The new construction, designed by Wechsler & Schmenti, was completed in 1970. It is faced in grey-painted concrete blocks alternating with wide bands of vertically-laid grey bricks, covered with ivy from the top of the ground floor to the top of the 3rd floor. The entrance is in what was No. 17, with an interesting metan-and-leaded-glass door between narrow iron columns, matching the doors at the north building. To the left is a sign box, and at the base of what was No. 19 is a metal-framed double-window. The upper floors also have double-windows on both sides, as well as the top two floors at No. 19. The 4th floor at No. 17 retains its original beige brick and sandstone trim, with two round-arched windows and a Flemish gable.
No. 21, while gutted inside, retains its historic facade. It is clad in red brick, red-painted stone and terra-cotta. It has a dog-legged box stoop winding down and right from a parlor-floor entrance with wood-and-wrought-iron double-doors below a fanlight. The brick columns framing the doorway remain, with a red tile roof over them. There is a segmental-arched double-window to the right, and a similar window below at the basement level, with stained-glass transoms. At the next floor is the west half of the projecting bay with its half-pediment. To the left is a single-window topped by a terra-cotta round-arch with carved ornament and a drip molding. The top two floors have two bays of single-windows, slightly smaller at the top floor. Those on the 3rd floor are framed by grouped columns and the top floor is set off by a band course with Romanesque ornament. A black metal triangular pediment crowns the facade.
In 1993 the Dwight School merged with the Franklin School. The Lower School (grades 1–5) is located on the Main Campus and occupies a brownstone at 17 West 88th Street. The Middle School (grades 6–8) and the Upper School (grades 9–12), are also located on the Main Campus but primarily use the buildings at 18 West 89th Street and 291 Central Park West. In 2012, the school added additional classrooms and athletics space by expanding into the adjoining brownstone located at 22 West 89th Street.
Within divisions, the grades are further separated into houses: Timothy House (grades 1–5), Bentley House (grades 6–8), Franklin House (grades 9–10), and Anglo House (grades 11–12). A dean oversees each house.
Designed by Dennison, Hyrons & Darbyshire, the original 4-story school building at 18-20 West 89th was built as the Franklin School, in an Early 20th-century Functional style. It is clad in variegated grey-brown brick. The ground floor has a central entrance atop two grey granite steps, with double-doors of metal and leaded-glass in an interesting pattern. They are set below a large fanlight with similar metal tracery and a shield, topped by a keystone. There is a narrow double-window to either side, with white stone sills and lintels, black iron mullions, and stained-glass transoms. Below these are low basement window openings at the sidewalk level.
The upper floors, set off by a stone string course, have two bays of large triple-windows with iron mullions. There are beige stone spandrels below the 2nd- & 3rd-floor windows, and stone sills at the 4th floor. The 2nd-floor windows are fronted by curved iron railings at their bases. An iron shield decorates the center of the roof parapet, with has a stone coping and is stepped up in the center and slightly at the ends. The east elevation has more reddish-brown brick. At the front is a bay of triple-windows, followed by (on the ground floor, a double-window; on the 2nd floor paired windows, and on the 3rd & 4th floors single-windows), and triple-windows on the 2nd-4th floors. Farther back, the newer section is clad in red-painted brick, with three bays of short, horizontal windows, and narrow vertical windows at the rear.
In 1964, the rear addition was built to connect the school to the buildings at 17-19 West 88th Street, designed by Switzer & Zegler.
Designed by Henry Davidson, the buildings on 88th Street are the eastern three of a row of four houses; the eastern two were altered/demolished and rebuilt into a joined building in 1970, and No. 21 was gutted and internally joined in 2018.
The original row of four was symmetrical, with the middle two houses mirror-images and sharing clustered columns with shared Romanesque capitals at the 1st and 3rd floors. In between they shared a large projecting bay with an arched pediment. In 1963 No. 19 was demolished by the Franklin School to be replaced by a featureless grey box. In doing so No. 21 lost its visual balance and the sliced-in-half bay looked awkward at best. In the meantime, the house was converted to four apartments. At the same time the lower three floors of No. 17 were extended with the new facade matching that at No. 19. The new construction, designed by Wechsler & Schmenti, was completed in 1970. It is faced in grey-painted concrete blocks alternating with wide bands of vertically-laid grey bricks, covered with ivy from the top of the ground floor to the top of the 3rd floor. The entrance is in what was No. 17, with an interesting metan-and-leaded-glass door between narrow iron columns, matching the doors at the north building. To the left is a sign box, and at the base of what was No. 19 is a metal-framed double-window. The upper floors also have double-windows on both sides, as well as the top two floors at No. 19. The 4th floor at No. 17 retains its original beige brick and sandstone trim, with two round-arched windows and a Flemish gable.
No. 21, while gutted inside, retains its historic facade. It is clad in red brick, red-painted stone and terra-cotta. It has a dog-legged box stoop winding down and right from a parlor-floor entrance with wood-and-wrought-iron double-doors below a fanlight. The brick columns framing the doorway remain, with a red tile roof over them. There is a segmental-arched double-window to the right, and a similar window below at the basement level, with stained-glass transoms. At the next floor is the west half of the projecting bay with its half-pediment. To the left is a single-window topped by a terra-cotta round-arch with carved ornament and a drip molding. The top two floors have two bays of single-windows, slightly smaller at the top floor. Those on the 3rd floor are framed by grouped columns and the top floor is set off by a band course with Romanesque ornament. A black metal triangular pediment crowns the facade.
In 1993 the Dwight School merged with the Franklin School. The Lower School (grades 1–5) is located on the Main Campus and occupies a brownstone at 17 West 88th Street. The Middle School (grades 6–8) and the Upper School (grades 9–12), are also located on the Main Campus but primarily use the buildings at 18 West 89th Street and 291 Central Park West. In 2012, the school added additional classrooms and athletics space by expanding into the adjoining brownstone located at 22 West 89th Street.
Within divisions, the grades are further separated into houses: Timothy House (grades 1–5), Bentley House (grades 6–8), Franklin House (grades 9–10), and Anglo House (grades 11–12). A dean oversees each house.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°47'14"N 73°58'8"W
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine 1.3 km
- Long Island City High School 3.6 km
- Con Edison Learning Centre 3.9 km
- St. John's Preparatory School 4.7 km
- Fashion Institute of Technology 4.9 km
- Alfred E Smith Career-Technology High School, 5.4 km
- South Bronx High School 5.8 km
- Forest Hills High School 12 km
- St. Joseph's School 12 km
- Herbert H. Lehman High School 12 km
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir 0.6 km
- Upper West Side 0.6 km
- Central Park 0.6 km
- The Great Lawn 0.7 km
- Manhattan 0.8 km
- Metropolitan Museum of Art 1 km
- Carnegie Hill 1.3 km
- Riverside Park 1.4 km
- Upper East Side 1.6 km
- Harlem (Manhattan, NY) 3.1 km