19-39 West 89th Street | rowhouse, apartment building

 rowhouse, apartment building

A row of eleven 4-story (plus raised basements) Renaissance-revival residential buildings completed together in 1895. Designed by Gilbert A. Schellenger, they are clad in various shades of brownstone, with some facades also in red brick and terra-cotta.

No. 19 at the east end has its stoop replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, with a glass door down a couple steps from the sidewalk. The two single-windows to the left have iron grilles. The original parlor-floor entrance is replaced by a single-window that is offset to the left within the existing surround, which has an inner bead molding and an outer leafy molding. Matching surrounds frame the two single-windows to the left. The upper floors are brick, with a central, projecting, 3-window bay with angled sides at the 2nd floor. It is carried on a pair of brackets, and has carved panels of foliate ornament below each window. The top two floors have two bays of single-windows in stone surrounds, with cornices, and a sill course at the 3rd floor. The facade is crowned by a black metal roof cornice with brackets and an ornamented frieze.

No. 21 is fully clad in stone and has a straight stoop on the right, leading up to a parlor-floor entrance with wood-and-glass outer double-doors and wooden inner doors, below a transom. The western sidewall of the stoop curves to the outside at the base, and there is a basement entry in the side of the stoop. The two basement windows to the left are edged in egg-and-dart moldings. The parlor-floor entrance, and the two single-windows to the left, have thin surrounds with bead moldings. The 2nd floor has a central, bowed, projecting bay of three windows. Like at No. 19, it is carried on a pair of brackets and has carved panels below each window. This bay is capped by a cornice with a mesh railing on top. The 3rd floor has two bays of single-windows in beveled surrounds, and the top floor has three smaller windows above a sill course, with a stone surround, pilasters in between the windows, and a triangular pediment over the center window. The facade is crowned by a black metal roof cornice four console brackets, modillions, dentils, and ornamented panels.

No. 23 has its stoop replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a couple steps from the sidewalk, with a red wood-and-glass door. The two single-windows to the left have iron grilles. The original parlor-floor entrance is replaced by a wide single-window. The rest of the facade is similar to No. 21, except that the projecting bay has angled sides instead of being curved, its carved panels below the windows match those on No. 19, and pilasters with Renaissance ornament and Corinthian capitals separate the windows.

No. 25 also has its stoop replaced by a ground-level entrance down a few steps from the sidewalk, with a glass door. The stone lower floors are painted a light grey-brown, and the brick on the upper floors is pale-orange. The two basement windows have iron grilles and small egg-and-dart moldings at the tops. The original parlor-floor entrance is replaced by a double-window and fanlight in a round-arch line with egg-and-dart and bead moldings, framed by pilasters with Renaissance ornament and Corinthian capitals. The two single-windows to the left have surrounds with bead moldings. The next floor has a projecting, 3-sided bay with angled ends, but no ornamental panels below the windows; bead moldings edge the windows. The top two floors have three single-windows, the lower ones with beveled surrounds and cornices, and the top floor with stone surrounds, half-fluted columns between the windows, a modillioned cornice below, a a round pediment above the center window. The facade is crowned by a black metal roof cornice with brackets and an ornamented frieze.

No. 27 matches the design of No. 25, but painted a browner shade, with pale red brick on the upper floors. It also has a ground-level entrance, with a glass door.

No. 29 repeats the design of No. 21, also with its stoop replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a step from the sidewalk, with a wrought-iron gate and wooden door in a beveled molding. There are iron grilles on the windows of both lower floors, including over the narrow double-window replacing the original parlor-floor entrance.

No. 31 repeats the design of No. 23, but retains its dog-legged box stoop winding down and left from a parlor-floor entrance with black paneled wooden double-doors and a transom. A balustrade tops the projecting bay at the 2nd floor.

No. 33 is painted grey, with red-orange Roman brick and light-grey stone trim on the upper floors. The stoop is replaced by a ground-level entrance on the right, down a few steps from the sidewalk, with a black wooden door with a beveled molding. The two basement windows to the left have iron grilles and small egg-and-dart moldings along the top edges. A double-window and transom replaces the original parlor-floor entrance, framed by a surround with a bead molding and egg-and-dart molding. A matching surround frames the paired windows to the left, with a panel of Renaissance ornament between them. The 2nd floor has a central, projecting, 3-window bay with angled sides, carried on two brackets. The edges have quoins, the windows have bead moldings, and there are panels of ornament below each window. The top two floors have two bays of single-windows, framed by quoins. The 3rd floor-windows have bead moldings and are topped by rounded pediments above thin cornices. The 4th-floor windows also have thin cornices. The facade is crowned by a black metal roof cornice with brackets and a foliate ornamented frieze.

No. 35 repeats the design of No. 33, but retains its dog-legged box stoop winding down and left from a parlor-floor entrance with redwood-and-glass double-doors and a transom. There are iron grilles on both the basement and parlor-floor windows.

No. 37 repeats the design of No. 21 & 29. The stoop is replaced by a ground-level entrance down several steps from the sidewalk, with a black wood-and-glass door below a cornice. The two windows to the left have iron grilles and egg-and-dart moldings. A narrow double-window replaces the original parlor-floor entrance. It and the two single-windows to the left have bead moldings and iron grilles that project out at the bottoms. A beveled molding surrounds all three openings. The roof cornice is painted a light-bronze color.

No. 39 at the west end repeats the design of Nos. 23 & 31. Its stoop is also replaced by a ground-level entrance down a few steps from the sidewalk, with a black paneled wooden door. A wide single-window with a transom replaces the original parlor-floor entrance.

Nos. 21 & 33 have been reconverted to single-family townhomes, while the others remain split into multiple units.