49 Park Avenue (New York City, New York)

 apartment building  Add category

5-story Italianate residential building originally completed as a mansion in the early 1850s for Alfrederick Smith Hatch, and subsequently owned by a series of others throughout the 1800s. The front facade on Park Avenue is clad in brownstone, but is now covered in stucco, except for the former basement level, which is clad in red brick. The long side elevation on 37th Street is brick.

In 1909 the stoop was removed and the entrance lowered to sidewalk level. A 3-story projecting bay on the south facade was also removed, its only remaining vestige a scar of light-colored brick that outlines the location. In 1945 the interior was remodeled, and it was opened as a "residence club" for girls aged 16 to 21 years old who came from broken homes, operated by The Vocational Foundation, Inc. Eight years later the former mansion was converted to four apartments per floor. At some point a pseudo-Colonial doorway was affixed to the entrance and the brownstone slathered in a concrete-stucco material.

The black wood-and-glass door is at the north end of the west facade, set down a couple of brick steps from the sidewalk, flanked by fluted pilasters and topped by a broken pediment with an urn. A simple metal railing extends to the south, behind which are two almost-square windows with iron grilles. The upper floors have two bays of single-windows spaced far apart, the southern ones taller at the 2nd & 3rd floors. Simple stone string courses run below each floor.

The south facade has six larger single-window openings, and three smaller ones at the ground floor, all with iron grilles. At the upper floors, the stone quoins at the west edge remain. There are four bays of large single-windows, and two small bathroom windows in the middle. The larger windows all have stone enframements, except for one at the 2nd floor, which is brick. Both facades are topped by a black metal roof cornice with console brackets, dentils, and modillions.

At the east end is an adjoining 5-story facade that was originally a separate rowhouse, but has been integrated into the larger building. It is set back from the building line, with a bowed front, and clad in blue-painted brick above a limestone ground floor. The setback exposes the front edge of the east facade of the larger building, which has one bay of single-windows. The curved facade of the eastern structure has two bays of single-windows with simple stone enframements matching those on the south facade of the main building. The 3rd floor is topped by a curved, black metal cornice, and the 4th floor by a metal railing, with the flat-fronted 5th floor set back behind it. The top floor is capped by a modern concrete canopy.