East 80th Street Houses
Encyclopedia
The East 80th Street Houses are a group of four attached rowhouses on that street in the New York City
borough
of Manhattan
. They are built of brick with various stone trims in different versions of the Colonial Revival
architectural style
.
They were built in the 1920s as homes for wealthy New Yorkers of that era, including Vincent Astor
, Clarence Dillon
and George Whitney
. All were designated city landmarks by 1967, the first group of houses on the Upper East Side
so recognized.The first landmark designations on the Upper East Side, after Gracie Mansion
in 1966, were the ones made on January 24, 1967. They included two of the East 80th Street Houses (Morris and Whitney) and the Edward Harkness House at 1 East 75th Street. They were the only three residential properties designated on that date. In 1980, all four houses were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as intact surviving examples of high-style townhouses for affluent homebuyers of that time period.
and Lexington
avenues, on land that rises gently from East 79th Street to the south. The block has an assortment of similarly sized buildings, most more modern. It is primarily residential with mixed use development on the neighboring avenues. The area is considered part of the Upper East Side
.
Westernmost in the row is 116 East 80th, the Lewis Spencer Morris House. It is a four-story, four-bay
building of brick laid in Flemish bond with marble
trim topped by a pediment
that hides the attic. Continuous belt courses
divide the first story from the English basement
below and second story above. They are echoed by a continuous stone cornice
at the roofline. Festoon
s and medallions decorate the entablature
above. A projecting central section, flanked by entrance bays, features a central entrance where marble surrounds and consoles support an entablature below an arched fanlight
.
Next door, 120 East 80th, the George Whitney House, is a six-story house also in brick with marble trim. Its most notable feature is a central projecting semicircular marble portico
where two fluted
Doric
columns support an entablature at a string course between the first and second stories. The portico is reinforced by a round-arched main entrance and pedimented second-story window above. The other second story windows have iron railings and splayed brick lintels. Above the third story a cornice with blocks sets off the slate-covered mansard roof
, pierced by three dormers with segmental arched roofs on the first of its stories and four on the second, recessed slightly and set off with a wood railing. The top of the mansard roof conceals the sixth story.
Its eastern neighbor, 124 East 80th, the Clarence Dillon
House, is also a six-story brick building in the Neo-Georgian style. Its front facade
culminates in a pediment, which along with the high end chimneys conceals the two top stories. It, too, has a classically
detailed entrance, flanked by Ionic
pilaster
s supporting a segmented pediment. Brick quoins
accentuate the second and third stories.
The last house in the row, the Vincent Astor
House at 130 East 80th, is the only one not of brick. It is a three-story, five-bay Neo-Adamesque
building faced in French limestone
laid in an ashlar
pattern. It shares classical detailing with the two houses to the west. The entrance, two paneled doors surmounted by a fanlight, is sheltered by a small portico supported by Ionic columns. The window above echoes the fanlight with a blind arch
, and on either side two-story Ionic pilasters support a full entablature with dentil course and four patera
e. Above it a pediment with gently pitched
slate roof runs the full width of the house.
s on the north side of 79th, right after the street was built. No other houses were built there until 1907, when two sisters had a double-width Georgian built at 123 East 79th. Eight years later, in 1915, a relative of theirs had a house built at 121 East 79th, which went all the way through to the back of the block. Other grand houses were built on East 79th, but the land behind them on the site of the East 80th Street houses remained undeveloped into the 1920s.
The first of the houses to be built on East 80th Street was 116. The firm of Cross and Cross, known for other designs in New York of the era such as Tiffany's and the Links Club, built the neo-Federal home for Lewis Spencer Morris, a descendant of Lewis Morris
, signer of the Declaration of Independence
. It was joined in 1927 by Mott Schmidt's neo-Adamesque style home for Vincent Astor
at 130. Astor also had Schmidt design a matching garage to replace the brownstone at 121 East 79th.
Two years later, the two architects built one more house apiece on the block. Cross and Cross contributed the neo-Georgian building at 120 for George Whitney in 1929, and in 1930 Schmidt put the finishing touch on the block with a similar house for financier Clarence Dillon
at 124. During the late 1920s the four wealthy residents of the East 80th Street houses, who liked the location because the rise in the land complemented by the low houses behind them on the south side of East 79th let the sun into their gardens, bought up the lots
behind them on the north side of East 79th. They did this to prevent them from being acquired by developers
of new high-rise apartment buildings that would have blocked the sun.
The four houses were among the last built in their styles before the Great Depression
changed American ideas about luxury housing. The residents kept the block and their vacant rear lots together until 1942, when they began to sell them off. The Junior League
of New York moved into the Astor House later in the decade, and found it so well maintained it did not need a sprinkler
system in the yard. The last parcel, the Astors' garage, was sold by Brooke Astor
in 1964.
Three years later, in 1967, the Morris and Dillon houses were the first houses on the Upper East Side
recognized by the Landmarks Preservation Commission
. The Astor House followed three months later. Late in 1968, the Whitney House completed the set.
Other than the Junior League, the houses have largely remained private residential properties. At the time they were listed on the National Register, in 1980, the Dillon House was owned by Iraq
for diplomatic purposes. In 2008 the Whitney House was purchased for $3.2 million by a developer who planned to convert it into a six-unit co-op. One unit has been remodeled in Early American style by the residents, who have lived there since 2000.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. They are built of brick with various stone trims in different versions of the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
.
They were built in the 1920s as homes for wealthy New Yorkers of that era, including Vincent Astor
Vincent Astor
William Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
, Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon, , was an American financier, and namesake of Dillon, Read & Co., an investment bank.-Background:...
and George Whitney
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
. All were designated city landmarks by 1967, the first group of houses on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
so recognized.The first landmark designations on the Upper East Side, after Gracie Mansion
Gracie Mansion
thumb|250px|Western sideGracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of the City of New York. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan...
in 1966, were the ones made on January 24, 1967. They included two of the East 80th Street Houses (Morris and Whitney) and the Edward Harkness House at 1 East 75th Street. They were the only three residential properties designated on that date. In 1980, all four houses were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as intact surviving examples of high-style townhouses for affluent homebuyers of that time period.
Buildings
The four houses are located on the south side of East 80th Street between ParkPark Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
and Lexington
Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated by New Yorkers as "Lex," is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street...
avenues, on land that rises gently from East 79th Street to the south. The block has an assortment of similarly sized buildings, most more modern. It is primarily residential with mixed use development on the neighboring avenues. The area is considered part of the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
.
Westernmost in the row is 116 East 80th, the Lewis Spencer Morris House. It is a four-story, four-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
building of brick laid in Flemish bond with marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
trim topped by a pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
that hides the attic. Continuous belt courses
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
divide the first story from the English basement
English basement
An English basement is an apartment on the lowest floor of a building, generally a townhouse or brownstone, which is partially below and partially above ground level and which has its own separate entrance from the rest of the building...
below and second story above. They are echoed by a continuous stone cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
at the roofline. Festoon
Festoon
Festoon , a wreath or garland, and so in architecture a conventional arrangement of flowers, foliage or fruit bound together and suspended by ribbons, either from a decorated knot, or held in the mouths of lions, or suspended across the back of bulls heads as...
s and medallions decorate the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
above. A projecting central section, flanked by entrance bays, features a central entrance where marble surrounds and consoles support an entablature below an arched fanlight
Fanlight
A fanlight is a window, semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan, It is placed over another window or a doorway. and is sometimes hinged to a transom. The bars in the fixed glazed window spread out in the manner a sunburst...
.
Next door, 120 East 80th, the George Whitney House, is a six-story house also in brick with marble trim. Its most notable feature is a central projecting semicircular marble portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
where two fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
columns support an entablature at a string course between the first and second stories. The portico is reinforced by a round-arched main entrance and pedimented second-story window above. The other second story windows have iron railings and splayed brick lintels. Above the third story a cornice with blocks sets off the slate-covered mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
, pierced by three dormers with segmental arched roofs on the first of its stories and four on the second, recessed slightly and set off with a wood railing. The top of the mansard roof conceals the sixth story.
Its eastern neighbor, 124 East 80th, the Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon, , was an American financier, and namesake of Dillon, Read & Co., an investment bank.-Background:...
House, is also a six-story brick building in the Neo-Georgian style. Its front facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
culminates in a pediment, which along with the high end chimneys conceals the two top stories. It, too, has a classically
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
detailed entrance, flanked by Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s supporting a segmented pediment. Brick quoins
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
accentuate the second and third stories.
The last house in the row, the Vincent Astor
Vincent Astor
William Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
House at 130 East 80th, is the only one not of brick. It is a three-story, five-bay Neo-Adamesque
Adam style
The Adam style is an 18th century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practiced by the three Adam brothers from Scotland; of whom Robert Adam and James Adam were the most widely known.The Adam brothers were the first to advocate an integrated style for architecture and...
building faced in French limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
laid in an ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
pattern. It shares classical detailing with the two houses to the west. The entrance, two paneled doors surmounted by a fanlight, is sheltered by a small portico supported by Ionic columns. The window above echoes the fanlight with a blind arch
Blind arch
A blind arch is an arch found in the wall of a building which has been infilled with solid construction so it cannot serve as a passageway, door, or window. The term is most often associated with masonry wall construction, but is also found in other types of construction such as light frame...
, and on either side two-story Ionic pilasters support a full entablature with dentil course and four patera
Patera
A patera was a broad, shallow dish used for drinking, primarily in a ritual context such as a libation. These paterae were often used in Rome....
e. Above it a pediment with gently pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
slate roof runs the full width of the house.
History
The block between 79th, 80th, Park and Lexington was first developed in 1870 with a row of 19 three-story brownstoneBrownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
s on the north side of 79th, right after the street was built. No other houses were built there until 1907, when two sisters had a double-width Georgian built at 123 East 79th. Eight years later, in 1915, a relative of theirs had a house built at 121 East 79th, which went all the way through to the back of the block. Other grand houses were built on East 79th, but the land behind them on the site of the East 80th Street houses remained undeveloped into the 1920s.
The first of the houses to be built on East 80th Street was 116. The firm of Cross and Cross, known for other designs in New York of the era such as Tiffany's and the Links Club, built the neo-Federal home for Lewis Spencer Morris, a descendant of Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
, signer of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
. It was joined in 1927 by Mott Schmidt's neo-Adamesque style home for Vincent Astor
Vincent Astor
William Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
at 130. Astor also had Schmidt design a matching garage to replace the brownstone at 121 East 79th.
Two years later, the two architects built one more house apiece on the block. Cross and Cross contributed the neo-Georgian building at 120 for George Whitney in 1929, and in 1930 Schmidt put the finishing touch on the block with a similar house for financier Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon
Clarence Dillon, , was an American financier, and namesake of Dillon, Read & Co., an investment bank.-Background:...
at 124. During the late 1920s the four wealthy residents of the East 80th Street houses, who liked the location because the rise in the land complemented by the low houses behind them on the south side of East 79th let the sun into their gardens, bought up the lots
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
behind them on the north side of East 79th. They did this to prevent them from being acquired by developers
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
of new high-rise apartment buildings that would have blocked the sun.
The four houses were among the last built in their styles before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
changed American ideas about luxury housing. The residents kept the block and their vacant rear lots together until 1942, when they began to sell them off. The Junior League
Junior League
The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 292 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women's organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and...
of New York moved into the Astor House later in the decade, and found it so well maintained it did not need a sprinkler
Irrigation sprinkler
Irrigation sprinklers are sprinklers used on farms, golf courses, and yards, to provide water to vegetation and plants in the event of drought. They may also be used for recreation, as a cooling system, or to keep down the amount of airborne dust....
system in the yard. The last parcel, the Astors' garage, was sold by Brooke Astor
Brooke Astor
Roberta Brooke Astor was an American philanthropist and socialite who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV and great-great grandson of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob...
in 1964.
Three years later, in 1967, the Morris and Dillon houses were the first houses on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
recognized by the Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
. The Astor House followed three months later. Late in 1968, the Whitney House completed the set.
Other than the Junior League, the houses have largely remained private residential properties. At the time they were listed on the National Register, in 1980, the Dillon House was owned by Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
for diplomatic purposes. In 2008 the Whitney House was purchased for $3.2 million by a developer who planned to convert it into a six-unit co-op. One unit has been remodeled in Early American style by the residents, who have lived there since 2000.
See also
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 59th to 110th StreetsNational Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 59th to 110th StreetsList of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 59th to 110th StreetsThis is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places between 59th and 110th Streets in Manhattan...