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1925 173-175 Riverside Drive
Featured in Andrew Alpern’s book The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter page 294
Block 1250 Lots 67 & 73
Located in Riverside – West End Historic District designated 19 December 1989
1927 Anthony Campagna President; 173 & 175 Riverside Drive; original land purchase by Francis Paterno; Americus Campagna Treasurer (Kelley Paterno page 286)
Architect James E.R. Carpenter; Builder 175 Riverside Drive Corporation Anthony Campagna President; Americus Campagna Treasurer – block front 89th to 90th Streets – The land for this building had been bought in 1921 by Frances Paterno [CCG edit: Francis Paterno, cousin] who in turn sold it to Campagna. (Alpern Acanthus page 294)
1925
408
$2,000,000.00
RIVERSIDE DR. 175 13-sty bk apt, 140 fam, tile roof, 238˙150
OWNER / OWNER ADDRESS
(o) 175 Riverside Drive Corp., Anthony Campagna, Pres / (o) 200 W 72d [72nd] COMMENTS
ARCHITECT / ARCHITECT ADDRESS
(a) J. E. R. Carpenter / (a) 598 Madison av (source)
171-177 Riverside Drive, AKA 347 West 89th Street, AKA 326 West 90th Street
Date: 1925-1926
NB Number: NB 408-1925
Type: Apartment Building
Architect: Carpenter, J. E. R.
Developer/Owner/Builder: 175 Riverside Drive Corporation
NYC Landmarks Designation: Historic District
Landmark Designation Report: Riverside Drive- West End Historic District
National Register Designation: N/A
Primary Style: Neo-Renaissance
Primary Facade: Buff brick, Limestone, and Terra Cotta
Stories: 15
Window Type/Material: Six-over-six (Alterations)
Structure: This fifteen story apartment building occupies the entire block front of Riverside Drive between West 89th and West 90th Streets, extending approximately 238 feet along the drive, and 174 and 113 feet along the side streets, respectively. The building has an irregular plan with an interior courtyard and conforms to a roughly triangular site created by the diagonal line of Riverside Drive. The contour of the building is highlighted by the chamfered southwest corner. The building was constructed in two separate units (divided by a fire wall perpendicular to Riverside Drive) and is faced with limestone to the third story and gray buff brick laid in Flemish bond with terra-cotta trim above. The structure has Gothic-inspired ornament. Approximately fifty-five percent of the original six-over-six wood sash windows are extant.
Riverside Drive Facade: This apartment building has an imposing Riverside Drive facade. Its fifteen stories are grouped into four major horizontal sections. The lowest of these consists of a three story limestone base separated by a stringcourse from the fourth story which is faced in brick and topped by a decorative bandcourse. (The first story contains five doors.) The two middle sections are defined by stringcourses capping the eighth and twelfth stories. The upper section is composed of three stories; minor stringcourses further articulate the sections. The structure is capped by a terra cotta parapet with balustrade. The expansive facade acquires a certain rhythm from its twenty-six bays of rectangular window openings grouped in five major divisions. The central grouping consists of ten bays flanked on each side by two groups of four bays each. Alternating groupings have more closely set windows. The majority of the window openings are not ornamented, but the second, fifth, ninth, and thirteenth story openings are topped by pointed arches with ornamented tympanums. Other detailing includes quoins, lattice grilles, fluted pilasters, rosettes, cartouches, and fishes placed throughout the facade.
West 89th Street Facade: This facade has the same overall design as that of the Riverside Drive facade, with a total of seventeen bays arranged in five major divisions. The main entrance to the building is placed in the center of this facade. A pair of wood and glass doors with metal grilles and a transom above are topped by a multipane window that conforms to the shape of the molded ogee arch which forms the entrance opening. The entrance is flanked by four-over-four wood-framed windows. Pilasters framing the windows support a simple flat entablature. Carved faces ornament the doorway.
West 90th Street Facade: This facade has a total of thirteen bays arranged in six divisions. An entrance, slightly west of center, has an opening with rounded corners flanked by windows and topped by three windows with decorative stone and metal grille work balconies.
Eastern Elevation: Parts of the eastern elevation are visible from both West 89th Street and West 90th Street. On 90th Street it fronts a narrow alleyway. The elevation is faced in brick and has windows like those on the facades. The courtyard elevations are partially visible from West 89th Street. They are also faced in brick and have the same type of windows, with the addition of slit windows.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations: Approximately forty-five percent of the original windows have been replaced with one-over-one aluminum sash. The light fixtures flanking the doorway and the entrance canopy are not original.
History: This apartment building was constructed in 1925-26 according to the plans of architect J.E.R. Carpenter for the 175 Riverside Drive Corporation (Anthony Campagna, President). Previously on the site were two four story stone faced mansions. Facing Riverside Drive near the middle of the block between West 89th and West 90th Streets was the residence of a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Scriven-Clark, designed by Ernest Flagg and built in 1898-1900. Scriven-Clark later married Henry Codman Potter, Episcopal Bishop of New York from 1887. Potter was the brother of architect William Appleton Potter (known for schools, government buildings, and churches designed in the Romanesque Revival style) and initiated the work on the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Just to the north of the “Potter” residence, as it became known, at the southeast corner of West 90th Street and Riverside Drive, stood the limestone residence of Cyrus Clark, erected in the 1880s. Clark, a community leader, was known as the “father” of the Upper West Side. Selected References: “Apartment House, 173-175 Riverside Drive, New York City,” Architecture & Building 58 (1928), 102-103. M. Christine Boyer, Manhattan Manners (New York, 1985), 210. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, H 2370. Peter Salwen, “The Rice Mansion and Its Neighbors: Early Views of Riverside Drive,” LPC Research Files, 1980 (source)
Riverside Drive Between West 89th Street and West 90th Street (East Side)
171-177 Riverside Drive [a/k/a 347 West 89th Street a/k/a 326 West 90 Street]
Tax Map Block/Lot: 1250/67
Date of Construction: 1925-26 [NB 408-1925]
Architect: J.E.R. Carpenter
Original Owner: 175 Riverside Drive Corporation
Type: Apartment Buildings (2)
ARCHITECTURE
Style: Neo-Renaissance
This fifteen-story apartment building occupies the entire blockfront of Riverside Drive between West 89th and West 90th Streets, extending approximately 238 feet along the drive, and 174 and 113 feet along the side streets, respectively. The building has an irregular plan with an interior courtyard and conforms to a roughly triangular site created by the diagonal line of Riverside Drive. The contour of the building is highlighted by the chamfered southwest corner. The building was constructed in two separate units (divided by a fire wall perpendicular to Riverside Drive) and is faced with limestone to the third story and gray buff brick laid in Flemish bond with terra-cotta trim above. The structure has Gothic-inspired ornament. Approximately fifty-five percent of the original six-over-six wood sash
windows are extant.
Riverside Drive Facade: This apartment building has an imposing Riverside Drive facade. Its fifteen stories are grouped into four major horizontal sections. The lowest of these consists of a three-story limestone base separated by a stringcourse from the fourth story which is faced in brick and topped by a decorative bandcourse. (The first story contains five
doors.) The two middle sections are defined by stringcourses capping the eighth and twelfth stories. The upper section is composed of three stories; minor stringcourses further articulate the sections. The structure is capped by a terra-cotta parapet with balustrade. The expansive facade acquires a certain rhythm from its twenty-six bays of rectangular window openings grouped in five major divisions. The central grouping consists of ten bays flanked on each side by two groups of four bays each. Alternating groupings have more closely-set windows. The majority of the window openings are unornamented, but the second-, fifth-, ninth-, and thirteenth-story openings are topped by pointed arches with ornamented tympanums. Other detailing includes quoins, lattice grilles, fluted pilasters, rosettes, cartouches, and fishes placed throughout the
facade.
West 89th Street Facade: This facade has the same overall design as that of the Riverside Drive facade, with a total of seventeen bays arranged in five major divisions. The main entrance to the building is placed in the center of this facade. A pair of wood and glass doors with metal grilles and a transom above are topped by a multipane window that conforms to the shape of the molded ogee arch which forms the entrance opening. The entrance is flanked by four-over-four wood-framed windows. Pilasters framing the
windows support a simple flat entablature. Carved faces ornament the doorway.
West 90th Street Facade: This facade has a total of thirteen bays arranged
in six divisions. An entrance, slightly west of center, has an opening with
rounded corners flanked by windows and topped by three windows with
decorative stone and metal grillework balconies.
Eastern Elevation: Parts of the eastern elevation are visible from both
West 89th Street and West 90th Street. On 90th Street it fronts a narrow
alleyway. The elevation is faced in brick and has windows like those on the
facades. The courtyard elevations are partially visible from West 89th
Street. They are also faced in brick and have the same type of windows,
with the addition of slit windows.
ALTERATION(s): Approximately forty-five percent of the original windows
have been replaced with one-over-one aluminum sash. The light fixtures
flanking the doorway and the entrance canopy are not original.
HISTORY
This apartment building was constructed in 1925-26 according to the plans of architect J.E.R. Carpenter for the 175 Riverside Drive Corporation (Anthony Campagna, President). Previously on the site were two four-story stonefaced mansions. Facing Riverside Drive near the middle of the block between West 89th and West 90th Streets was the residence of a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Scriven-Clark, designed by Ernest Flagg and built in 1898-1900. Scriven-Clark later married Henry Codman Potter, Episcopal Bishop of New York from 1887. Potter was the brother of architect William Appleton Potter (known for schools, government buildings, and churches designed in the . Romanesque Revival style) and initiated the work on the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Just to the north of the “Potter” residence, as it became known, at the southeast corner of West 90th Street and Riverside Drive, stood the limestone residence of Cyrus Clark, erected in the 1880s. Clark, a community leader, was known as the “father” of the Upper West Side.
Selected References: “Apartment House, 173-175 Riverside Drive, New York City,” Architecture & Building 58 (1928), 102-103. M. Christine Boyer, Manhattan Manners (New York, 1985), 210. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, H 2370. Peter Salwen, “The Rice Mansion and Its Neighbors: Early Views of Riverside Drive,” LPC Research Files, 1980. (source)
1927: The 173-175 Riverside Drive apartment house opens between 89th and 90th streets on a site formerly occupied by the Hamilton School for Girls. Italian-born law-school graduate and builder Anthony Campagna, now 40, visited Joseph and Dr. Charles V. Paterno in his 20s, was offered a construction job, gave up his law career, built the Rialto Theater on 42nd Street in 1916 among other commercial structures, and has put up with twin 16-story residential buildings, designed by J.E.R. Carpenter with a curving facade. The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present by James Trager
New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 13 Sep 1931: E13.
“J[ames] E[dwin] R[uthven] Carpenter (1867-1932)
J. E. R. Carpenter was born in Columbia, Tennessee. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1878, he studied at the Ecôle des Beaux Arts in Paris before establishing his own practice in Norfolk, Virginia in the 1890s. During the early years of his career, Carpenter designed a number of commercial buildings in Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee. Carpenter was established in New York City by 1903 and from 1904-1908 was in the partnership of Carpenter & Blair (for one year Carpenter, Blair & Gould). Carpenter’s earliest known work in New York City was a nine-story apartment house, 116 East 58th Street (1909, demolished). He established a considerable reputation not only as an expert on apartment design, but also as a successful real estate investor. In 1919 the Architectural Forum noted his important role in the development of the apartment house:
Mr. Carpenter stands as an unquestioned authority on the special phase of building development, it being the general custom of realty and financial men in the metropolis to first submit for his review any such projectioned [sic] improvement of property.
One of Carpenter’s contributions to apartment design involved his defeat of the 75-foot height restriction imposed along Fifth Avenue, thereby initiating a change in the character of that thoroughfare. Carpenter is also credited with the introduction of the foyer-centered apartment plan (as opposed to the “long hall” type).” Park Avenue Historic District Designation Report • April 29, 2014
“Campagna is an unsurpassed master in the art of drawing up construction plans and choosing locations, not only, but also in the art of developing particular efficient and suitable plans for each individual location. These are advantages which, apart from the intrinsic goodness of the buildings, considerably raise their value and constitute the secret capital of its sensational building successes. This ability, known and recognized in the metropolis, and his talent of knowing how to apply a new and original plan for each new construction, have given him the most sought-after successes: dare in 1922, when he sells a building, of which he was just building the fourth floor; so in 1924, when the plan he proposed to develop aroused so much interest in the technical world that he had to sell the building for a million dollars, while not even the foundation ditches had been filled [320 West End Avenue]. And the buyers were so pleased with the construction that, as soon as the lawyer Campagna had subsequently developed the plan for a new building, grander and imposing than any other, which occupies an entire block between 89 and 90 St. in Riverside Drive [173-175 Riverside Drive], they wanted to immediately insure the purchase for the fantastic sum of four million dollars.
This Riverside Drive building has about a thousand rooms, four hundred bathrooms, and is unanimously recognized as one of the most beautiful, artistic and elegant to date in the great neighborhood of the West Side, inhabited by the finest and most elected aristocracy of New York, the which he very much researches the houses built by Anthony Campagna, whom he considers as the true lord of good taste and building elegance, artist and master of the most exquisite architectural forms.” From “Basilicata nel Mondo” 1926 Anthony Campagna
Daytonian in Manhattan: The Lost Cyrus Clark Mansion – Riveride Drive at 90th Street
Daytonian in Manhattan: The Lost Elizabeth Clark House – 347 West 89th Street
