Watch “The Paterno Family: Chronicling a New York Real Estate Legacy” video on YouTube
Read ‘The Paterno Brothers & Their Manhattan Apartment Houses‘ Look Book
1905 Revere Hall 622 West 114th Street
Located in the Morningside Heights Historic District designated 21 February 2017
Paterno Brothers: Charles Paterno Secretary and Treasurer; Joseph Paterno President; Victor Cerabone Vice President (Metropolis page 61)
The Paterno Brothers first project within the Morningside Heights Historic District were the six-story apartment buildings at 622 and 628 West 114th Street designed in the Georgian Revival style (Schwartz & Gross, 1905). Known as Revere Hall and River Hall, the stone and brick buildings feature classically severe entrance surrounds, upper facades of brick laid in Flemish bond accented by burnt headers, central recessed bays with integral fire escapes, and elaborately decorated terra-cotta intels, moldings, cartouches and spandrel panels, as well as a cornice topped by a parapet with three cartouches. (source)
1905
76
$280,000.00
114th st, s s, 135.6 e Riverside Drive two 6-sty brk and stone tenements, 75˙87.11
OWNER / OWNER ADDRESS
(o) Paterno Bros, Inc / (o) 557 W 183d [183rd] st COMMENTS
ARCHITECT / ARCHITECT ADDRESS
(a) Schwartz & Gross / (a) 35 W 21st st (source)
622 West 114th Street (aka 622-624 West 114th Street) ( Revere Hall )
Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 1895, Lot 69
Date(s): 1905 (NB 76-1905)
Architect(s) / Builder(s): Schwartz & Gross
Owner(s) / Developer(s): Paterno Brothers
Type: Apartment building
Style(s): Georgian Revival
Stories: 6 and basement
Material(s): Brick; limestone; terra cotta; decorative metal
Status: Contributing
History, Significance and Notable Characteristics:
This is one of two nearly identical buildings (622 and 628 West 114th Street) constructed during the surge of apartment building around the same time the subway was completed. The building exhibits a handsome symmetrical facade with a recessed central bay where integral fire escapes with ornamental iron railings are stacked above the entry. The base is a smooth limestone ashlar and the upper stories are clad with Flemish-bond brickwork with dark headers and accented with limestone or terra-cotta surrounds and trim. Prominent features include molded ornamental spandrel panels with swags, wreaths, and anthemion below the fourth- and fifth-story windows; a course of bullseyes ringed with ornament below the cornice; and three free-standing shields at the parapet level. Other notable features, most of which are classically inspired, include belt courses, some with vermiculated ashlar and floral designs; quoins; sills with brackets; key consoles; and an ornate cornice with modillions. Additional features include geometric shapes in the window heads and bands with circles that wrap around floral motifs. The entry surround consists of classically inspired features such as polished marble columns and squared piers (with an incised “622”) supporting an entablature with triglyphs, metopes, guttae, shallow modillions, and a balustrade with an incised central stone panel reading “Revere Hall.” Most of the windows are either inset three-window angled bays, tripartite assemblies, or single windows that occur at the first story and within the recessed central area. The quoins wrap the corner on the east. Cecile B. DeMille and his family lived here from about 1910 to 1912. He later became an important and influential producer-director of a wide range of movies, remembered especially for his biblical epics.
Alterations:
West 114th Street Facade: One-over-one wood double-hung windows with decorative curved muntins in upper sash removed; aluminum windows with square panning installed; two tripartite windows at fourth story replaced with paired double-hung sashes; decorative grilles at groundstory windows; plaque on entrance pier
Site:
Pipe railing at areaway with metal mesh; iron lampposts at both sides of steps mounted on
masonry base; entrance canopy extending over sidewalk; iron fencing at sides of entry that
matches window grilles
Sidewalk / Curb Materials:
Concrete sidewalk and curb
References:
Office for Metropolitan History, “Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986” February 1, 2016,
http://www.MetroHistory.com; U.S. Census records, 1910.
(source)
1904
807
$600.00
114th st, s s, 135 e Riverside Drive 1-sty brk and stone workshop, 25˙50
OWNER / OWNER ADDRESS
(o) Paterno Bros / (o) 557 W 183d [183rd] st COMMENTS
ARCHITECT / ARCHITECT ADDRESS
(a) Schwartz & Gross / (a) 35 W 21st st (source)
Living It Up page 281: REVERE HALL, 622 West 114th Street; A 6-story redbrick building of about 1905, with recessed fire escape. A twin building to Hudson Hall at 628.