NY Riverdale JGregory Fieldston Historic District
Fieldston, Bronx
The Fieldston neighborhood is one of New York City's most beautiful and wellplanned early twentieth century suburban communities consisting of approximately 257 houses and related structures.
The land comprising Fieldston was purchased by Joseph Delafield in 1829 as part of a larger estate. In 1909, a year after subway services reached 242nd Street and Broadway, the owners of the Delafield estate decided to develop the property by selling several acres to Manhattan Teachers College, with the rest to be a ìprivate park devoted exclusively to country homes.î The estate hired engineer Albert Wheeler, who finalized the layout in 1914.
Wheelerís plan, based on recommendations made by Frederick Law Olmsted and James R.Croes who had surveyed the area in 1876, incorporated winding roads that followed the natural topography and preserved as far as possible its ìwooded knolls, dells, and hillocks.î House plots varied in size from an acre to less than a quarter acre, to ensure variety and make ìflat uninteresting rows of suburban houses impossible.î By 1923, only 80 of the lots had been developed and the Delafield Estate ordered that the property be liquidated. Fearing that the property would be developed unsympathetically, the residents formed the Fieldston Property Owners Association (FPOA) in August 1923, in order to continue the original goals of private residential development. In February 1924, FPOA formed Fieldston, Inc., which raised the money to purchase all the unsold property.
Fieldston, Inc. established strict design requirements and required buyers to submit house plans to its Architectural Committee for approval. In 1928 the committee published a handbook containing names of approved architects, including, among others, Frank J. Forster, Julius Gregory, Dwight James Baum, Polhemus & Coffin, Electus D. Litchfield, and James W. O'Connor. Most owners chose Baum or Gregory, but all the architects working in Fieldston at the time designed
NY Riverdale JGregory Fieldston Historic District
Fieldston, Bronx
The Fieldston neighborhood is one of New York City's most beautiful and wellplanned early twentieth century suburban communities consisting of approximately 257 houses and related structures.
The land comprising Fieldston was purchased by Joseph Delafield in 1829 as part of a larger estate. In 1909, a year after subway services reached 242nd Street and Broadway, the owners of the Delafield estate decided to develop the property by selling several acres to Manhattan Teachers College, with the rest to be a ìprivate park devoted exclusively to country homes.î The estate hired engineer Albert Wheeler, who finalized the layout in 1914.
Wheelerís plan, based on recommendations made by Frederick Law Olmsted and James R.Croes who had surveyed the area in 1876, incorporated winding roads that followed the natural topography and preserved as far as possible its ìwooded knolls, dells, and hillocks.î House plots varied in size from an acre to less than a quarter acre, to ensure variety and make ìflat uninteresting rows of suburban houses impossible.î By 1923, only 80 of the lots had been developed and the Delafield Estate ordered that the property be liquidated. Fearing that the property would be developed unsympathetically, the residents formed the Fieldston Property Owners Association (FPOA) in August 1923, in order to continue the original goals of private residential development. In February 1924, FPOA formed Fieldston, Inc., which raised the money to purchase all the unsold property.
Fieldston, Inc. established strict design requirements and required buyers to submit house plans to its Architectural Committee for approval. In 1928 the committee published a handbook containing names of approved architects, including, among others, Frank J. Forster, Julius Gregory, Dwight James Baum, Polhemus & Coffin, Electus D. Litchfield, and James W. O'Connor. Most owners chose Baum or Gregory, but all the architects working in Fieldston at the time designed