JeffReuben
French Roof Brownstones on W. 130th Street
These buildings, at 27-35 W. 130th Street, on the north side of the street, face Astor Row, a notable set of rowhouses on the south side of W. 130th Street at numbers 8-60. While their neighbors across the street are designated New York City landmarks, celebrated for their front yards and wooden porches, these buildings on the north side are more typical of Harlem rowhouses with their stoops. These are distinctive, however, with their mansards above the cornices.
This stretch of W. 130th Street between Fifth and Lenox avenues has long been known as “The Block Beautiful.” While that name seems to have been inspired primarily by the houses on the other side of the street, the north side buildings, including these, are also attractive. As the New York Sun noted in 1915, “Across the street the houses are of brownstone with high stoops. But even this haughty exterior did not deter the [West One Hundred and Thirtieth Street Neighborhood] association in its efforts to make the block more homelike. Now these tall brown steps have blooming plants in jars on the stoop. Nearly all of them have window boxes, though many of them are partly hidden by the awning because, unlike the homes in "Garden Block," they have no front piazza to shield them from the hot sun. A few of the owners on the upper side of the street have tried to make up for their lack of front gardens by placing urns and flower stands in their paved area.” In 1920 the New York Times echoed these sentiments, stating that “the north side of the block is occupied by dignified brownstones, high stoop residences.”
A notice printed in the New York Herald on January 27, 1869 may be referring to one of these houses, or similar ones on the block when it advertised an auction for a “three story French roof brown stone House on north side of 130th street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.”
French Roof Brownstones on W. 130th Street
These buildings, at 27-35 W. 130th Street, on the north side of the street, face Astor Row, a notable set of rowhouses on the south side of W. 130th Street at numbers 8-60. While their neighbors across the street are designated New York City landmarks, celebrated for their front yards and wooden porches, these buildings on the north side are more typical of Harlem rowhouses with their stoops. These are distinctive, however, with their mansards above the cornices.
This stretch of W. 130th Street between Fifth and Lenox avenues has long been known as “The Block Beautiful.” While that name seems to have been inspired primarily by the houses on the other side of the street, the north side buildings, including these, are also attractive. As the New York Sun noted in 1915, “Across the street the houses are of brownstone with high stoops. But even this haughty exterior did not deter the [West One Hundred and Thirtieth Street Neighborhood] association in its efforts to make the block more homelike. Now these tall brown steps have blooming plants in jars on the stoop. Nearly all of them have window boxes, though many of them are partly hidden by the awning because, unlike the homes in "Garden Block," they have no front piazza to shield them from the hot sun. A few of the owners on the upper side of the street have tried to make up for their lack of front gardens by placing urns and flower stands in their paved area.” In 1920 the New York Times echoed these sentiments, stating that “the north side of the block is occupied by dignified brownstones, high stoop residences.”
A notice printed in the New York Herald on January 27, 1869 may be referring to one of these houses, or similar ones on the block when it advertised an auction for a “three story French roof brown stone House on north side of 130th street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.”