The Record and guide (v.39no.981(Jan. 1 1887)-no.1006(June 25 1887))

(New York, N.Y. :  C.W. Sweet,  -1887.)

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  v. 39, no. 1001: Page 696  



696
 

The   Record  and  Guide.
 

Fay
 

188'f
 

are of the right kind. The era of brown stone fronts, in Mr. Buek's opin¬
ion, is over. Our domestic architecture is now and wUl continue to be of
a more varied and picturesque character. The United States, he thought,
led the world in houses with beautiful exteriors and internal conveniences
and comforts.
 

Tlie Transformation of a Beautiful District.

In these days of great activity in building in this and other cities we
often hear it said that one and another district has undergone a DJeta-
morphosis, a change that may be compared to a transformation scene on the
stage, in consequence of the rapid advance of improvement within a very
short period. When we inquire into the particulars of the changes which
are described in such language we generally learn that they have taken
place within periods varying from one to three years, during which regions
that were bare enough to raise crops upon have become the sites of many
handsome and costly buildings, and choice and valuable portions of the
cities to which they belong. If this is a metamorphosis and a transforma¬
tion, what shall be said of an extensive neighborhood heretofore neglected,
in every part of which a very important change, such as has given It an
entirely new character, has taken place within tbe past four or five months,
and even within six weeks ? This is true of the region shown on the map
which appears on this page, embracing a number of beautifully-situated
blocks between Mount Morris and 7th avenues, north of 119th street and west
of Mount Morris square. The block on Mount Morris and 6th avenues, ISOth
 

and Wm. A. Marfcin secured eighfc on r22d street, in the rear of Wi'ight'
andAldhous's lot?. Messrs. Morgenthau and Kilpafcrick still have for sale
the front on 6th avenue and the fronfc on Mounfc Morris avenue, each
20.10x100 feet. They have sold all the intermediate lots which front on
121st and 1 J2d streets, and out of the sixty-four lots comprising the Otten¬
dorfer and Asfcor blocks forfcy eight have been sold for immediate improve¬
ment. In the short time that has passed since these sales were made there
has already been a very considerable rise in the market value of the
lots, as is shown by the offers now made for them, and in view of the
high class of improvements now being made in fche vicinifcy, the intrinsic
value of the property has largely increased. The excellent manner in
which it has been managed and sold leaves no room to doubt the safe and
solid character of the investment, and it is sure to more than keep up with
every future advance in the general market for city real estate. It is not
always easy to assign the reasons why a certain neighborhood takes the
lead in improvement, for luck and popular caprice often have more or less
to do with the matter, but in the case of the region which has been mapped
out there is nofc the least difficulty in doing so. The property has, in
itself, very great attractions, being amid the best surroundings and within
a short distance of the east and west side elevated, aud easily reached by the
cable road on 12oth street, which is one of the besfc and besfc equipped
transportation Unes in the city. The imposing boulevards 150 feet wide,
with their long line of ehn trees, render the approaches to this neighbor¬
hood beautiful, whUe Mount Morris Park, for the improvement of which
a large sum has been appropriated, is directly opposite.   With reference to
 

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iiJ' CLASS HOUSES'HERE,
 


 

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ISO Ft.
WIDE.
 

BROWN   STONE   HOUSES   HERE.
 

HOUSES
BUILT   BY
JOHN H.SHERWOOD.
IOO.
 

8 HOUSES  BEING

BUILT    BY

JAS,  CARLEW

ISO.
 

I22"-S'^St.
 

^IMPROVED WITH^
\^- CLASS.HOUSES.
 

too.

■i^^ IS" FRONT

8 LOTS
FOR SALE BY

MESSRS
MORGENTHAU

«._ KILPATRICK.

!00.
 

200.    ■
SOLO   TO
A.SMYTH   8. Wi; A.MARTIW.
 

S.O.WRIGHT.
WILL Build here.
 

F. ALDHOUS
WILL BUILD HERE.
 

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THIS  FRONT

8 LOTS
FOR SALE 3Y
MESSRS
MORGENTHAU

& KILPATRICK.

/OO.
 

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THIS STREET ISIRESTRICTED'TO
PRIVATE   HOUSES.,
 

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TEN HOUSES
BEING BUILT BY
JAS. KILPATRICK.

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200.

OWNED  BY

MESSRS

DEVEAU   DEAN &. ROBINSON.
 

75
FOUR HOUSES
BEING BUILT BY
Vv'ALTER-REEO,

75
 

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l20l^'Sr.
 


 

CHAS. H. LINDSLEY.
WILL BUILD HEBE.
 


 

FOUR .HOUSES.
 


 

THOS. MACKELLAR.
 

SEVEN HOUSES

BUILT BY
A.BUCH(C1AN.
ARCHITECT.
 


 


 


 

CHURCH.
 

J.M.HORTEN.

INTENDS TO

ERECT HOUSES HERE
 

ll9I~"'Sr.-
 

ISO Ft.
WIDE.
 

NERESHEIMER
HOUSE.,
 


 


 


 


 

and 121st streets, which belonged to the estate of Anna Ottendorfer, of the
Staats Zeitung, was purchased last December by Henry Morgenthau and
Wm. J. Ehrich, who sold part of the block to Walter F. Kilpatrick, and
all the lots have since been sold for immediate improvement. On the 6th
avenue front W. Lewis Fay is erecting ten handsome four-story houses,
each"20 feet wide, which are well advanced in construction. Adjoining
the Fay houses, on 120th and 121st streets, James KUpatrick is
building ten houses, five on each street, and Walter Reid has commenced
four adjoining these on 120th street. On the northwest corner of 120th
street and Mount Morris avenue Mr. KUpatrick holds five lots, and on the
southwest corner of 121st street and on the same avenue Messrs. De Veau,
Robinson, president and cashier of the Mount Morris Bank, and Assistant
Corporation Counsel Dean have purchased eight lots for improvement. AU
the property on 121st street, between Mount Morris and 7th avenues, is
restricted to firsc-class private houses. The block between 6th and Mount
Morris avenues, 121st and 122d streets, next north of the one just described
and facing Mount Morris square, is ias choice and as advantageously situated
as any in the city that is now awaiting immediate improvement. It is
known as the Astor block, and was conveyed by the executors of Wm. B.
Astor only a few weeks ago to Henry Morgenthau and W. F. Kilpatrick,
since which time one-half of it has been sold to first-class buUders. S. O.
Wright bought four lots on the north side of 121st street, 100 feet east of
^th avenue; F. Aldhous bought four adjoining these, and Anthony Smyth
 

health the situation is unexceptionable, the soil having a substratum of sand,
which is the best possible safeguard against malaria, and the sewer being
twenty-five feet above high-water mark. Finally, the lots have been and
are to be sold with ample restrictions, which limit the improvements
to first-class private dwellings; the names of the builders and architects
are a sufficient guarantee of the correct taste which will be shown in those
which are now projected, and the judicious lot-buyer who desires to avoid
aU chances of making a mistake wiU, if he carefully looks over the neigh¬
borhood, be pretty sure to make an investment here. Among the valuable
buUdings in the vicinity are the Neresheimer and Mackellar mansions on
6th avenue and 119th street, which take rank among the finest houses in the
city, and the tasteful and substantial block of dwelUngs built by A. B. Van
Dusen on the w^est side of 6th avenue, between 122d and 123d streets, ten of
which have been sold to the present occupants. AU the north side of 122d
street, between 6th and Tth. avenues, with the exception of one lot, is
already improved or In process of improvement with first-class private
houses, and the south side is entirely built up. On the north side of ihis
street, between Mount Morris and 6th avenues, opposite tbe Astor block,
James Carlew is erecting eight houses. On the southwest corner of 120th
street and 6th avenue Charles H. Lindsley is about to build five houses, and
A. Buchman is the architect and owner of seven handsome houses which
he is just finishing on the southeast corner of 6th avenue atid 120th street,

Obsbbveb.
  v. 39, no. 1001: Page 696