Colonnade Row

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = LaGrange Terrace

| nrhp_type =

| image = Colonnade Row (51661214380).jpg

| caption =

| location = New York, New York

| coordinates = {{coord|40|43|46|N|73|59|32|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Lower Manhattan#New York#USA

| map_label = Colonnade Row

| area = NoHo

| built = 1832

| architect =

| architecture = Greek Revival

| added = December 12, 1976

| refnum = 76001242{{NRISref|2008a}}

| designated_other2_name = New York City Landmark

| designated_other2_date = October 14, 1965

| designated_other2_abbr = NYCL

| designated_other2_link = New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

| designated_other2_number = 0010–0013

| designated_other2_color = #ffe978

}}

Colonnade Row, also known as LaGrange Terrace, is a group of 1830s row houses on present-day Lafayette Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. They are believed to have been built by Seth Geer, although the project has been attributed to a number of other architects. The buildings' original name comes from the Marquis de Lafayette's estate in France, but the series of nine row houses, of which four remain, owe their existence to John Jacob Astor, who bought the property and whose grandson John Jacob Astor III later lived at No. 424.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/24/realestate/streetscapes-colonnade-row-428-34-lafayette-street-corinthian-columns-that-have.html|title=Streetscapes: Colonnade Row: 428–34 Lafayette Street; Corinthian Columns That Have Seen Better Days|work=The New York Times|accessdate=July 8, 2008|last=Gray|first=Christopher| date=December 24, 1995}} The remaining buildings are New York City designated landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the name LaGrange Terrace. The facades remain standing on Lafayette Street south of Astor Place.{{cite book | title=It Happened on Washington Square| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thWVcHVixF4C&q=%22LaGrange+Terrace%22&pg=PA73| last=Kies Folpe| first=Emily| year=2002| pages=73| publisher=JHU Press| isbn=0-8018-7088-7}}

Design

File:La Grange Terrace Colonnade Row crop.jpg

The nine original buildings, a series of Greek revival townhouses {{cite book | title=New York, a Guide to the Metropolis: Walking Tours of Architecture and History| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ge1OAAAAMAAJ&q=%22LaGrange+Terrace%22| last=Wolfe| first=Gerald| year=1988| pages=114| publisher=McGraw-Hill| isbn=0-07-071396-0}} built by Seth Geer, a contractor from Albany, New York (whose name is also given as "Greer"{{cite book|first=James|last=Trager|url=https://archive.org/details/newyorkchronolog00trag_0|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/newyorkchronolog00trag_0/page/71 71]|quote=seth greer lafayette.|title=The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Chronology|year=2003|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=9780060523411 }}) were located at 418–426 Lafayette Place on the site of the Vauxhall Gardens Amusement Park.{{cite book | title=New York: 15 Walking Tours: An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KS6lWxkeEF8C&q=%22LaGrange+Terrace%22&pg=PA135| last=Wolfe| first=Gerard| date=2003| pages=135| publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional| isbn=0-07-141185-2}} The property on which these buildings were constructed had been bought by Astor in 1804 for $45,000,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/02/09/archives/the-old-van-beuren-mansion-to-remain-colonnade-row.html|title=The Old van Beuren Mansion to Remain.; "Colonnade Row."|date=February 9, 1902|work=The New York Times Sunday Magazine Supplement|pages=SM3|accessdate=July 8, 2008}} and when the lease for the Vauxhall Gardens was up, Astor built a wide street through the property from Great Jones Street to Art Street, which is now Astor Place, and named it Lafayette Place after the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution.{{cite inside}}, pp. 56–58 The original name of the buildings was Lagrange or La Grange Terrace, named after Lafayette's country estate, one of many places named in his honor in New York City and elsewhere in the United States,{{Cite web|url=http://www.nysun.com/arts/when-lafayette-landed/66484/|title=When Lafayette Landed|accessdate=July 11, 2008|date=November 15, 2007|first=Francis|last=Morrone|work=The New York Sun}} after his triumphant return tour in 1824–25.

The buildings each contained 26 rooms and were {{convert|27|ft|m}} wide, with {{convert|15|ft|m|adj=on}} deep front yards, uncommon at the time.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/24/realestate/streetscapes-colonnade-row-428-34-lafayette-street-corinthian-columns-that-have.html|title=Streetscapes: Colonnade Row: 428–34 Lafayette Street; Corinthian Columns That Have Seen Better Days|last=Gray|first=Christopher|work=The New York Times |date=December 24, 1995 |access-date=December 1, 2018|language=en}} Their facades were made entirely of Westchester marble and linked with a colonnade of Corinthian columns providing the homes with their current name.{{cite book | title=Whitman in his Time| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YI_hQFtz9nUC&q=%22LaGrange+Terrace%22&pg=PA156| last=Reynolds| first=David| year=2000| pages=156| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=0-19-512081-7}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/realestate/six-building-to-building-tours.html|title=Six Building-to-Building Tours|accessdate=July 11, 2008|date=April 29, 1984|author=Merida Welles|work=The New York Times}} The marble for the buildings was found at Sing Sing,{{cite book | title=Speeches and Occasional Addresses| url=https://archive.org/details/speechesoccasion02indixj| quote=LaGrange Terrace.| last=Dix| first=John Adams| year=1864| pages=[https://archive.org/details/speechesoccasion02indixj/page/190 190]| publisher=D. Appleton and Company}} where the convicts worked to cut it for use in construction.

The precise year of the buildings' construction, as well as the architect responsible are subject to some debate. The architects generally credited with Colonnade Row's design is Alexander Jackson Davis,{{cite book | title=Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape| last1=Rinaldi| first1=Thomas|first2=Rob|last2=Yasinac| year=2006| pages=93| isbn=1-58465-598-4}} Ithiel Town, and James Dakin, who were believed to have designed the homes for the Astor and Vanderbilt families. Town and Dakin are believed to have begun work on the project, which they called LaGrange Terrace, during the winter of 1831–32, during which they worked on a number of design projects. Davis is not believed to have played a role in the final construction of the building,{{cite book | title=Alexander Jackson Davis, Romantic Architect, 1803–1892| last=Cornelius Donoghue| first=John| year=1982| publisher=Ayer Publishing| isbn=0-405-14078-9}} which was completed in 1833 according to the Landmarks Commission, and there are some who believe that he did not work on the design at all.

Apart from John Jacob Astor III,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/08/arts/08fami.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&position=|title=Where Wolfgang Amadeus Meets Wolfgang Bigbad|accessdate=July 11, 2008|date=April 8, 2005|first=Laurel|last=Gareber|work=The New York Times}} Julia Gardiner (who would become President John Tyler's First Lady) lived on Colonnade Row, as did Cornelius Vanderbilt, Washington Irving,{{Cite web|url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=10403|title=Washington Irving Statue|accessdate=July 11, 2008|publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation|date=July 20, 2001}} and Warren Delano.{{cite news|title=Tyler House Gives Way to Business; Marble Landmark in Colonnade Row Where President Ate Wedding Breakfast. Built by David Gardiner Neighbors Were John Jacob Astor, Gov. E.D. Morgan, Franklin Delano, and John Milhau.|date=November 5, 1916|work=The New York Times|pages=9|accessdate=July 9, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/11/05/archives/tyler-house-gives-way-to-business-marble-landmark-in-colonnade-row.html}} In addition, Columbia Law School held classes for a time in the house that was once occupied by Astor.

Decline

At the time of their construction, Lafayette Place, which was then a cobblestone cul-de-sac, was the most fashionable area in New York City and one of the first to be developed in the city's expansion north of Canal Street. The upper-class demographics of the region shifted, and by 1860 Murray Hill was considered a better place to live, and the area around the former Lafayette Place fell into decline.

The original buildings located at 418–426 Lafayette Place were torn down following a failed proposal in 1902 to relocate the remaining structures to Bryant Park,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/05/30/archives/frauncess-tavern.html|title=Fraunces's Tavern|date=May 30, 1902|work=The New York Times|accessdate=July 9, 2008}} after more than half were torn down to make room for Wanamaker's warehouse and department store.{{cite book|last=Silver|first=Nathan|title=Lost New York |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Books|year=2001|pages=130|isbn= 0-618-05475-8}} Some of the columns and decorative parts ended up in what is now known as Delbarton School, a Benedictine boys school in Morristown, New Jersey, located on the former estate of Luther Kountze.[http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=90164 Rangefinder.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715154103/http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=90164 |date=July 15, 2011 }} Parts of demolished houses in Morristown{{cite web|author1=Tomas Dinges/The Star-Ledger|title=Mystery of marble columns found near Morris Township school is solved|url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/mystery_of_marble_columns_foun.html|website=www.nj.com|accessdate=March 16, 2017|date=August 18, 2010}}

Protection

The four buildings that remain, numbers 428, 430, 432, and 434 Lafayette Street, were among the first to be landmarked when New York City began doing so in 1965,

{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/18/archives/first-official-landmarks-of-city-designated-20-sites-listed-each-to.html|title=First Official Landmarks of City Designated; 20 Sites Listed|work=The New York Times|accessdate=July 8, 2008|last=Farnsworth|first=Fowle|date=October 18, 1965}} despite having been sub-divided into apartments and commercial properties, altered and generally in poor condition.{{cite book|last=Homberger|first=Eric|title=Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2004|pages=105|isbn= 0-300-10515-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13jwkUPvYGcC&q=%22Colonnade+Row%22+New+York&pg=PA105}} The public hearings regarding the landmarking were held on September 21, 1965 at which time a number of people supported the landmarking and the owners presented no objections.{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-428-LAFAYETTE-REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|title=428 Lafayette Street Building|accessdate=July 9, 2008|publisher=Landmarks Preservation Commission|date=October 14, 1965|archive-date=March 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311043924/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-428-LAFAYETTE-REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-430-LAFAYETTE-REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|title=430 Lafayette Street Building|accessdate=July 9, 2008|publisher=Landmarks Preservation Commission|date=October 14, 1965|archive-date=March 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311044422/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-430-LAFAYETTE-REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-432-LAFAYETTE--REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|title=432 Lafayette Street Building|accessdate=July 9, 2008|publisher=Landmarks Preservation Commission|date=October 14, 1965|archive-date=March 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311041126/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-432-LAFAYETTE--REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-434-LAFAYETTE-REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|title=434 Lafayette Street Building|accessdate=July 9, 2008|publisher=Landmarks Preservation Commission|date=October 14, 1965|archive-date=March 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311031021/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/VIEW-434-LAFAYETTE-REPORT-IN-ORIGINAL-FORMAT.pdf|url-status=dead}} The buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1976{{cite book | title=National Register of Historic Places, 1966-1991: Cumulative List| last=American Association for State and Local History|author2=National Park Service| year=1991| pages=527}} after being nominated in August of the same year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gvshp.org/documents/LaGrangeText.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form|accessdate=July 9, 2008|date=August 1976}}

The owners (for 428 and 430, The Casper R. Callen Trust, c/o Salon Realty) have announced plans to restore the buildings as recently as 1995. However, this has not yet happened due in part to cost.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/realestate/despite-protections-landmarks-decay.html|title=Despite Protections, Landmarks Decay|accessdate=July 11, 2008|date=August 2, 1987|author=Mark McCain|work=The New York Times}}

References

External links

[http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LES/LES026.htm NYC Architecture images and description]
[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ny0392 La Grange Terrace] Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York|state=collapsed}}

Category:Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan

Category:Greek Revival architecture in New York City

Category:Greek Revival houses in New York (state)

Category:Houses completed in 1832

Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan

Category:Astor Place

Category:NoHo, Manhattan