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ESTABLISHED^ fiVWCH^l^^ Î868









YoL, L.





^'EW YORK, SEPTEMBER 10,  1892.





tíUPPLEMENT.





Notable Sections of the City.—No. I.

A  SELECT DISTRICT OF THE   WEST   SIDE   ILLDSTRATED—FROM  WEST END
AVENØE TO THE RIVBR—ĨGTH,  17tH AND TlbTH STREETS.





Oue of tbo mosb iuterestiug Cbapters iu a liistory o£ ihe Naw York Build-
iug Trade would be thît whicb set fortb tiie reasons for the successes of the
leadiug builders of the day. It is commou euough to see two men of about
thesame experience begln cperatious wbicli end very differently. One
buiHer sells liis houses, if uotasfastas they are finished at least within a
reasonable time after complotion The other mau's houses drag ou tiip
market aud though they are viewed by scores of iuteudiug purchasers are
sold '.vith u diflSculty, the cause of which is uot apparent to the casual
observer. Tbe houseá seem to be as nell boilt as the others, aro as present-
abJe and attractive ou the exterior, and iu the major matters are as well
finisbed in the iuterior. Wby don't tbey sell '. The most couYÍnciug auswer
woiiĩd be " Go and live in Ibem and see," but thab isn't practical.

TtiTe was a time, uot so very long ago, wheu tbe purchaser oí a house
bought littlemcre than acoveriug aud shelter He was coutented with
good walls, asound, lasting roof, and such dĩvisious of tbe interior spaco
uclosed thereby as would give him a certain uumbBrof rooms.   The





plumbirg up to the latest saoitary staudard, kitcheus aud all the offices of
the bouse furnished with the very Jatest improvements.

Surely it is no easy task to accomplish a)l tbis. Tho builder who can ûo
it haa tn be iotelligent and wide awake to a degree, must be origínal in his
ideas and yet coDservative in practice, and beyoud all must himself
know completely all the wants of the moderu bouseboJd of the higbest class,
as well as the domest'c irritations which aríse from tbe deficíeccies o£
bádly-planned, poorly-arrarged houfes. No wonder so few builders cũeet
thercquirí-n.ents of tbeir business fully—tho^e that do deserve to be the
successful meii,

That we hive touohed ia the foregoing tbe roain elemeut of success any
ooe may see bv visitiug the sectiou of ihe West Side, between 70th and
T8th ^treet?, west of West Eud avenue. There is uotbing !ike an object
lesso.-. ticonvÍDce. and thereis one. No doubt tbat Eectmn is oueofthe
cboicest resideutial spots iu the city—iii mauy respects, perhaps., the
choicest Its character is permaEently fised by tbe nature of the improve-
meutsthat have been made there—a matteroE the greatest importance.
The improvemeEts are all of tbo highest cIbss and the people who have
made their homesthere areof positiou and wealth. AII tbese factors, and
others, too, such as proTÍmity to the ĩĩudion with its Eplendĩd ever-chaug-
iũgpauorama, Riversid? Drĩve aud Park, accessibilitj to therestof tho







A'os. ĩlll-SSl  West TlitA Street, between 'Wcst End Avenue and Riverside Drive.

Jacob & Skiuiier, Owaers aiĸi Builders





modern purchasor, however, is not so casily satisfied. Wbat he secks to
purchíseis the very complex productoC ascoreof iudustries; indeed, wheu
one consid-rs the matter, there are really few manofactured articles that
are anythiug like so complex, wheri'in so many problems are
involved, as the modern residence. The home o£ to-day has
to atford a great rteal more than shelter aud a rough com-
fort. It has to meet a huudred demauds of domestic life at every
.possible point, deirauds, too. uot aloue of utility, but æstbetic deniauds
as well. A large We^t tíide builder recently declared thai there is uo more
inexorably fastĩdious customer iu the inarke-t for anyihiug tban tho avcr-
age bouse seeker. That is so. To sel) readily, a hnuse must be well cou-
structed of materials barmouiously combined. Tb'í aichitecture must al
least be stylish. Tlie p)anning must always coutaiu soDietbiug of a miracle,
for uo matter hot'small the lot may be, or where localed, all the halls
must be wide and every apartment rromy and lÍRht, There must be an
abundanceof cloaet íoom, every ciuvenience onevery floor—all sometimes
vfitbiu an extreme spsce o£ 16i50. Theu, too, tbe decoration must be
ÆTtistic aud feshionable, n antels aud wood carvirgof the newest Btyle,





city with seclusion from noiseand the well-nigh ineviiable disagreeable
conditions of urban life, high land, good draiaage. nalural salubrity—uo
doubt all these h»ve coatributed to ibe desirabili'y of the district; but the
greatest factor o£ all bas beeu that the sectiou at the fltsC fortunately fell
into the handsof a few of tbe bost aod most succe^sful builders of the
present day. ThoQgh working separately, each enterpriae has contributed
to the cbaracter and nppearaDce of the locality, which ts now a model
oueaud deservesinfpfctĩou no less ihau the bouses themselves whicb in
every sense are typical of the best couítructioo, planuing, decoratiou and
iũterior arraugements of thi day, tioiue of thi' bu Idiogs bave beeu com-
pleted oũly recently, soiue are in proceáS of construction, uevertheless
several ha^e beeu Éold,at:d sborily all wil) be off the inarbet—a fact jufti-
fyingthe cpiuion that the qualÍLj of the producL mabes the successful
buiider. We iílustrate ou ihe accompauying pages the exteriors and some
of tbe interiorsaud plans of the most uotewortby of the bouses in this
section. The buiIdingB deserve greater ^pace thau we bave been able to
give them, but euough is showu to mdicato elearly the character of the
houaes aud prompt a visit to them.