House of the New York City Bar Association
Encyclopedia
The House of the New York City Bar Association, located at 42 West 44th Street in Manhattan
, New York
, is a New York City Landmark building that has housed the New York City Bar Association since its construction in 1896.
and the Century Association
, was considered by the members “specially adapted to our purposes” because of the other prominent clubs and societies in its vicinity.
, was commissioned to design the building. Eidlitz had designed a number of landmark buildings throughout the country, including Dearborn Station in Chicago, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
, St. Peter’s Church
in the Bronx, and Bell Laboratories Building
in Manhattan.
Construction was begun in early 1895 and completed 18 months later at a total cost of $584,700. The House was built in the neoclassical
style, from Indiana limestone
. The façade
included elements of the Doric order
on the bottom three floors, Ionic
columns framing the fourth floor windows, and Corinthian
pilasters on the fifth floor, creating a historicist “composite” of classical architecture
.
The new House was considerably larger and grander than its precursors: it stood six stories tall; included a meeting hall with a seating capacity of 1,500; a reception hall with a standing capacity of 1,500; a library of over 50,000 volumes, and three additional floors of offices. The entrance hall and first floor stairways were constructed of marble
, and the second floor hallway, reception hall, and meeting hall of granite
, marble, and mahogany
.
The Association opened the doors of its new House on October 8, 1896, with a gala of several thousand guests. The New York Times
described it as “one of the most interesting and successful works of recent architecture…a work having the classical qualities of simplicity, purity, and serenity in a high degree.”
The House was named a New York City Landmark in 1966, and named to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980.
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, is a New York City Landmark building that has housed the New York City Bar Association since its construction in 1896.
History
After the New York City Bar Association was founded in 1870, it housed itself in a series of buildings in lower Manhattan. By the 1890s, membership of the Association had grown to the point where its leadership began looking for a new House farther uptown. On December 11, 1894 the membership approved the acquisition of a large site between West 43rd and West 44th Streets for the construction of a new, larger building. The street, already home to the Harvard Club of New YorkHarvard Club of New York
The Harvard Club of New York is a private club in Midtown Manhattan, New York, New York, USA. Anyone who has attended Harvard University may apply to become a member. Incorporated in 1887, it is housed in adjoining lots at 27 West 44th Street and 35 West 44th Street...
and the Century Association
Century Association
__notoc__The Century Association is a private club in New York City. It evolved out of an earlier organization – the Sketch Club, founded in 1829 by editor and poet William Cullen Bryant and his friends – and was established in 1847 by Bryant and others as a club to promote interest in...
, was considered by the members “specially adapted to our purposes” because of the other prominent clubs and societies in its vicinity.
Current Building
The prominent architect Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz, son of the influential New York architect Leopold EidlitzLeopold Eidlitz
Leopold Eidlitz was a prominent New York architect best known for his work on the New York State Capitol , as well as "Iranistan" , P. T. Barnum's house in Bridgeport, Connecticut; St. Peter's Church, on Westchester Avenue at St...
, was commissioned to design the building. Eidlitz had designed a number of landmark buildings throughout the country, including Dearborn Station in Chicago, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is located on Lafayette Square, Buffalo, New York. The current facility, built in 1963, replaced the original Cyrus Eidlitz Buffalo Public Library Building dedicated in February 1887. The first Buffalo Public Library, in turn, replaced the Erie County, New...
, St. Peter’s Church
St. Peter's Church, Chapel and Cemetery Complex
St. Peter's Church, Chapel and Cemetery Complex is a historic Episcopal Gothic Revival church at 2500 Westchester Avenue and Saint Peters Avenue in the Bronx, New York City....
in the Bronx, and Bell Laboratories Building
Bell Laboratories Building (Manhattan)
463 West Street is a 13 building complex located on the block between West Street, Washington Street, Bank Street, and Bethune Street in Manhattan, New York. It was originally the home of Bell Telephone Laboratories between 1898 and 1966. For a time, it was the largest industrial research center...
in Manhattan.
Construction was begun in early 1895 and completed 18 months later at a total cost of $584,700. The House was built in the neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style, from Indiana limestone
Indiana Limestone
Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....
. The façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
included elements of the Doric order
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
on the bottom three floors, Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns framing the fourth floor windows, and Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
pilasters on the fifth floor, creating a historicist “composite” of classical architecture
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
.
The new House was considerably larger and grander than its precursors: it stood six stories tall; included a meeting hall with a seating capacity of 1,500; a reception hall with a standing capacity of 1,500; a library of over 50,000 volumes, and three additional floors of offices. The entrance hall and first floor stairways were constructed of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, and the second floor hallway, reception hall, and meeting hall of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, marble, and mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
.
The Association opened the doors of its new House on October 8, 1896, with a gala of several thousand guests. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described it as “one of the most interesting and successful works of recent architecture…a work having the classical qualities of simplicity, purity, and serenity in a high degree.”
The House was named a New York City Landmark in 1966, and named to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980.
Sources and External Links
- “The House of the Association.” New York, NY: The New York City Bar Association. October 8, 1996.
- Martin, George. Causes and Conflicts: The Centennial History of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8232-1735-3
- New York City Bar Association Building History