Janes & Leo
Encyclopedia
The New York-based
architectural firm of Elisha Harris Janes and Richard Leopold Leo (1871/72 — 26 September 1911), working as Janes & Leo from 1898 to 1911, designed and built numerous Beaux-Arts residential structures in New York City, both richly detailed row houses and luxury apartment blocks during the building boom that constructed Manhattan
's Upper West Side
. Though neither Elisha Harris Janes nor Richard Leopold Leo ever studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, they worked within its traditions. Their most prominent structure is the ebullient Dorilton (1902), at Broadway and 71st Street, bolder and more sculptural than any professor at the École des Beaux-Arts would have encouraged. Montgomery Schuyler, the critic for the Architectural Record, disapproved of its flamboyant appeal:
The prominent corner site had been purchased by Hamilton M. Weed before the BMT Broadway Line
had been finalized. It was the first grand apartment block to be completed on Upper Broadway. When it opened it had the expected separate servant and freight elevators and separate tenant storerooms as well as filtered water and even provision for charging electric automobiles. The Dorilton is entered through a narrow recessed court on 71st Street behind a Baroque wrought-iron screening fence with massive stone piers topped with weighty globes; far above, a masonry arch spans the recess at the ninth-floor level. Above a two-storey basement with channeled rustication
, colossal limestone sculptures representing The Seasons survey Broadway.
Richard Leopold Leo was a graduate of the School of Architecture, Columbia University
(1895). He built himself a house at Belle Harbor, Long Island
, New York. He was a member of the Architectural League of New York.
Like many contemporary firms, Janes & Leo often depended for repetitive sculptural details on mold-cast matte-glazed architectural terracotta
imitating limestone; the firm's designers sculpted the models from which the casts were taken.
Elisha H. Janes continued to practice after Leo's death. In 1913 he provided plans for remodelling in the Twenty-Second Regiment Armory, 67th to 68th Streets, between Columbus Avenue and Broadway (demolished). He formed a partnership with the German-American architect August William Cordes, whose previous partner, Theodore William Emile De Lemos, had died in 1909. Their projects included the New York Women’s League for Animals Building (1913), 348-354 Lafayette Street, (now in the NoHo District) and the Refrigeration Plant and Wholesale Market and Storage Buildings (1925–29) in The Bronx Terminal Market, Hunts Point.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
architectural firm of Elisha Harris Janes and Richard Leopold Leo (1871/72 — 26 September 1911), working as Janes & Leo from 1898 to 1911, designed and built numerous Beaux-Arts residential structures in New York City, both richly detailed row houses and luxury apartment blocks during the building boom that constructed Manhattan
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...
's Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
. Though neither Elisha Harris Janes nor Richard Leopold Leo ever studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris, they worked within its traditions. Their most prominent structure is the ebullient Dorilton (1902), at Broadway and 71st Street, bolder and more sculptural than any professor at the École des Beaux-Arts would have encouraged. Montgomery Schuyler, the critic for the Architectural Record, disapproved of its flamboyant appeal:
"It was a most questionable and question-provoking edifice in the guise of an apartment house. It not merely solicits but demands attention. It yells 'Come and look at me' so loud that the preoccupied or even the color blind can not choose but hear."
The prominent corner site had been purchased by Hamilton M. Weed before the BMT Broadway Line
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan, New York City, United States. , it is served by three services, all colored yellow: the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks...
had been finalized. It was the first grand apartment block to be completed on Upper Broadway. When it opened it had the expected separate servant and freight elevators and separate tenant storerooms as well as filtered water and even provision for charging electric automobiles. The Dorilton is entered through a narrow recessed court on 71st Street behind a Baroque wrought-iron screening fence with massive stone piers topped with weighty globes; far above, a masonry arch spans the recess at the ninth-floor level. Above a two-storey basement with channeled rustication
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
, colossal limestone sculptures representing The Seasons survey Broadway.
Richard Leopold Leo was a graduate of the School of Architecture, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(1895). He built himself a house at Belle Harbor, Long Island
Belle Harbor, Queens
Belle Harbor is an upscale neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is a tightly-knit, upper class community located on the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula, the southernmost area of the borough. While there are no formal boundaries for the area, Belle Harbor is often used to...
, New York. He was a member of the Architectural League of New York.
Like many contemporary firms, Janes & Leo often depended for repetitive sculptural details on mold-cast matte-glazed architectural terracotta
Architectural terracotta
Terracotta, in its unglazed form, became fashionable as an architectural ceramic construction material in England in the 1860s, and in the United States in the 1870s. It was generally used to supplement brick and tiles of similar colour in late Victorian buildings.It had been used before this in...
imitating limestone; the firm's designers sculpted the models from which the casts were taken.
Selected commissions
- Emanu-El Sisterhood, 320 East 82nd St. (1900).
- 302-320 West 105th Street (1898–1902), for the real estate speculator John C. Umberfield, and 301-307, for Hamilton Weed, as well as 330, 331 and 333 Riverside Drive, for Joseph A. Farley
- The Alimar (1899–1900), 925 West End AvenueWest End AvenueWest End Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, not far from the Hudson River.West End Avenue originates at West 59th Street; the continuation of the street below 59th Street is called Eleventh Avenue. It runs from 59th Street to its...
at 105th Street, for Hamilton M. Weed. - The Manhasset (1901–05), Broadway between 108th and 109th Streets, completed 1905. Janes and Leo recast a design, six years after construction started, after the initial developer defaulted, adding the three-storey almost vertical mansard roof. Dark brick contrasted with limestone-colored architectural terracotta, a three-story almost vertical mansard roofMansard roofA mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
. The lobbies and interiors were remodeled in the 1930s, when the original apartments were subdivided. - 3 and 5 East 82nd Street (1901). A pair of townhouses built on speculation by James A. Farley. 3 East 82nd street was sold to Solomon LoebSolomon LoebSolomon Loeb was a German American merchant in textiles and later a banker with Kuhn, Loeb & Co.. His father, a devout Jew, had been a small corn- and wine-dealer in Worms, which belonged to the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. S. Loeb emigrated to the United States in 1849. He settled in...
, a founder of Kuhn, Loeb who conveyed it to his daughter and son-in-law Nina and Paul WarburgPaul WarburgPaul Moritz Warburg was a German-born American banker and early advocate of the U.S. Federal Reserve system.- Early life :...
. - The DoriltonThe DoriltonThe Dorilton is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City. Construction began in 1900 and was completed by 1902.- Architecture :...
, also for Hamilton M. Weed, 171 West 71st Street, at Broadway. Full-blown Beaux-Arts French Baroque, with monumental sculptures. - The Wellsmore, Broadway and 77th Street, for realtors Bing & Bing(1910). Twelve storeys of dark brick contrasted with limestone-colored architectural terracotta, which clads the first three storeys and providing window jambs, spandrels and entablatures. there were only four apartments to a floor, each of seven to nine rooms, with rents from $1500 to $3750 per annum.
Elisha H. Janes continued to practice after Leo's death. In 1913 he provided plans for remodelling in the Twenty-Second Regiment Armory, 67th to 68th Streets, between Columbus Avenue and Broadway (demolished). He formed a partnership with the German-American architect August William Cordes, whose previous partner, Theodore William Emile De Lemos, had died in 1909. Their projects included the New York Women’s League for Animals Building (1913), 348-354 Lafayette Street, (now in the NoHo District) and the Refrigeration Plant and Wholesale Market and Storage Buildings (1925–29) in The Bronx Terminal Market, Hunts Point.