United States Post Office-Lenox Hill Station
Encyclopedia
The U.S. Post Office-Lenox Hill Station is located on East 70th Street between Second
and Third
avenues on the Upper East Side
of the New York City
borough of Manhattan
. It is a brick building constructed in the 1930s.
Architect Eric Kebbon's design is considered one of the finest Colonial Revival
post offices in New York State. Unusually for post offices in that style, it has two main entrances on the sides of the building instead of a single, central main entrance. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1989, along with many other post offices in the state.
. The terrain is level.
There are two sections to the building. Both are three stories in height, with the first story faced in rusticated
limestone
on a granite
foundation
and the upper stories in brick laid in Flemish bond with limestone trim. The five-bay
main section has a three-bay central projecting front-gable
d pavilion with a stone pediment
. To the east is a three-bay wing with a segmental-arched garage
.
On the main block, the south-facing first floor windows are all tripartite round-arched windows with 8-over-12 double-hung wooden sash window
s in the center, five-pane sidelights and compound fanlight
s. They are complemented by a projecting keystone
and radiating voussoir
s.
The second floor windows are 12-over-12 double-hung sash with limestone balustrades in front on the main block. On the pavilion they are additionally topped with stone pediment
s; segmental arched with supporting brackets
in the center and triangular in the middle. On the main block and the wing they have projecting stone lintels.
Above them, the third floor windows are four-over-eight sash with simple stone surrounds. The central window in the pavilion has a shouldered surround with volute
s at the base. Below it a flagpole projects from a limestone panel between it and the second-story window below.
The pavilion's gable is trimmed in limestone. At its bottom is a plain frieze
with "United States Post Office" carved into it. The entablature
is set off by a cornice
and has a central carved roundel
depicting an eagle and shield. The shallow pitched roof is sheathed in metal.
Balustraded granite steps on either side of the projecting pavilion lead to the main entrances. They have bronze doors topped by blind fanlights with eagles carved in bas-relief. Original lamps are still in place.
They open into a vestibule
with rusticated limestone walls. The lobby has a terrazzo
floor in gray, gold and black marble
, green marble baseboard
, applied Doric order
in honey-colored marble
around the entire room, square plaster cornice and shallow squared coffer
ed plaster ceiling. Doors have limestone surrounds with marble transoms
. Small Doric pilaster
s divide the teller windows, which retain their original bronze grilles. Three of the original customer tables remain. They are bronze with glass tops and Greek-inspired decorated bases.
. An amendment to the Public Buildings Act
in 1930 gave the Treasury Department
's Supervising Architect
the authority to hire outside consulting architects to design buildings, to provide work for unemployed architects. In New York, many of those architects built post offices in the New York metropolitan area.
Eric Kebbon, still employed in private practice at the time, was retained to design five Manhattan post offices. Prior to working for the Treasury Department he had designed the AT&T building at Broadway and Fulton Street
. Later he would, as the architect for the city's school system, design over a hundred school buildings..
Kebbon, unlike some other consulting architects, appears to have been given complete freedom in designing the Lenox Hill post office, which serves some of Manhattan's wealthiest neighborhoods. His design, which has been called the finest Colonial Revival
post office in the state, is similar to his later Planetarium post office across town on the Upper West Side
, but less restrained in its decoration
. Many elements are common to other New York City post offices, such as the multi-story main block, full lot coverage and raised basement. Unlike many Colonial Revival post offices in the state, both inside and outside the city, it has two entrances on the side of the projecting pavilion instead of one entrance in the middle.
Second Avenue (Manhattan)
Second Avenue is an avenue on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan extending from Houston Street at its south end to the Harlem River Drive at 128th Street at its north end. A one-way street, vehicular traffic runs only downtown. A bicycle lane in the left hand portion from 55th...
and Third
Third Avenue (Manhattan)
Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Cooper Square north for over 120 blocks. Third Avenue continues into The Bronx across the Harlem River over the Third Avenue Bridge north of East 129th Street to East Fordham Road at...
avenues on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
of the New York City
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...
borough of 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...
. It is a brick building constructed in the 1930s.
Architect Eric Kebbon's design is considered one of the finest Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
post offices in New York State. Unusually for post offices in that style, it has two main entrances on the sides of the building instead of a single, central main entrance. It was listed on 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 1989, along with many other post offices in the state.
Building
The post office is located on the north side of the street, midway between the two avenues. There are a few large trees on either side. The neighboring buildings are large apartment houses, modern on either side of the post office and older across the street. Third Avenue, to the west, is at that point the western boundary of the Upper East Side Historic DistrictUpper East Side Historic District
Upper East Side Historic District is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Its boundaries were increased in 2006....
. The terrain is level.
There are two sections to the building. Both are three stories in height, with the first story faced in rusticated
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...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
on a 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...
foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
and the upper stories in brick laid in Flemish bond with limestone trim. The five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
main section has a three-bay central projecting front-gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d pavilion with a stone pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
. To the east is a three-bay wing with a segmental-arched garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
.
On the main block, the south-facing first floor windows are all tripartite round-arched windows with 8-over-12 double-hung wooden sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s in the center, five-pane sidelights and compound fanlight
Fanlight
A fanlight is a window, semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan, It is placed over another window or a doorway. and is sometimes hinged to a transom. The bars in the fixed glazed window spread out in the manner a sunburst...
s. They are complemented by a projecting keystone
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
and radiating voussoir
Voussoir
A voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault.Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the center stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. A...
s.
The second floor windows are 12-over-12 double-hung sash with limestone balustrades in front on the main block. On the pavilion they are additionally topped with stone pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s; segmental arched with supporting brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
in the center and triangular in the middle. On the main block and the wing they have projecting stone lintels.
Above them, the third floor windows are four-over-eight sash with simple stone surrounds. The central window in the pavilion has a shouldered surround with volute
Volute
A volute is a spiral scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals...
s at the base. Below it a flagpole projects from a limestone panel between it and the second-story window below.
The pavilion's gable is trimmed in limestone. At its bottom is a plain frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
with "United States Post Office" carved into it. The entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
is set off by a cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
and has a central carved roundel
Roundel
A roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...
depicting an eagle and shield. The shallow pitched roof is sheathed in metal.
Balustraded granite steps on either side of the projecting pavilion lead to the main entrances. They have bronze doors topped by blind fanlights with eagles carved in bas-relief. Original lamps are still in place.
They open into a vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
with rusticated limestone walls. The lobby has a terrazzo
Terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips, sprinkled or unsprinkled, and poured with a binder that is cementitious, chemical or a combination of both...
floor in gray, gold and black 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...
, green marble baseboard
Baseboard
In architecture, a baseboard is a board covering the lowest part of an interior wall...
, applied 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:...
in honey-colored 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...
around the entire room, square plaster cornice and shallow squared coffer
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
ed plaster ceiling. Doors have limestone surrounds with marble transoms
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
. Small Doric pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s divide the teller windows, which retain their original bronze grilles. Three of the original customer tables remain. They are bronze with glass tops and Greek-inspired decorated bases.
History
Lenox Hill was one of 12 post offices built in mid-1930s Manhattan as part of federal relief efforts in the face of the ongoing Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. An amendment to the Public Buildings Act
Public Buildings Act
The Public Buildings Act of 1926, also known as the Elliot-Fernald Act, was a statute which governed the construction of federal buildings throughout the United States, and authorized funding for this construction. Its primary sponsor in the House of Representatives was Representative Richard N...
in 1930 gave the Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
's Supervising Architect
Office of the Supervising Architect
The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939....
the authority to hire outside consulting architects to design buildings, to provide work for unemployed architects. In New York, many of those architects built post offices in the New York metropolitan area.
Eric Kebbon, still employed in private practice at the time, was retained to design five Manhattan post offices. Prior to working for the Treasury Department he had designed the AT&T building at Broadway and Fulton Street
Fulton Street (Manhattan)
Fulton Street is a busy street located in Lower Manhattan. It is in New York City's Financial District, a few blocks north of Wall Street. It runs from Church Street at the site of the World Trade Center to South Street, terminating in front of the South Street Seaport...
. Later he would, as the architect for the city's school system, design over a hundred school buildings..
Kebbon, unlike some other consulting architects, appears to have been given complete freedom in designing the Lenox Hill post office, which serves some of Manhattan's wealthiest neighborhoods. His design, which has been called the finest Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
post office in the state, is similar to his later Planetarium post office across town on the 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...
, but less restrained in its decoration
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
. Many elements are common to other New York City post offices, such as the multi-story main block, full lot coverage and raised basement. Unlike many Colonial Revival post offices in the state, both inside and outside the city, it has two entrances on the side of the projecting pavilion instead of one entrance in the middle.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 59th to 110th StreetsNational Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 59th to 110th StreetsList of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 59th to 110th StreetsThis is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places between 59th and 110th Streets in Manhattan...