Archives

48, 52, AND 54 QUINN STREET

Philip Wolff;
1894|

Also constructed by Philip Wolff, these three Colonial Revival houses form a lovely bookend to Harrison Street. The two-story brick houses each have three bays, with two situated on projecting sections that are capped with white triangular pediments. Unfortunately, the pediment on number 54 has been removed. Number 52 has retained some of the decorative cresting along its roofline. The houses feature stone bandcourses, brick window lintels with keystones, square windows on the ground level and arched windows on the second-story level. While the entry porch has been removed, number 48 has retained its stained glass transom.

83 AND 85 HARRISON STREET

ca. 1877|

Built for Samuel and Isabella Cassidy, owners of a dry goods store on Bay Street, these houses were owned and occupied by the Cassidy family for over 60 years. The houses feature bracketed cornices, projecting bays, decorative brickwork, columned porches and stone band courses and window lintels.

71, 73, 75, HARRISON STREET

Adrian R. and Peter Post, 1868;
ca. 1885;
Adrian R. and Peter Post, ca. 1868|

For roughly 40 years, William M. Mullen, a lawyer who practiced in Staten Island and Manhattan, resided at number 73 and owned numbers 71 and 75 as rental properties. Mullen commissioned his own house, which, at three stories over a raised basement, is taller than its neighbors and features a full-height projecting bay and a gabled roof. He purchased the two rental properties in 1891. Both were built by the Post brothers and feature the brothers’ signature mansard roof, as well as dormers, projecting bay windows and columned entry porches.

77 HARRISON STREET

ca. 1883|

Built for newsdealer Sarah Wood, this house has retained its original details, including a decorative railing on the porch and staircase and a Gothic arched window at the attic story. The house features a gable roof and a bay window with decorative wood work.

87-89 AND 93-95 HARRISON STREET

Philip Wolff;
ca. 1883|

These brick apartment buildings are the work of Philip Wolff, a builder and mason who ran a business with his son, Charles L. Wolff. The company is understood to have laid many of the sidewalks in Stapleton. They also constructed many houses in the area, including 48, 52 and 54 Quinn Street and 80 Harrison Street. Number 87-89 has two central projecting bays with steep gable roofs and groups of three windows on each level. The window groupings on the ground level have bracketed wood overhangs and stone quoin surrounds. These projecting bays are flanked on either side by wings containing arched entryways with columned porches. The entire building is capped with a mansard roof and a bracketed cornice. Number 93-95 features a prominent onion-shaped corner turret with an arched dormer. The mansard roof also has four dormers of different sizes and a wide chimney with decorative brickwork. The lower stories have stone bandcourses, window lintels and sashes, as well as arched brickwork entrances with keystones and double doors with glass transoms.

79 AND 81 HARRISON STREET

ca. 1877|

Built for Samuel and Mary Ann Anderson as rental properties, these two houses are twins which share a party wall. They feature a very steep mansard roof along the entire second story with long rectangular dormer windows that dominate the façades. Between the first and second stories are bracketed cornices. Both houses are fortunate to have retained their fanciful door hoods.

59, 63 AND 67 HARRISON STREET

Adrian R. and Peter Post, ca. 1870;
William R. Eddy, ca. 1868;
Adrian R. and Peter Post, ca. 1869|

Carpenter-builders Adrian R. and Peter Post were responsible for several houses on Harrison Street, including numbers 59 and 67. They also constructed numbers 44 (their own residence), 58, 71 and 75. Number 59, constructed as a rental property, features a mansard roof, dormers and a columned entry porch. Number 67, a speculative project, features a mansard roof and a projecting full height bay topped with a tall, narrow, polygonal turret. The windows in the turret have their original stained glass. Number 63 was built by William R. Eddy, who sold it to a veterinary surgeon named William Rose in 1872. Like its neighbor at number 59, it has a mansard roof, dormers and a columned entry porch, as well as a projecting bay window at the ground level.

53 HARRISON STREET

Charles Schmeiser;
1880|

Designed in the Second Empire style for Henry Warth, this house has a steeply pitched slate mansard roof and polychrome striped brickwork. Note the terra-cotta medallion on the building’s west façade. This is the only house on the street with a registered architect. In addition to that distinction, this graceful house stands out for its height (three stories plus a basement level) and that there are no houses abutting it on either side, lending a stately air to its presence on the street. Owner Henry Warth was the brewmaster of the local Rubsam & Horhmann Brewery in Stapleton. His father, Albin Warth, was an inventor who held over 150 patents.

45 HARRISON STREET

James P. Eddy;
1875|

This house was built by James P. Eddy, whose brother William and father Cornelius also owned houses on the street at number 74 and 36, respectively. Together, the three men owned and operated a lumber yard on Bay Street in Stapleton. Like the houses of his relatives, James’s house features a mansard roof, dormers, a bracketed cornice and a prominent full height projecting bay along its three stories. Its design is very similar to number 74 across the street. The entry porch features an overhang with bracket supports and paired columns. While some of the houses along Harrison Street have undergone renovations, the house next door at number 49 is the youngest on the street, built in 1940.

35, 37 AND 41 HARRISON STREET

Winslow Robinson;
ca. 1875-76|

These three houses share the same general massing and roof gable outline. It is known that numbers 37 and 41 were built by carpenter-builder Winslow Robinson, so it can be surmised that he was most likely responsible for number 35 as well. Number 35 was built for druggist Benjamin T. Jacobs and numbers 37 and 41 were built for real estate and insurance broker William Robinson. A small annex now connects numbers 35 and 37.