1198 Franklin Ave
1894, Michael J. Garvin

During the late-19th century, Franklin Avenue was one of the most prominent residential streets in Morrisania. The area was once part of the Bathgate Estate, which in 1888 was developed to create the Crotona Park. Many mansions were built on the surrounding streets, although almost none of them survive today. This Queen Anne three-story structure was designed by noted American architect and Bronx resident Michael J. Garvin. A graduate of Manhattan College, Garvin served as the first Building Commissioner of the borough from 1897 to 1903, and its first Under Sheriff. His prolific career coincided with the borough's growth at the turn of the 20th century, and he was best known as the architect of record for the Bronx Borough Courthouse, the Haffen Building and the Fire House, Hook and Ladder 17, all designated as a NYC Landmarks. He also had to face a series of controversies surrounding the authorship of his work and political influences. The house is set back from Franklin Ave, with a large front yard framed by a stone wall with an iron picket fence. It features a tower at the southwest corner, capped by a conical roof and weathervane, and a mansard roof with dormer windows. The main façade has a porch with a front facing gable and decorative spindlework. The first residents were Conrad Müller and his family, who had emigrated in 1872 from Switzerland. He was a steam engineer, and lived at the house until the 1930s with his youngest son Frederick, a teacher, and his wife. The house would later become a multi-family residence.