SPANISH TOWER HOMES, Queens
Address: 34–30 to 34–52 75th Street
Architect: J. Case & Peter Schreiner
Constructed: 1927
LPC Action: Calendared: 1990
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice
LPC- Fact Sheet | Research File
The Spanish Tower Homes include 10 three- and four-story detached tan brick houses. The first floors of these dwellings have no windows and instead feature French doors that open on to wrought-iron balconettes. Some windows on upper floors have original wood shutters, and the corner houses feature fourth-floor loggias. These houses have shared driveways with detached garages in the rear.
LPC Statement of Significance:
Spanish Towers Homes is a group of ten residences located on the west side of 75th Street, between 34th and 35th Avenues, in the Jackson Heights section of Queens. Constructed by the Langbein Building & Sales Corporation as convertible single-family homes in 1928-28, the elevations are faced with tan brick and feature stone quoins, columns, arched entrance surrounds, wood shutters, and glazed Spanish-style tile roofs. Arranged in groups of give, the houses at each end are four stories tall and incorporate wide loggias, hipped roofs, and side windows. While the center houses have gabled roofs, the lower recessed buildings in Jackson Heights were designed with similar materials and in a similar romantic style, including several apartment houses in the nearby Jackson Heights Historic District designed by Andrew J. Thomas, who may have been the architect of this ensemble. In addition to small, continuous yard fronts, the ten houses share a common driveway that leads to six garages at the rear. Significant alterations include the addition of non-historic metal awnings, grille work, and metal fencing, as well as the glazing of the southernmost loggia.