Upper West Side, 105th Street at Broadway

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

This is the final shot of this April 5 pre-dinner walk. Toast has replaced Carne. What was there before Carne? Do you remember, Luka? I haven't been to Toast yet; Henry's, right across the street, always exerts its magnetic draw. However, as frugality sets in, I should probably give it a try.

The link to Toast is to its Morningside Heights location; there is nothing online about this 105th Street site. Apparently the food uptown is good, but the servers are rude.

Have you noticed how this building has been stripped of half of its façade? I confess I looked at it a long time before I noticed. People, we must notice more! Beginning with me; after all, I'm the artist. Not that you aren't; I just mean, let's see, I mean I'm the artist-in-charge, here.

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Upper West Side, 105th Street Between West End Avenue and Broadway

Mary Sargent © 2009 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

By now, Luka has met up with me and she says, oh, this is a nice building; Madeleine L'Engle used to live here. Christopher Gray mentions the Cleburne in Streetscapes and especially likes this "great drive-through entrance". But what that means, I do not know.

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Upper West Side, 105th Street Between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………….…….. click to enlarge

The Historic District just scoops out these white stone buildings and that's it for the south side of the block. See how the individual houses are the same only different? The two end buildings at one end pretty much match the two end buildings at the other and then the next two do the same and then the center two have big bowed fronts. Luka said when she saw them some years ago, flowers were all over the balconies. And maybe they will be again this year if it EVER GETS WARM.



Mary Sargent © 2009 ……….. click to enlarge


These two buildings are the second and third buildings from the left.


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Upper West Side, 105th Street Between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 ..……………………….. click to enlarge




Mary Sargent © 2009 ..……………………….. click to enlarge

On page 3 of this link is a map of the historic district, showing that most of the north side of 105th street is included in the District, but since I was unaware of the District at the time, I took these pictures instead.

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Upper West Side, 105th Street Between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2009 …click to enlarge

Now I have walked back from 106th Street and I've turned east onto 105th. Here is a closer view of the front of the building we saw last Monday. Can you imagine this being your house? Well, I gotta go home now, you'd say – Mom's calling me to dinner.

Just don't think living here would make you happy. Do you remember the baking powder Davises who once lived here? Theirs was not a happy home if you can believe what you read in the newspapers. I refer you back to this article where it is reported that during a bitter divorce, Mr. Davis accused Mrs. Davis of trying to have him declared insane and of making him a prisoner in his own home.

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Upper West Side, 105th Street at Riverside Drive

Mary Sargent © 2009 ……….. click to enlarge

This is quite a contrast to the last two shots. Luka had mentioned that part of this block is in an historic district, but I saw no signs of it when I later walked up the block. However, I now have in front of me a copy of a 1973 Riverside-West 105th Street Historic District Designation Report, confirming its existence. What did people do before the internet existed? They remained shrouded in ignorance is what.

So about this building. It was designed "in the Beaux Arts manner by [the architectural firm of] Janes & Leo" and built in 1901-02 as a private residence. "Members of the Davis family, of baking powder fame, bought No. 330 Riverside Drive in 1905 and remained there until the last heir died in the 1950s." For those of you wondering what the heck baking powder is, here's a quick shot of a can of Davis baking powder I just happened to have lying around.

It was thought, so says the report, that part of the reason this district stayed so unchanged was that many families remained in their homes for long periods and so were less likely to make changes.

The report states that the building is now owned by the Brothers of the Christian Schools. That was in 1973. The web tells me it is an:

Opus Dei residence for men near Columbia University. Provides facilities for religious and formational activities such as Holy Mass, days of recollection and retreats by priests of Opus Dei.

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