(l-r) 18 East 68th Street, 46 Jane Street, and 21 East 90th Street, all of which are on the Landmarks Preservation Commission docket next week
Many of us took a break around the Thanksgiving holiday, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission ("Landmarks") was no exception. There were no hearings last week, but these will resume on Tuesday, December 6. A number of notable residential addresses were included on the docket, and we take a look at these buildings and the proposed changes below.
In this article:
Stephen B. Jacobs Group for Landmarks Preservation Commission
Early on the docket is an application at 18 East 68th Street, also known as the Sloane Mansion or "the house that scandal built" (h/t Daytonian in Manhattan). In the wake of a divorce so acrimonious that he forbade his ex-wife from marrying in New York as long as he was alive and from seeing her daughters, carpet manufacturer Henry Sloane commissioned C.P.H. Gilbert to build him and the children a new house down the street from the mansion he and his ex-wife shared. The limestone mansion was finished in 1905 and had 17 baths, three terraces, 17-foot ceilings, 11 fireplaces, and a grand ballroom. It was sold for $180,000 in 1941, and later turned into a nine-unit rental building.
Over 100 years after the mansion was built, investors purchased it for $20 million, bought out the remaining tenants, and attempted to flip it by listing it for $64 million. Had they succeeded, it would have been the most expensive single residence in city history. However, this came shortly before the recession and accompanying housing crisis, with the result that the mansion bounced from brokerage to brokerage with the price dropping every time. It eventually sold at a foreclosure auction in June 2011. Sole bidder Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian-born businessman, paid $37.9 million for it.
Over 100 years after the mansion was built, investors purchased it for $20 million, bought out the remaining tenants, and attempted to flip it by listing it for $64 million. Had they succeeded, it would have been the most expensive single residence in city history. However, this came shortly before the recession and accompanying housing crisis, with the result that the mansion bounced from brokerage to brokerage with the price dropping every time. It eventually sold at a foreclosure auction in June 2011. Sole bidder Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian-born businessman, paid $37.9 million for it.
Things have been quiet at the address since then, but it returns to Landmarks with an application to build a gate at the entrance. A presentation by Stephen B. Jacobs Group shows several similar gates throughout the Upper East Side Historic District, but Friends of the Upper East Side was unimpressed by a similar application earlier this year, saying that "while the gate’s design is appropriate to the building, its presence isn’t." This application shows a gate smaller in scale than the one proposed at the beginning of the year.
All images of 46 Jane Street via SPAN Architecture for Landmarks Preservation Commission
When this Greek Revival townhouse entered contract in January 2022, the listing said, “46 Jane Street was once a one-family home and now offers an ideal opportunity to be restored to its original yet updated elegance.” It appears that exactly that is happening now - the house closed for an even $8 million in March 2022, and public records identify the buyer at Brian Zakutansky, an executive at Morgan Stanley.
Front elevation facing southwest
Rear elevation facing northwest
Since then, plans have been revealed for sprucing up the house. Chief among them is a rooftop addition with doors leading to an outdoor patio. This is not without precedent – a presentation by SPAN Architecture shows a significant number of rooftop additions on surrounding blocks, and renderings show a highly unobtrusive one on this particular house. However, the renderings also give the appearance of a painted stucco house that got plopped on top of the brick building.
Much of the presentation is given over to the rooftop addition, but it is not the only plan for the house. It also proposes restoring the brick facade, repainting the door and ironwork, and enhancing the stoop. The historic district designation report says of this stretch of Jane Street, “The very uniformity of this row gives this south side of the block a handsome residential character typical of the mid-nineteenth century." These proposed changes would not detract from that.
Renderings of 21 East 90th Street (Zaras & Neudorfer Architects for Landmarks Preservation Commission)
While architect George F. Pelham is best known for his extensive work on the Upper West Side, his firm did take some Upper East Side commissions, including the 14-story, circa-1927 cooperative at 21 East 90th Street. A penthouse in the building sold for $9.15 million in November 2019. Since then, an application has been submitted to alter the penthouse in a way that would alter the look of the building as a whole.
The presentation by Zaras & Neudorfer Architects shows the removal of a decorative masonry chimney and the addition of a new one in a different location, albeit with a design to match the old one in height and materiality. Views from the Central Park Reservoir show the new chimney as being highly visible in ways that the previous chimney was not, possibly because the old one was directly behind another chimney. The presentation also calls for a new masonry opening and new door assembly to access the penthouse's private terrace, but these are not as obvious as the new chimney.
Views from Central Park Reservoir
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