Story
Haarlem on My Mind: NYC's Dutch Style Architecture
The Dutch origins of New York City are still visible in any number of places: neighborhood names, the city's flag, and its architecture. If you were to mention Dutch Colonial architecture to most New Yorkers, they might tell you about the centuries-old farmhouses that still dot the outer boroughs. But the Dutch-influenced architecture of the city did not end with gambrel-roofed, wood-frame homes, and it did not end at the colonial period.
This list highlights some of the "other" type of Dutch Colonial architecture. The buildings noted here date from the actual colonial period in only a few cases but were largely constructed in the later as a Dutch Colonial Revival recalling New York's 17th century past.
32 Stone Street
According to the photographer's notes, the Dutch-style building midframe (no. 32) dates to the early 19th century (and perhaps earlier). Its neighbor next door at 32 1/2 was supposedly built in the alleyway between nos. 32 and 34 and was only six feet, five inches wide.
1
256-258 Mott Street
J.J. Astor commissioned Calvert Vaux to design this school in honor of his wife. While the red brick, terra cotta, and buttresses denote a Victorian Gothic structure, Vaux added a stepped Dutch gable to top his creation.
2
George S. Bowdoin Stable
This charming Dutch Revival stable, designed by architect Ralph S. Townsend, was built in 1902 for William R.H. Martin, a real estate developer.
3
West End Collegiate Church
Built in the Colonial Revival style, the steep gables of this 1892 church were modeled after a 1606 building, the meat market (Vleeshal) in the Dutch town of Haarlem. The New York Times referred to this building as a "spiky explosion of orange brick and red tile."
4
57 Maiden Lane
The Dutch influenced brick building seen here circa 1921 was likely a recent building on the site. The flourishes of the building, the stepped gables and lateral striping of bricks, along with its crisp lines and clean masonry, suggest construction in the Dutch Colonial Revival period in the early 20th century.
5
75 1/2 Bedford Street
With a facade of only nine and a half feet wide, 75 1/2 Bedford Street is the narrowest house in New York City. In 1923, the owners removed the original Italianate cornice, and added a small Dutch stepped gable.
6
Public School 9
In 1894, C.B.J. Snyder, Superintendent of School Buildings, designed Public School 9 in a what is usually described as an English Gothic style, but which can easily also be called Dutch, with its orange brick and prominent stepped gables.
7
Public School 34
This large brick school building, with steeped parapets decorated with limestone scrolls, was constructed in 1898 just as Queens was becoming part of the greater New York City.
8