National Register of Historic Places

Lescaze House

New York, New York County, New York
Listed
May 18, 1980
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
80002698

About this property

The Lescaze House is a four-story house at 211 East 48th Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It is along the northern sidewalk of 48th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The building was designed by William Lescaze in the International Style between 1933 and 1934 as a renovation of a 19th-century brownstone townhouse. It is one of three houses in Manhattan designed by Lescaze. The four-story building contains a facade of white-painted stucco blocks and glass block windows. The glass blocks, the first to be used on a building in New York City, were installed to provide insulation and privacy while also allowing illumination. The house was designed to accommodate his office at the bottom and his family's residence on the upper floors. The Lescaze House was designed with a dining room at the first story, bedrooms on the second story, and a living room on the third story, as well as a basement and first-story annex in the back yard. Lescaze designed much of the furniture for his residence. William Lescaze and his wife Mary moved into the house in June 1934. Their son Lee Lescaze, in his adulthood, also moved his own family into the neighboring rowhouse at 209 East 48th Street. After William Lescaze's death in 1969, Mary continued to maintain the property. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Lescaze House as an official landmark in 1976, and the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The house was sold in 1985 to the William Kaufman Organization, which conducted renovations but largely maintained the house's historic design. In 2020, the house was sold again to Hendale LLC.

Location

211 E. 48th St.
New York, New York County, New York
40.75440, -73.97087

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Turtle Bay Gardens Historic District
Listed
0 mi
Greenacre Park
Modern
0.2 mi
St. Bartholomew's Church and Community House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Public School 35
Industrial
0.3 mi
Chrysler Building
Industrial
0.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Kip's Bay
1776Revolutionary War
0.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Lescaze House listed on the National Register?

Lescaze House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1980.

What type of historic resource is Lescaze House?

Lescaze House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Lescaze House?

The period of significance for Lescaze House is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Lescaze House?

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