Lewis G. Morris House Explained

Lewis G. Morris House
Designated Other2 Name:New York City Landmark
Designated Other2 Date:January 24, 1967
Designated Other2 Abbr:NYCL
Designated Other2 Link:New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Designated Other2 Number:0654
Designated Other2 Color:
  1. ffe978
Location:100 East 85th Street, New York, New York
Coordinates:40.7794°N -73.9578°W
Built:1914
Architect:Ernest Flagg
Architecture:Neo-Federal
Added:February 12, 1977
Area:less than one acre
Refnum:77000960

The Lewis Gouverneur and Nathalie Bailey Morris House is a historic building at 100 East 85th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The five-story dark red brick house was built in 1913-14 as a private residence for Lewis Gouverneur Morris, a financier and descendant of Gouverneur Morris, a signer of the Articles of Confederation and United States Constitution, and Alletta Nathalie Lorillard Bailey.[1] In 1917, Morris & Pope (Lewis Governeur Morris’ stock brokerage firm) is bankrupt but the family retains ownership of this house as well as their house in Newport, RI because his wife owned the property as collateral for a loan to him for his brokerage business.[2] Alletta Nathalie Bailey Morris was a leading women's tennis player in the 1910s, winning the national indoor tennis championship in 1920.[3]

Designed by the famous architect Ernest Flagg using an asymmetrical plan, the house's distinctive style was inspired by English Queen Anne architecture, along with Colonial and Federal architectural styles. The building features staggered stair windows, half-fan windows in pairs, a double height oriel over the garage, and a square cupola.[1]

The building was later also called the New World Foundation Building. Its address is 1015 Park Avenue, although its entrance is around the corner at 100 East 85th Street. The house was made a New York City Designated Landmark on January 24, 1967, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Its facade was restored by the Avi Chai Foundation in 2000.

See also

Notes and References

  1. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 2012
  2. News: Wife Pays Even His Club Dues, Morris Swears. September 29, 1921. New-York Tribune. 9.
  3. News: Mrs. Lewis Gouverneur Morris, Former Tennis Champion, Dies.. January 14, 1935. New York Herald Tribune. 10.