One of the few remaining examples of Beaux Arts architecture in the Bronx is in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.
The WoodyCrest Home at 936 WoodyCrest Avenue was built in 1902 of stone, terra cotta and gray brick.
It embodies the neoclassic detailing that followed the redbrick Victorian era of our 1886 ClockTower.
WoodyCrest was designed by William B. Tuthill, the architect who designed Carnegie Hall.
A NYTimes article describes the exterior as “a rich, chaotic succession of bays, pavilions and other protuberances.”
Even the rear facade is cool.
Sited on a Harlem River bluff covered in trees and vegetation, the building was literally placed upon a “woody crest.”
It was never a private home; at first a facility for impoverished women and children.
Later, it was the American Female Guardian’s “Home for Friendless Children.”
By 1930, 235 children and 42 Staff members resided in this glorious facility.
There is also a chapel, five dormitories, a kindergarten, a hospital, a dining room and a quarantine ward for new arrivals.
It was listed by New York Landmarks Preservation in 2000.
Go see it, just 2 stops on the 4.
A study commissioned in 1987 by architecture firm Pier, Fine Associates found this building “one of the best in the Bronx.”
It’s hard to disagree, and it’s ours.
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