Schwartz & Gross's 175 East 79th St: An imposing façade relieved by Renaissance-style designs
- Construction was completed in 1929 at a cost of $480,000 or about $9 million in 2026 terms
A critic mildly objected to the fact that “every bedroom in the house must be reached through a living-room or a dining-room.”
Have you ever passed by an interesting residential building in New York City and wanted to know more about its history? In this series, Brick Underground teams up with Tom Miller, creator of Daytonian in Manhattan, a blog about Manhattan buildings and other historic architecture. Each week, we run an excerpt from the Daytonian’s archives with a link to the full article.
On April 3rd, 1928, the architectural firm of Schwartz & Gross filed plans for 15-story plus penthouse apartment building at 171 through 175 East 79th St. to be erected by the Tishman Realty and Construction Company.
Construction was completed in 1929 at a cost of $480,000—or about $9 million in 2026 terms. Faced in rough-faced brick, the neo-Renaissance-style structure was trimmed in brownstone and terra cotta. The entrance and the pilasters of the paired third-floor windows were decorated with intricate Renaissance-style designs. The first- and second-floor openings were framed by brownstone quoins (painted white today).
Schwartz & Gross's treatment of the first-floor voussoirs was highly unusual: alternating from brick to brownstone. The edifice rose as a sheer cliff, relieved by terra cotta bandcourses; those below the fourth and sixteenth floors supported by arched, brick corbel tables. Vast, multi-paned casements flooded the apartments with natural light.
At least one critic had a slight problem with the new building. On March 9th, 1929, Marcia Clarke Davenport wrote in The New Yorker:
The Tishman organization, whose architects are Schwartz & Gross, has put up a good building at 175 East Seventy-ninth Street. It includes all the features I have always admired in this company’s work, but—every bedroom in the house must be reached through a living-room or a dining-room. That there has been a pardonable desire to save space is obvious; nevertheless, the result is unfortunate.
Tenants included Rene de Albornoz Carrillo and his son Rene Jr. Carrillo was, according to The New York Times, a "member of an old Spanish family." Twice married and twice divorced, the elder Carrillo was the head of the importing and interior decorating firm, R. Carrillo & Co. His daughter was married in 1924, and Rene Jr. graduated from Princeton University in 1930 and joined his father's business.
The 55-year-old Carrillo suffered from "high-blood pressure and a nervous disorder," according to the New York Evening Post. On the evening of December 9th, 1931 the father and son played cards. During the game, the elder Carrillo "discussed business affairs with his son," reported The New York Times, and mentioned that he wanted to bring an acquaintance into the business. He told his son that he wanted to make his vision of the company clear, "in case I die."
The next morning, Rene Jr. arose at around 9:00. He found his father, "dressed only in his pajamas...slumped down in a chair in his bedroom with a bullet wound in the right temple." A note left on the bureau read:
Dear Rene:
I hate to do this, but I cannot stand this strain any longer. Would put N. W. in the business and carry out our plan of yesterday. Tell him to remember the letter I spoke to him about. It's in the safe. Good-bye to you and all that I care for. It's hard to leave you all.
Love, Father
Don Ross and Jane Froman leased a penthouse here. Born in 1907, Jane Froman studied voice at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music until 1930. She made her national debut on radio in 1929, the year she met vaudeville performer Donald McKaig Ross. They were married in 1933 and moved to New York City that year.
Jane joined the Ziegfeld Follies where she became friends with Fannie Brice. Reportedly, when composer and producer Billy Rose was asked to name the top 10 female singers, he replied, "Jane Froman and nine others." By 1934, Jane was the "number-one female singer on the radio," according to a nationwide poll.
When the couple moved in, Jane had completed two films, the 1933 Kissing Time and the 1935 Stars Over Broadway. They established their own radio program in July 1937.
Unfortunately, while Froman's career soared, Ross's did not. They were divorced in 1948, five years after Froman was severely injured in an airplane crash on February 22nd, 1943 as she was traveling to entertain troops.
It was possibly during the facade renovation in 2015 that the stonework of the first and second floors was painted. Sadly, the coop board did not step in when several owners replaced the 1928 casements, so vital to Schwartz & Gross's design, with myriad, unsympathetic substitutes.
For more on the property and the lives (as well as tragic deaths) of the people that lived here, check out the full article.
You Might Also Like
