This building had undergone substantial alteration over the years.  Originally built as a single family dwelling between 1877 and 1878 by Charles Baxter, it was one of ten houses of the same design on this street.  No 33 is the only one to survive somewhat close to it original design.  The row house changed hands often and was converted to apartments in 1947.  In 2004, the building was purchased in a “fire sale,” as it had been structurally damaged by the extensive renovation of the adjacent property.

Our firm was retained to evaluate the structural condition and the architectural merit of the existing façade, as the stoop and been removed when the entrance was shifted to the west side of the building.  The façade lost the brown sandstone at the base and was finally covered with stucco as part of the last series of cosmetic “make-overs” as the diagram above illustrates.  Underneath the stucco, the façade and back-up brick had been damaged by settlement as a result of deeper foundations made on the adjacent property.  The client really wanted a limestone building, and as there would be re-building of the façade, the Landmarks Preservation Commission was persuaded to use a sandstone in lighter buff color rather than brown sandstone that would not be suitable for the Queen Anne carving.