E. V. Haughwout Building

E.V. Haughwout Building
Location: 488-492 Broadway,
New York, New York
Built: 1857
Architect: J.P. Gaynor
Governing body: Private
NRHP Reference#: 73001218[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP: August 28, 1973
Designated NYCL: November 23, 1965

The E.V. Haughwout Building is a five-story, 79-foot (24 m) tall, commercial loft building in the SoHo section of Manhattan, New York City, at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway. Built in 1857 to a design by John P. Gaynor, with cast-iron sections for two street-fronts provided by Daniel D. Badger's Architectural Iron Works,[2] it originally housed Eder V. Haughwout's fashionable emporium, which sold imported cut glass and silverware as well as its own handpainted china and fine chandeliers,[2][3] and which attracted many wealthy clients – including Mary Todd Lincoln.

Architecturally, the building is fairly typical of the period, with cast-iron facades in an arcaded system with two orders of columns that was derived from the Sansovino Library in Venice.[4] However, the building's designers acted progressively by installing the world's first successful passenger elevator on March 23, 1857. It was a hydraulic lift designed for the building by Elisha Graves Otis. It cost $300 and had a speed of .67 feet per second (0.20 m/s)[5]. The original elevator is still in place and is in working condition.

The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1965, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Its facade was restored, and the columns re-painted to their original "Turkish drab" color, in 1995, under the supervision of Joseph Pell Lombardi.[4]

References

Notes
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ a b White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0812931076. , p.102
  3. ^ Burrows, Edwin G. & Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195116348. , p.668
  4. ^ a b New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.) New York:Wiley, 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, pp.41-42
  5. ^ "Otis Elevator Timeline". Otis Elevator. http://www.otisworldwide.com/d31-timeline.html. Retrieved 2009-01-31. 

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