Fieldston is a privately owned Hermalyn, Gary D. "Fieldston" in affluent neighborhood in the Riverdale section of the northwestern part of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

. It is bounded by Manhattan College Parkway to the south,

Henry Hudson Parkway The Henry Hudson Parkway is a parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is in Manhattan at 72nd Street, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its ...

to the west, 250th Street to the north, and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

to the east. It is noted for its rural atmosphere, large houses and abundance of trees. The majority of the neighborhood is included in the Fieldston Historic District, designated by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 2006. One of New York City’s most exclusive neighborhoods, Fieldston is home to two of the three prestigious "Hill Schools", the

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , countr ...

and the Ethical Culture Fieldston School; the third,

Riverdale Country School Riverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Ne ...

, lies just outside Fieldston to the north.

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...

is located on Manhattan College Parkway, the neighborhood's southern boundary.

History

The land that is now Fieldston was part of the estate of Major

Joseph Delafield Joseph Delafield (August 22, 1790 – February 12, 1875) was an American soldier, lawyer and diplomat. Early life Delafield was born in New York City on August 22, 1790. He was the second oldest of the surviving sons and four daughters born to ...

, who purchased in 1829, and named it after his family's estate in Ireland. The Delafield family laid out lots in 1909 – the year after the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

's Broadway–Seventh Avenue line was extended to

Van Cortlandt Park Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-lar ...

, intending to develop the land, which at first was called "Delafield Woods". Rather than use a grid plan, civil engineer Albert E. Wheeler, following the suggestions made by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

and James R. Croes in 1876, designed a street plan which followed the contours of the land and preserved as much of the wooded areas as possible. The first house was begun in 1910 and finished in 1911. In 1923, after the completion of 80 houses, the Fieldston Property Owner's Association was formed. Buyers were provided with a list of approved architects, and

historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

architectural styles – the various "revival" styles – were strongly encouraged. The Tudor revival style was popular in houses built in the 1920s; many of them were designed by local resident Dwight James Baum, who was responsible for 62 houses, while Julius Gregory is credited with forty-two. Many of the houses in the neighborhood were featured in design and architectural magazines, and the neighborhood had a reputation for having houses of quality design. In order to accommodate the project's plan to be a neighborhood of single-family dwellings, the New York City Planning Commission approved a special zoning district in 1938, which would not allow the construction of any multiple-family buildings. By the beginning of the 21st century, Fieldston was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in New York City. Fieldston is one of a few neighborhoods in New York City that is completely privately owned. The streets and common areas are owned by the Fieldston Property Owners' Association, Inc. which plows the streets, does sewer repair, cares for the trees – of which there are about 1000 – and runs a security patrol as well as other usually municipal functions, such as street repair. Annual dues are paid by the approximately 250 homeowners who make up the Association to maintain the area. Once a year, the streets are closed to non-residents to legally qualify the streets as privately owned; parking is restricted to residents and their guests.

Structures

Historic district

On January 10, 2006,Kirshan, Virginia et al
"Fieldston Historic District Designation Report"
.

(January 10, 2006) the

designated the majority of the Fieldston neighborhood"Fieldston Historic District" (map)

(January 10, 2006) as an historic district. The district contains 252 houses and related structures. Some of the more noted houses, with the year of completion, the architect's name and the architectural style in parentheses: * 274 College Road (1926–28, Julius Gregory,

Medieval Revival Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...

) ** Gregory designed 42 houses in the neighborhood * 4521 Delafield Road (1925, Dwight James Baum,

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

) ** received a gold medal from the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club fo ...

as the best two-story house built between 1926 and 1930 in the U.S. ** Baum designed 62 houses in the neighborhood * 4530 Fieldston Road (1928–29, Gregory,

* 4599 Fieldston Road at West 246th Street (1928–29, Baum,

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonia ...

* 4600 Fieldston Road at West 246th Street (1926–27, Baum,

Norman Revival Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

) * 4730 Fieldston Road (1929–30, Gregory,

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...

) * 5001 Goodridge Avenue (1916, Baum, Colonial Revival) ** Baum's own residence * 5020 Goodridge Avenue (1914–15, Harrie T. Lindeberg, Tudor Revival ** the residence of Mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...

from 1945 until his death in 1947; later owned and occupied by author

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gran ...

from 1961 to 1971 * 4538 Greystone Avenue (c.1924, attributed to R.C. Hunter) ** features "a turreted tower and a steeply pitched slate-covered roof with a deliberate sag", making it "one of the most charming" in the neighborhood * 4600 Livingston Avenue near West 246th Street (1922–24, Clarence S. Stein, Colonial Revival) * 351 West 245th Street (1924–25, W. Stanwood Phillips, Colonial Revival) ** Phillips designed 14 houses in the neighborhood * 355 West 246th Street (1911–12, Mann & MacNeille, Tudor Revival) ** one of the first houses commissioned by the Delafield estate; Mann & MacNeille designed 8 houses in Fieldston * 331 West 250th Street at Fieldston Road (1918–19, Baum, Dutch Colonial Revival) * 4401–4403 Waldo Avenue (1913, C. Van Valkenberg; additions: 1919 & 1927, Baum; Tudor Revival) ** originally the office of the Delafield Estate, then of Albert E. Wheeler, the civil engineer who laid out Fieldston; now a private home * 4405 Waldo Avenue (1928, Baum, Medieval Revival) ** originally the residence of Albert E. Wheeler * C. E. Chambers House – 4670 Waldo Avenue between College Road and Livingston Avenue (c.1917, Gregory) ** reminiscent of an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Outside the historic district

* Hadley House – 5122 Post Road (center: 18th century; north wing: 2nd quarter, 19th century; south wing and remodeling by Baum, 1915–1916); a

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

** the center section is one of the oldest residences in the Bronx * Christ Church – 5030 Henry Hudson Parkway East at West 252nd Street (1865–66,

Richard M. Upjohn Richard Michell Upjohn, FAIA, (March 7, 1828 – March 3, 1903) was an American architect, co-founder and president of the American Institute of Architects. Early life and career Upjohn was born on March 7, 1828 in Shaftesbury, Dorsetshire, E ...

); a

** "Small, picturesque romantic Victorian

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church" * Riverdale Presbyterian Church and manse (The Duff House) – 4763 Henry Hudson Parkway at West 249th Street (1863–64,

James Renwick, Jr. James Renwick Jr. (born November 11, 1818, Bloomingdale, in Upper Manhattan, New York City – June 23, 1895, New York City) was an American architect in the 19th century. ''The Encyclopedia of American Architecture'' calls him "one of the mos ...

Late Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

); a

and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

* Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale – 475 West 250th Street at Henry Hudson Parkway (1962, Percival Goodman) ** "Strong forms in concrete and dark red brick make this ... an unneighborly character" *

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , countr ...

– 231 West 246th Street at Tibbett Avenue, including: ** Pforzheimer Hall (1956,

Victor Christ-Janer Victor F. Christ-Janer (March 27, 1915 – March 24, 2008) was an American architect who along with the world-renowned Harvard Five helped define the Modernist architectural movement in New Canaan, Connecticut. He was also an educator, artist, an ...

) ** Prettyman Gymnasium (1968, Charles E. Hughes III) ** Gratwick Science Hall Addition (1975, Frost Assoc.) ** Middle School and Arts/Dining Building (1999, Gruzen Samton) * Ethical Culture Fieldston School – 3901 Fieldston Drive at Manhattan College Parkway ** Middle School and Athletic Building (2007,

Cooper, Robertson & Partners Cooper Robertson is an international architecture and urban design firm, headquartered in New York City, founded by Alex Cooper and Jaquelin T. Robertson. History Cooper Robertson was founded in 1979 by Alex Cooper under the name Alexander Co ...

) *

– 4513 Manhattan College Parkway, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...

college

References

Notes

External links

* {{Bronx, state=collapsed Neighborhoods in the Bronx Riverdale, Bronx Historic districts in the Bronx New York City designated historic districts New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx