Location: 1 Plaza Place, Block: 5506, Lot: 1. Building Bin 2103125.
Status: Never landmarked or heard.
Description from the Bronx Survey: An outstanding example of the large farmhouses built throughout the Bronx during the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, the imposing residence located just west of the Throg’s Neck Bridge in Silver Beach is one of the finest buildings of its type in the city. The house is currently owned and used for offices by the Silver Beach Gardens, a pleasant community of cottages that surrounds the mansion.
Although no specific documentation could be found, the building’s Federal style details suggest a construction date circa 1800. The house was erected by Abijah Hammond, a wealthy trader and veteran of the American Revolution who moved to New York from Massachusetts after the war. At the end of the nineteenth century the house was purchased by Frederick C. Havemeyer, the sugar magnate whose family occupied the structure until 1914.
Simple massing and graceful proportions are the qualities that enable the former Hammond residence to* make such an impressive architectural statement. Two stories high with attic and basement, the peaked-roof dwelling is constructed of stone covered with lime stucco. Interesting details include brownstone lintels with projecting keystones and a beautifully handled stone entry with delicate pilasters and sidelights.
The cornice line is defined by a simple row of dentils and is broken by a crowing pediment that boasts a handsome lunette. Halflunettes at the gable ends light the attic and further enhance the building. The two small extensions on either side of the house are later, possibly late-nineteenth century additions, and the front entry porch also is not original. Neither alteration, however, significantly mars the structured architectural integrity, and the house remains today a pleasing example of the Federal style and an adornment to the neighborhood.
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