Claremont Stables (Now Claremont Riding Academy)

History and architecture

Built in 1892, the Claremont Stables was designed in the then popular Romanesque Revival style by Frank A. Rooke. Now the oldest functioning commercial stable in Manhattan,' it was constructed as a livery stable containing space for horse stalls and carriage storage. There horses and carriages could be had for hire, and horses could be boarded for a fixed rate. Claremont is a rare survivor of a once common building type, and its rarity is enhanced because virtually all other stables that survive in Manhattan have been converted to other uses or stand vacant.

Rooke's Romanesque Revival style design is distinguished by such characteristics as five arched bays at the ground story with the large central bay for horse traffic, arched window openings at the upper stories, and bands of fretwork enccpassing the word "Claremont" which surmounts the whole. The orderly arrangement of the facade, symmetrical and dignified in appearance, subtly expresses the functions within, while relating this utilitarian structure to the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Constructed at a time when horses still provided the primary means of transportation and only six years prior to the first automobile appearing on Manhattan's streets, the Claremont Stables has withstood the domination of motor vehicle transportation and potential demolition through adaptation as a riding academy in 1927, providing facilities for boarding and renting horses and recreation in nearby Central Park.