Jonathan W. Allen Stable

History and architecture

This small structure was built as a private stable for Jonathan W. Allen in 1871 by Charles Hadden, a builder who was active in New York at the time. Allen was a broker who lived on East 42nd Street and wanted a stable convenient to his home. This unusual, two-story building with its mansard roof, large dormers, and delicate iron cresting is a rare survivor from that period of New York's history when horses were a vital part of everyday life and their care and housing were an integral part of the development of the city.

This small stable on East 40th Street was constructed for Jonathan W. Allen, a broker living at 18 East 42nd Street, east of Fifth Avenue. Allen had purchased this eighteen-foot-wide lot on February 22, 1871 and filed the application to build in March7. At the time, the area of 40th Street, east of Lexington Avenue, was fully developed with small brick houses as well as factories, stables, and breweries. This location was convenient to Allen's residence on 42nd Street, and practical since there were already three other stables on the street.

Allen chose Charles E. Hadden to design his new stable. A builder rather than an architect, Hadden maintained an office on West Broadway (then known as Laurens Street) and worked on buildings in various parts of New York. Those still extant include store and loft buildings in what are now the Tribeca Bast Historic District and the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, as well as residential structures in Greenwich Village (outside the boundaries of the historic district). The dates associated with these buildings indicate that Hadden was active in construction in Manhattan from the 1860s through the 1890s.

In an arrangement typical for private stables at the time, the building was designed with room for Allen's carriage and horses on the ground floor and living space for the groom on the second floor. On the exterior, Hadden used a variety of forms from styles popular at the time. The mansard roof with its bold, pedimented dormers is perhaps the most obvious feature of die facade. Brought to the United States from France where it was favored during the time of Louis Napoleon, the mansard roof, which suggested the most modern and up-to-date style of the 1860s and early 1870s, was added to almost any kind of building.

The Second Empire style, as buildings with this type of roof were called, became extremely popular in New York. Other details seen on this building, including the incised brick panels to the outside of the smaller doors, those above the three openings, and the incised pilasters flanking the dormer windows suggest the neo-Grec style of building, also seen on many New York buildings during the 1870s. The delicate iron cresting which crowns the roof adds a further picturesque element to the facade, a quality highly prized on buildings of the period. The boldly contrasting stonework on the narrow pilasters' of the ground story and on the outlined panel above it indicate the vernacular origin of this building.