History and architecture
This large red brick town house is an exceptionally fine example of an early 20th Century town house designed in the neo-Federal style. It is located at the southeast corner of Park Avenue and East 85th Street. It was designed by Ernest Flagg who, though trained at the French Ecole des Beaux Arts and best remembered as the architect of the Singer Building on lover Broadway, demonstrated the range of his versatility with this unusual example of his work.
This house was built as the residence of Levis Gouverneur Morris, a descendant of a family prominently associated with Colonial history. Morrises have served as governors and judges of New York and New Jersey. Wishing to preserve the house after the death of their father, Mr. Morris's daughters sold it to The New World Foundation expressing the wish that they would maintain it as a Landmark and use the building only for the advancement of world health, education and welfare, civil rights and race and inter-group relations.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.