Convent Avenue derives its name from the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Originally located between 126th and 135th Streets, the convent was destroyed in a fire in 1888. The current street opened to local traffic in 1884. Eight years later, it was extended to 152nd Street.

​

History

Designed by the Staten Island architect Frank L. Norton, No. 270 Convent Avenue is one of Hamilton Height's most prestigious addresses. Located on a large sloping site at the southwest corner of Convent Avenue and West 141st Street, diagonally across from St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the ten-story apartment building was completed in December 1916. Fifty-four apartments were planned, at a projected cost of $250,000. In 1938 W. B. M. Realty, the original owner, lost the building through foreclosure. It was probably at this time that the new owner, Augustine A. Austin, began leasing the apartments to African-American tenants. No. 270 Convent Avenue attracted many notable African-American residents, such as the writer and critic George S. Schuyler, and his daughter the musical prodigy Philippa Duke Schuyler, who moved in after 1944, the orchestra conductor Dean C. Dixon, and the jazz pianist Charles Luckeyth "Lucky" Roberts. Other residents have included M. Moran Weston, Reverend at St. Philip's Episcopal Church (a designated New York City Landmark) on West 134th Street, Clifford L. Alexander, Jr., associate counsel to President Lyndon Johnson, Lester Granger and Edward S. Lewis, leaders of the National Urban League, and Harold Stevens, the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of New York State.

 

Description

The H-shaped plan of No. 270 Convent Avenue, measuring 85 by 99 feet, like No. 260 Convent Avenue, features two wings flanking a narrow entry passage. The street facades, which both slope toward the corner of Convent Avenue and West 142nd Street, are divided into four distinct sections: a two-story limestone base with granite watertable, the third story clad in brick and wide horizontal limestone bands, floors four through eight clad in brick, and floors nine and ten, clad in brick with terra-cotta details. The facades are crowned by a projecting bracketed stone (possibly terra-cotta) cornice with finials above a denticulated molding. The walls of the entry passage are similarly decorated, except for the cornice, which is non-projecting.

 

The non-historic windows are double hung with limestone sills. Each of the Convent Avenue wings feature triple windows flanked by single windows on either side. On West 142nd Street are eight identical windows, except for the third window from the east, which is smaller, and the second and seventh window (except on the fourth floor) which are triple windows. Of particular note are the window surrounds that link the third and fourth story windows. The upper windows are crowned by a foliated cartouche set on a corbeled ledge, which is located above a triple window flanked by corbels that open onto a projecting curved sill with a central corbel that also functions as the keystone for the window below. Losses between each floor are visible; the fourth-story windows originally opened onto small stone ledges with iron railings. On Convent Avenue, the ledges were removed prior to 1974, and on West 142nd Street, sometime later

​

Other notable decorative features are the cartouches on the third story, including two on each Convent Avenue wing, and two on the West 142nd Street facade. The upper stories are emphasized through the use of tcrra-cotta ornament that spans the ninth and the tenth floors, including decorative panels and limestone surrounds with raised cable moldings. As on the fourth floor, all four balconies have been removed and losses are visible. The west facade is clad with tan brick. Each floor has four windows. A fire escape is attached in front of the center windows.

 

Significant References

Hamilton Heights Historic District Extension

Turner, Lana, ed., 270 Convent Avenue Book at Christmas, 1989.