New York City has many beautiful historic townhouses. We are all familiar with the iconic NYC Brownstones, but there are also many beautiful townhouses with beautiful Limestone facades. Fortunately, limestone is not only found on historic buildings.
Limestone has had a comeback in NYC architecture, both in new buildings and in renovations of existing ones, due to its strong historic character and its status as a symbol of elegance for luxury homes and multifamily buildings. It is usually found on higher-end developments due to its high cost and is used for its opulent aesthetic and classic context.
I am Jorge Fontan, an architect in New York and the owner of Fontan Architecture, a Manhattan-based architecture and design firm. At our office, we work on various project types, including all forms of residential renovations, new builds, and, of course, townhouse renovations. We have a unique project here with a new limestone facade for a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This project is a full gut renovation and enlargement of an existing townhouse with a new facade.
New Limestone Facade on an Upper East Side Townhouse
This home is in a Landmark District, but the existing facade was not of historic or any other great architectural value. We have proposed a new Limestone facade, as shown in the rendering below. We designed this building as a reference to historic limestone townhouses, without being a direct copy of them. We have some subtle modernized features. We have minimal articulation and detail in the facade to make it more consistent with modern architecture and avoid an excessive, overdone design. The face also incorporates bronze metal windows, doors, and paneling. Bronze is a great complementary material to limestone.
UES Townhouse New Limestone Facade Design
Building a New Townhouse Facade in NYC
When designing a building facade, one must begin with a choice: do you want the building to stand out, or blend into the current architectural fabric? In some cases, you can achieve both. We designed this townhouse facade to do just that. We are using classic materials and some architectural features of historic Upper East Side limestone townhouses, but with modifications that set it apart from the typical home. This house has enough individual character and contextual reference to blend in seamlessly while having a unique identity.
Thank You for Reading Our Article on this Limestone Townhouse Facade Design in NYC.
I hope this was helpful. If you want to speak with an architect about a potential project, you can contact us at Fontan Architecture directly.
Contact Fontan Architecture
This post was written by Jorge Fontan AIA a Registered Architect and owner of New York City architecture firm Fontan Architecture. Jorge Fontan has earned 3 degrees in the study of architecture including two degrees from the City University of New York and a Masters Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. Jorge has a background in construction and has been practicing architecture for 20 years where he has designed renovations and new developments of various building types.
