Paul Robeson Residence (555 Edgecombe Avenue) | |
New York City Landmark No. 1862
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 (2014) | |
   | |
| Location | 555 Edgecombe Avenue, Manhattan, New York City[1] |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°50′02″N 73°56′20″W / 40.83389°N 73.93889°W |
| Built | 1914–16[2] |
| Architect | Schwartz & Gross[3] |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001248 |
| NYCL No. | 1862 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 8, 1976[4] |
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976[5] |
| Designated NYCL | June 15, 1993 |
555 Edgecombe Avenue is an apartment building at the southwest corner of Edgecombe Avenue and 160th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Built between 1914 and 1916, it was originally known as the Roger Morris Apartments after the retired British Army officer who built the nearby Morris–Jumel Mansion, and was designed by Schwartz & Gross, who specialized in apartment buildings. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark under the name Paul Robeson Residence in 1976, and it became a New York City designated landmark in 1993.
The building has an exterior of brick and terracotta. It has twelve floors, plus a basement and a cellar that are visible on Edgecombe Avenue. The double-height main entrance in the cellar, on Edgecombe Avenue, is set in an arched opening with ironwork at its peak. When 555 Edgecombe Avenue opened, there were 105 apartments with a combined 479 rooms. Over the years, the building has been rearranged, with 127 or 128 apartments as of 2022[update].
Albert J. Schwarzler bought the site on the western side of Edgecombe Avenue, between 159th and 160th Street, in 1908. The structure, which opened in January 1916, occupies the northern half of Schwarzler's site. Initially, the building catered to mostly white tenants, who all moved out between 1938 and 1940 as more black residents moved into the neighborhood. Numerous African American figures moved into the building, including actor/singer Paul Robeson and musician Count Basie, for whom part of the adjoining section of Edgecombe Avenue is named. After Schwarzler died in 1941, the building was sold in 1943, then again to Daddy Grace in 1947. The building was sold twice more in 1960, after Grace's death, and was owned by Matthew Golson and his family from 1960 until 2022.
- ^ Brockman, Jorg; Harris, Bill (2002). Five hundred buildings of New York. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-57912-856-2.
- ^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 524. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.
- ^ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "Paul Robeson Residence". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 18, 2007. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.