121 Broadway
Address: 126 Broadway
Old Address: 121 Broadway
Other names: O'Connell Cottage (1928) DIS; Jackson's Dry Cleaning, 1948
Year built:
The following was adapted from an article by Bruce Harvey published in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, May 13, 1995.
The house at 121 Broadway is one of the more unusually shaped in the village. To look at it from the sidewalk, it seems normal enough: A modest three-story brick pile, with nothing too exceptional in its design. However, when observed from across the street and from an angle, the building seems a bit off. And it is: while the facade is flush with the street, the sides form oblique angles.
The building was erected in the early 1920s, apparently as an apartment house. Sometime earlier in the century, the lot on which this building sits likely was sliced off from an adjoining one and sold separately. The new lot angled back from the street, but the real problem for the developer was that it was only 24 feet wide. In such a narrow space, the only building that could run straight back from the street would be one-room deep, and a shallow room at that. Such a design would not have been financially feasible to construct. The only choice was to follow the property lines and fill the lot.
The first floor was given a new front to bring the building closer to the street, one source has said. It has a series of arcades across the front with a nicely framed central door, resembling designs from the late-18th century. This adds a nice touch of elegance to an otherwise unexceptional facade. Two other buildings in town- on Bloomingdale and Lake Flower avenues - have a similar feature.
Comments
2010-02-17 00:06:45 downstairs also used to be a laundry mat —67.249.176.241
