In 1872, according to Trow's New York City Directory,[4] Charles H Lyons, who lived on site, made butter, consistent with the first lower class brownstones built in the 1870s by Effingham B. Sutton.[5]
By 1879 the street grid had been implemented and two townhouses had been built, on 444 E 58th Street and on 446 E 58th Street. Close by Riverview Garden had also been erected.[6]
In 1886, according to the New York City directory,[7] a laces maker, Jacob Schwab, lived at 444 E 58th St (brownstone).
The 1891 map shows no changes.[8] On February 27, 1893, 444 East 58th was sold for $9,525, while its assessment was $6,000.[9] On June 15, 1893, it was sold again, now for $10,250, with an assessment of $6,500).
Architecture
444 East 58th Street was designed by George F. Pelham in the Beaux-Arts style and was built by Abraham Levy & Isaac Haft in 1901 for $55,000,[1] originally as a middle-class walk-up rental building. In 1956, the building was upgraded with an elevator.[2]
Form
The building has 6 floors, with 2 apartments per floor, and 2 basement units with private access to the backyard. The common laundry room is located on the ground floor, in between the two units. The basement units are therefore elongated, covering the building from front to back.[10] The first floor was originally devised to hold two commercial establishments on the front,[11] so apartments have a different layout than apartments on floors 2 to 6.[12][13] A central air shaft exists to allow for a corridor window and a walking closet window for apartments B and C.[14][15]
Façade
The building's façade exemplifies the Beaux-Arts style through a tripartite composition consisting of a rusticated base, a repetitive brickwork shaft, and a crowning top story with round-arched windows and a prominent projecting cornice. The overall design emphasizes symmetry, with five evenly spaced bays and a central axis reinforced by the entrance and stacked fire escapes. The hierarchy of window openings progresses from rectilinear lower and middle floors with enriched lintels to the upper level's round arches framed by archivolts and keystones.
444 East 58th St Façade, example of angry mascaron444 East 58th St Façade, example of Corinthian columns444 East 58th St Façade, example of lunette with dragons444 East 58th St Façade portion444 East 58th St Façade, example of mascaron in a King motiff444 East 58th St Façade, example of mascaron depicting a lady
Ornamentation is integral to the composition. The cornice features paired modillions and carved soffit panels, creating a pronounced shadow line. The arched openings are accentuated with archivolts and keystones, often carved as mascarons or other sculpted heads. Additional decoration includes cartouches, leafy grotesques, and high-relief panels of swags, garlands, and wreaths. The entrance is framed by paired columns with simplified classical capitals supporting an entablature with a decorated frieze, underscoring the ceremonial character of the portal. Stringcourses and belt courses further organize the elevation, visually tying the stories together.
The façade materials consist of a buff or grey brick field contrasted with limestone, cast stone, or terra-cotta trim for lintels, arches, keystones, and sculptural reliefs. This combination of restrained wall surfaces with exuberant ornament is characteristic of Beaux-Arts architecture in New York at the turn of the twentieth century.
History
Development
On May 12, 1899, Elenor Koffman sold 444 East 58th Street to John C Mayforth.[16]
On Feb 19th 1901, 446 East 58th Street went into an auction,[17] and was acquired by Joseph B Bloomingdale.
On March 8, 1901, 444 East 58th street was sold by John C Mayforth to Isaac Haft and Abraham Levy, while 446 East 58th street was sold by Joseph B Bloomingdale to Isaac Haft.[18] With that, Abraham Levy & Isaac Haft were able to consolidate ownership of both properties, and could build the current 444-446 East 58th Street (as called originally), architected by George F. Pelham.
444 East 58th Street was built in 1901 for $55,000, originally as a middle-class walk-up rental building, as reported in Engineering News.[19]
On January 15, 1903, Isaac Haft and wife sold their part of the building to Abraham Levy for $46,500.[20]
On March 2, 1904, Abraham Levy and the World Realty Company sold 444 and 446 East Fifty-eighth Street to the Schlessinger brothers.[21]
Schlessinger Brothers
Hyman Schlessinger and his brother kept the builing from Marh 5th 1904, until they sold it to Gustav Lewkowitz and Herman Fuld on May 15, 1906.[22]
Gustav Lewkowitz and Herman Fuld
Gustav Lewkowitz and Herman Fuld purchased 444 East 58th Street on May 16, 1906, and owned it for 22 years until September 1928,[23] when the property was sold to Lawrence T. Berliner.
Lawrence Berliner
Berliner purchased the property for investment, expecting to tear it down and create a bigger, more modern building. But in December 1928, he sold it to Nicholas Zurla.
The Nicholas Zurla years
From December 1928 until 1982, Nicholas Zurla's companies (or companies belonging to his heirs, as he died in 1978), controlled the building, still as a rental building.
Rental prices over the years, pre elevators:
Nov 4th 1929: $65-$70 for a 2-bedroom/1-bath apartment.[24]
In 1956, a major improvement was performed: the addition of an elevator.[2]
Rental prices over the years, post elevators:
On December 4, 1955, the newspaper ad for an apartment in the building read "58 St 444 E Off Sutton Place, Apartment #10, 4 rooms, modern, 2 floor walk-up, professional & living only. $165/month. After elevator installation, $175/ month".[27]
On May 15, 1966, and apartment listed for $242 as rent controlled, Eat-in Kitchen, French windows, Air Conditioner, sublet 1.5 years.[28]
On Dec 20th 1970 an apartment on the building was listed to rent for $305 as a “Superior older building off Sutton Place with elevator. Tastefully furnished 2 bedroom apartments".[29]
On Dec 3rd 1972 an apartment was listed with a modern kitchen, A/C, newly decorated for $350.[30]
On September 7, 1984, the 444 58th Street became a cooperative, known as 444-446 E 58TH OWNERS CP.[32]
Sale of air rights
On July 30, 2015, Sutton 58 purchased the air rights of 444 East 58th Street for $16,912,626, which allowed the cooperative to be debt-free.[33][34][35]
Notable tenants
Crockett Johnson, an American cartoonist, children's book illustrator, and writer, between his birth in 1906 and his sister's birth in 1910.[36]
Joy Montgomery Higgins, an American suffragist, social worker, writer, and cultural advocate who championed women's rights, community welfare, and the arts.[37][38]
Esti Freud, an Austrian-American speech therapist (logopedist / speech-language pathologist) and Sigmund Freud's daughter-in-law, between 1943,[39] through 1948[40] and until at least 1960.[41]
Carl A Berntsen Jr, an American physician, pathologist, and medical historian, in 1948.[42]
Peter Turgeon, an American stage, film, and television actor, as well as a stage manager. He worked steadily from the 1940s through the 1980s and became a familiar supporting player on Broadway and in Hollywood. In 1957.[46]
Detlev F. Vagts, a leading American scholar of international law, known for his long career at Harvard Law School and his contributions to the study of international economic and business law, in 1958.[47]
Nicolai Abracheff an abstract painter and director of the Abracheff School of Art, in 1978.[48]
Luther Greene, an American theatrical producer, particularly active in New York during the mid-20th century, in 1985.[49]
↑ "Sutton Place Park". Official Website of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
↑ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(cartographic) Plate 19:, (1879)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
↑ "IN THE REAL ESTATE FIELD: Many Upper West Side Flats Change Hands -- Big Deal on Upper Eighth Avenue -- Court Leases New Quarters -- Gilsey House Leased for Eight Years". The New York Times. 2 March 1904. ProQuest96434736.
↑ "Several Suites Leased In Midtoivn Buildings: Joy M. Higgens Will Occupy Unit in East 58th Street". New York Herald Tribune. 31 March 1934. ProQuest1243070788.
↑ "Apartment Leasing Brisk In Midtown Buildings: Miss Joy M. Higgens to Occupy East 58th Street Suite". New York Herald. 5 April 1934. ProQuest1114852497.
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