Fonthill Castle and the Administration Building of the College of Mount St. Vincent | |
Location | W. 261st St. and Riverdale Ave., New York, New York |
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Coordinates | 40°54′49″N73°54′34″W / 40.91361°N 73.90944°W Coordinates: 40°54′49″N73°54′34″W / 40.91361°N 73.90944°W |
Area | 11 acres (4.5 ha) |
Built | Fonthill: 1852 [1] Administration bldg.: 1859 |
Architect | Fonthill: Thomas L. Smith Admin.: Engelbert, Henry; Wenz, E. |
Architectural style | Fonthill: Gothic Revival Admin.: Early Romanesque revival |
NRHP reference No. | 80002585 [2] |
NYCL No. | 0133 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | July 11, 1980 |
Designated NYCL | March 15, 1966 |
Fonthill Castle and the Administration Building of the College of Mount St. Vincent are two historic buildings located at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in The Bronx, New York, New York.
Fonthill Castle was built in 1852 as the country estate of Shakespearean actor Edwin Forrest and his wife, the actress Catherine Norton Sinclair. According to Lawrence Barrett, the plans were formed by Mrs. Forrest and approved by her husband. [3] Steven E. Smith noted that in laying the cornerstone, Forrest set into it a few coins and a volume of Shakespeare. [4] The castle was located on the slopes above the Hudson River as the Hudson River Railroad planned to lay its tracks along the river. The name Fonthill was derived from William Beckford's Gothic Fonthill Abbey in England. [5]
Forrest later sold the property to the Sisters of Charity of New York who relocated the Academy of Mount Saint Vincent from McGowan's Pass when the City of New York was developing Central Park. The castle has served as a convent, chapel, museum, chaplain's residence, and the college library. It later came to house the admissions office of the College of Mount Saint Vincent. [5]
Fonthill is a Gothic Revival style building consisting of a cluster of six octagonal towers at varying heights, built of hammered grey stone. Five of the towers radiate from a three-story central tower. A sketch of Fonthill's octagons among the papers of Alexander Jackson Davis suggests that he had some part in its design, [1] although it has also been attributed to Thomas C. Smith. [5] In 1942, the castle became the Elizabeth Seton Library and, in 1969, the college admissions office. [6]
The Administration Building was built between 1857 and 1859 in the Early Romanesque revival style. The initial structure of the administration building was designed built by Henry Engelbert, an architect active in NYC from 1852–1879. [7] The building was expanded in 1865, 1883, 1906–1908, and in 1951. The original building is a five-story red brick building on a fieldstone base. It features a six-story square tower topped by a copper lantern and spire. The tower is flanked by five story gabled sections. [6] At the base of the tower, a double stairway rises from a porte cochere to the level of the veranda, leading to the entrance. [1]
In 1910 the Academy of Mount St. Vincent became the College of Mount Saint Vincent. The original academy building now serves as the Administration building of the college, and the additions house related administrative and academic functions. The 1951 wing was added to the northern end of the complex and serves as the Convent of Mount St. Vincent. [7]
They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [2]
Fonthill or Font Hill may refer to:
The College of Mount Saint Vincent (CMSV) is a private Catholic college in New York City. It was founded in 1847 by the Sisters of Charity of New York.
Administration Building may refer to:
The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer is a Roman Catholic parish in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1918 by the Dominicans; the attached priory serves as the headquarters of the Eastern United States Province of the order. Its architecture has some unusual features: above the front entrance is one of the few statues of the Crucifixion on the exterior of an American Catholic church; and inside, the Stations of the Cross depict Christ with oil paintings instead of statuary or carvings. It has two Schantz pipe organs. The church building, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street in the Lenox Hill section of the Upper East Side, has been called "one of New York's greatest architectural adornments."
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Henry Engelbert (1826–1901) was a German-American architect. He was best known for buildings in the French Second Empire style, which emphasized elaborate mansard roofs with dormers. New York's Grand Hotel on Broadway is the most noteworthy extant example of Engelbert's work in this style. Many of his commissions were Lutheran or Roman Catholic churches.
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The Church of St. Simon Stock – St. Joseph is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 2191 Valentine Avenue, Bronx, New York City. It was established in 1919 and has been continuously staffed by the Carmelite Fathers since its founding.
Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church Complex is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 for its architectural significance.
Fonthill Castle may refer to:
Main Building is the central administration building of St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and formerly also of St. Edward's High School. First completed in 1888 and rebuilt after a fire in 1903, Main Building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973, along with adjacent Holy Cross Hall.