Audubon Park Historic District

AP

765 Riverside Drive occupies the site of the John James Audubon house. The architect was Albert E. Schaeffer; his associate, Harry B. Rutkins.  The crenellated roof line and the piers that extend above it, lend this six-story building the aura of a castle.  As you can see, the façade is split into three sections with the outer two curved to fit gracefully into the path of Riverside Drive.  What you can not see is that this building sits on steel piles that run forty-five feet below the curb level and then another forty feet down to bedrock.  In November 1932, the New York Times reported that the foundation alone contained over 1,600 tons of steel.  The space below is now used as a series of garages, with Riverside Drive’s stone retaining wall still visible.  Cars now park where the Audubon houses once stood.

765 Riverside Drive