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Park Terrace

William H. Hurst House

Photo detail of a window on the old William Hurst house in Inwood, New York.

530 West 215th Street at Park Terrace East Many people, some who’ve lived in the neighborhood for years, often ask me, “What’s the deal with the beautiful bricked up building next door to the Northeast Academy School?” Well, here’s the deal: If the  architecture looks institutional in style,  it should.  Built by architect James O’Connor [...]

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Inwood’s Mount Olympus: The Seaman Mansion in 1869

Old Seaman Mansion in Inwood New York City

A while back I wrote a history of the old Seaman mansion that once stood on the grounds currently occupied by Park Terrace Gardens. Today the only trace of the Seaman estate is the crumbling marble arch located down the hill on Broadway. The following description from 1869 finds the home occupied by its original [...]

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215th Street Stairs

215th Street stairs in Inwood, New York City

Generations of Inwood residents have trudged up and down the familiar stairs which connect Broadway with Park Terrace East. The steps themselves have stood frozen in time as the surrounding neighborhood reached maturity. The stairs are a familiar sight to anyone who has ever passed through Inwood. The ancient passageway was built in an era [...]

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The Old Seaman Mansion

Seaman Mansion, Inwood, New York City

For nearly a century, the huge Seaman-Drake estate, constructed in 1855 by John T.  Seaman, stood on the grounds now occupied by Park Terrace Gardens. Famous for its fanciful gate at the bottom of the hill, actually a scale model of the Arc de Triomphe, the home quickly earned the nickname “Seaman’s Folly.” The Seamans [...]

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Park Terrace Gardens

Cupolas of Seaman Mansion, now the site of Park Terrace Gardens in Inwood, New York

Life on the top of the hill has distinct advantages for the residents of Park Terrace Gardens. Built in 1940, the five-building complex is called the “Gardens” for a reason; the entire center of the block is a lovingly landscaped private garden, with much of the planting done by a team of resident volunteers. This [...]

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Seaman-Drake Arch

Seaman Drake Arch photograph from 1910. Located in Inwood, New York.

Tucked away between two buildings on the West side of Broadway near 215th Street is one of the few surviving relics of a once fabulously wealthy neighborhood whose residents included captains of industry.  Today a crumbling ruin, the arch, as evidenced in the below photo, was once a stunning sight to behold; even from afar. [...]

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