280 Alexander Avenue

Mott Haven | built 1865

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1865
No. 280 rises in the Bronx's earliest row and comes to belong to land developer Edward Willis
No. 280 is one of ten three-story brick houses built from 1863 to 1865 on the east side of Alexander Avenue. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's report records that this house belonged to Edward Willis, whom it describes as a major developer of land in the Bronx. The row was laid out as a single uniform block front in what was then mostly countryside.
“No. 280, is known to have belonged to Edward Willis, a major developer of Bronx lands…”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1969
The landmarks report names No. 280 the model house for its 1860s row, awning and blinds included
In its 1969 report, the Landmarks Preservation Commission named No. 280 the prototype for the row of ten houses between 139th and 140th Streets, noting that it kept every original detail, even an awning and outside window blinds. Its segmental-arched windows carry haunched lintels with small cornices, and at the entrance the lintel's cornice projects forward on ornamented console brackets.
“The prototype for these houses is at No. 280. This house retains all of its original detail, including an awning and exterior window blinds.”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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