George Gershwin House

316 West 103rd Street | Upper West Side | built 1899

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1899

    Lawyer Mark Ash builds a Beaux-Arts house on West 103rd Street

    Attorney Mark Ash, co-founder of the law firm Alexander & Ash, builds 316 West 103rd Street in 1898 and 1899. Architect Henri Fouchaux designs the 25-foot-wide limestone facade in a Beaux-Arts and Renaissance Revival style with intricate carved detail. Ash's brother William, also a lawyer at the firm, lives there until his death in 1915.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1925

    George Gershwin buys a house on West 103rd Street for his family

    Gershwin bought 316 West 103rd Street in 1925, at 28, and it became home to him, his brother Ira and their extended family; George took the top floor as his studio, office and living space. Works the brothers finished during their years here include Oh, Kay!, Funny Face, which opened on November 22, 1927, with Fred Astaire, and An American in Paris. A historical marker was placed on the house in 1982.

    Source: theclio.com

  3. 1925

    The Gershwin family reorganizes the West 103rd Street house by floor

    After George Gershwin buys 316 West 103rd Street in 1925, the family divides it by floor. Parents Rose and Morris take the parlor floor, siblings Arthur and Frances the third, and Ira the fourth, where his bride Leonore joins him a year later. George takes the top floor as living quarters and studio, with two grand pianos, until he and Ira move to Riverside Drive penthouses in 1927.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1940

    The FBI arrests a pro-Nazi resident of the former Gershwin house

    The Gershwins sell the house in 1931, and the next owner resells it that December for alteration into small suites. In 1940, years after the composer's family has moved on, FBI agents arrest a waiter living at 316 West 103rd Street as part of a pro-Nazi espionage ring.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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