434 East 136th Street
Mott Haven | built 1895
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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.
- 1895
Adolph Balschun Jr. designs No. 434 in Bertine's last row
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The four Renaissance Revival houses at 434 to 440 East 136th Street were Edward Bertine's third and final row on the block, designed in 1895 by Adolph Balschun Jr., whose office was around the corner on East 135th Street. City directories listed an Adolph Balschun as a carpenter in 1895 and as a builder the next year. He did not appear as an architect until 1897.
“Bertine's third and final row in the historic district comprises the four Renaissance Revival style houses at 434 to 440 East 136th Street, designed in 1895…”
- 1900
Builder Ernest Hammer raises eight children at No. 434 and rents out a flat
In 1900 the builder Ernest Hammer lived at 434 East 136th Street with his wife, seven sons, a daughter and a German servant. As the house was planned for two families, the second apartment was rented to a day laborer, Abraham Bross, and his wife. Next door at No. 436, real estate agent Alonzo Carr likewise shared his house with a second household, a post office clerk and his wife.
“In 1900, No. 434 was home to builder Ernest Hammer and his wife, their seven sons, one daughter, and a German servant…”
- 1994
No. 434 keeps its old doors and a transom marked 688
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No. 434 shares a wide stoop with No. 436 and is faced in tawny iron-spot Roman brick with limestone trim; by 1994 it was the one house in its row whose brick had been cleaned. It was also the only one keeping its original paired wood-and-glass doors. Its stained-glass transom still showed the house's earlier address number, 688. The house also kept its original wrought-iron areaway railing.
Nearby
- 436 East 136th Street2 entries
- 432 East 136th Street3 entries
- 430 East 136th Street3 entries
- 438 East 136th Street3 entries
- 428 East 136th Street3 entries
- 440 East 136th Street2 entries