Atherton Villa

5247 Independence Avenue | Riverdale | built 1853

Open on the map3 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. 1853

    Thomas S. Wall designs a Gothic Revival villa for Riverdale developer Henry L. Atherton

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    This two-and-a-half-story villa, built in 1853 as the house of the Henry L. Atherton estate, was designed by Thomas S. Wall. As shown in A. A. Turner's 1860 book Villas on the Hudson, it had steep gabled slate roofs with bargeboards and finials, a central hall plan and porches on three sides. In 1886 architect Isaac Van Steenburgh added a two-story polygonal wing on the north side, and later owners extended the rear in 1910 and 1914.

    “Built in 1853 and designed by Thomas S. Wall, this is the house of the Henry L. Atherton Estate.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1855

    Magazine publisher William Young buys the Atherton villa

    William Young owned the Atherton estate and its villa from 1855 to 1861. He was the editor and publisher of The Albion, a literary weekly in New York that was founded in 1822, ran until 1875 and was devoted mainly to reprinting articles from English journals. Young was also a member of the Century Club.

    “William Young was an editor and publisher of a literary magazine, The Albion…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1907

    Pennsylvania tanner Loring R. Gale moves to New York and buys the Atherton estate

    Loring R. Gale, who with his father William had founded a tannery in Pike Mills, Pennsylvania, in 1881-82 (the town was soon renamed Galeton), moved to New York with his wife Elizabeth in 1907 and bought this estate. The property later passed to their daughter Lucille, who went on to marry Sanford Knapp.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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