NYC Audobon Park 'then & now' photos.

[MrBern]

another nice slide show overlapping 1898 photos of West 158th Street row houses with a contemporary photo.
Oddly, these 19th centruy houses have been excluded from historic district designation

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/16/realestate/18scapes_slide.html

Full story, with history of the owners & lodgers!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/realestate/19scapes.html

Around 1840, the naturalist John James Audubon (1785-1851) built a house at 155th and Riverside Drive, and the area gradually filled up with villas, becoming known as Audubon Park. Half a century later, row house construction arrived as the architect John P. Leo and the dry-goods merchant John Lilliendahl built 626-632 and 634-648 West 158th Street, backing up on what was left of Audubon Park.

 

[MrBern]

the surviving oriels

BTW, an ORIEL is a pleasant synonym for a bay window...