Schermerhorn Building

The Schermerhorn Building, standing at the corner of Lafayette and Great Jones Streets, represents a pivotal moment when industrial utility met high-art ambition. Built in eighteen eighty-eight, this six-story structure replaced the former mansion of the prominent Schermerhorn family. Its owner, William Colford Schermerhorn, commissioned architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh to design a commercial space that defied the era's tendency to leave factories devoid of artistic merit. Hardenbergh, who would later gain fame for designing the Plaza Hotel and the Dakota Apartments, utilized a blend of Romanesque Revival style, incorporating dark brown brick and ornate sandstone to create a facade that feels simultaneously heavy and rhythmic.