New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-30
HOTSE EVOLUTION.

House-bunters in Newly ork-and this in
cludes the entire population except millonaires
and beggars-must have been struck with the
singular structural changes in the Newly ork
house. TO appreciate them fully one must 60
back to old prints that represent the house OF
our forefathers, with broad front end per-
haps one story and an attic, or at the utmost
two stories Many of these two-story houses
still exist both above and below Canal-st., re-
calling even in their present dingness and dirt
the DAYS of modest and simple living, when
this was only good-sized seaport town. Some
of them can be seen almost as far north as
Washington Square, and in the region lying
between it and Hudson River. But as the town
increased in wealth and luxury the houses
added several cubits to their stature, and three
stories became the inhexible rule of fashion.
A two story house was regarded as low in moro
senses than one. 1t was not long, however,
before the turn of the three-story house came
to be looked down upon. A. She city spread
itself upward over the island the houses grew
to four stories, until now in all the more fash
ionable quarters three-story house is as hard
to find as it would have been once to find any
thing higher than two stories and an attic in
the lower portion of the residence section.
Four stories make the standard height for
a house at present, though even five stories are
not unknown. But does it follow that evolu-
ton has come to an end That section of the
city east of Central Park is practically filled
as far as Harlem River, and the western sec
ton is fast filling up. The pressure of pop
ulation has already forced houses up to a
height of four stories. What reason have we
TO suppose that when the whole island is COW
cred with dense mass Of humanity the in
creased pressure will not have the accustomed
consequences? Why may not our descendants
expect to see dwelling houses five, six, or even
seven stories in height especially when every
house has its elevator, as it undoubtedly will
in timer
But there is another interesting fact to be
noted, testifying elOquently to the struggle for
a foothold on this narrow strip of land. This
is, that while the New Ork house has been
growing in height it has been shrinking in
width. The first change is doubtless corol-
larry of the second. As land has become more
valuable houses have narrowed, and the room
that could not be given on level has been
secured by building up into the air, which costs
nothing. In the older portions Of the residence
section a front of twenty-five feet was the rule.
That still remains as the standard front for lots,
though in the newer parts of the city house
of that width is the exception. In these quar-
tiers house of twenty feet passes for a wide
house; nineteen and eighteen feet are con-
sidered comfortable widths and houses of six
teen feet are common. Indeed, one enter
prising landlord on the East Side has built
foat half do
exactly one-half the width Of the house of our
fathers. Any one who is anxious enough to
do so can trace these changes in the successive
strata Of the city's growth as easily as he can
discern the layers in an exposed ledge of rock.
The prices have not been omitted from this
process of evolution. From modest beginnings
they have shot up to a dizzy altitude. Lots
cost now as much as houses once did and the
prices of houses seem to increase in inverse pro-
portion to their width. The New orker Of
moderate income who goes house-hunting is
not at all disturbed by the thought of how he
shall pay his rent or the interest on his mort
gage. 1t is the thought Of how he shall supply
his family with food and clothing after he has
paid his rent or his interest that makes his pill
low more or less uneasy A house sixteen feet
wide, consisting of a number of small rooms
built around large and elaborate "foyer
staircase" prettiIy decorated and in an eligible
part of the city, need not cost more than q
small fortune every year. This is situation
which surely leaves no ground for complaint
and, if this evolution continues, NEWCOMERS
may look forward hopefully to the time when
the toll and saving of lifetime may be able
to purchase a respectable dwelling-house seven
feet wide and nine stories high.
A KICKING CORPORATION