271 North Avenue (also known as the Schiff Building, Pershing Square, the Kaufman or K Building) is a 13-story

art-deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...

office tower located in the downtown section of

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Overview

The brick, limestone and terra-cotta structure was designed by the architectural firm

Schwartz & Gross Schwartz & Gross was a New York City architectural firm active from at least 1901 to 1963,cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, representing the capital. The lower floors include commercial storefronts on the first story with a round-arched arcade on the second and third. The upper facade is designed with flat topped windows with minor detailing in the brick surrounds. In 1936 an additional floor was added to the building. The cornice is of terra cotta and includes

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s and

dentils A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

. This was the tallest building in Westchester County when it was built in the 1920s. It was originally called the "Pershing Square Building", derived from its location on Pershing Square at the intersection of North Avenue and Huguenot Street. The building is located on the site of the former "Besley's Tavern", a Revolutionary War-era establishment where town meetings were held in 1773–1776.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

had once lodged at the tavern on a trip through New Rochelle. The building was developed, built and owned by Harry Schiff & Son, prominent New York developers who erected and owned numerous buildings in New Rochelle and New York City. It was later renamed "Kaufman" by a later landlord, the owner of Kaufman Studios in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

. Paul Terry established his animation company

Terrytoons Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...

here in 1934. The firm created such well known characters as

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''Th ...

and

Heckle & Jeckle Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, originally produced at his own Terrytoons animation studio and released through 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical anthropomorphic yello ...

, in the building until 1949 when it relocated to a nearby downtown location.The "K" Building
/ref> WVOX-AM 1460 maintained studios and offices here for decades.

References

External links

Emporis.com - 271 North Avenue building details
{{New Rochelle, New York Office buildings completed in 1930 Buildings and structures in New Rochelle, New York Skyscrapers in New York (state) Art Deco architecture in New York (state) Skyscraper office buildings in New York (state)