The William and Helen Ziegler House (also known as the William and Helen Martin Murphy Ziegler Jr. House), located at 116 East 55th Street between

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

and Lexington Avenues in the Midtown neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, was built in 1926–27 and was designed by

William Lawrence Bottomley William Lawrence Bottomley (February 24, 1883 – February 1, 1951), was an American architect in twentieth-century New York City; Middleburg, Virginia; and Richmond, Virginia. He was known for his Colonial Revival designs of residential buildings ...

in the Neo-Georgian syle, which Bottomley specialized in during the 1920s and 1930s. The 37.5-foot wide house's four-and-a-half story facade features Flemish blond brickwork with burnt leaders, splayed

lintels A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

and end

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

, along with paneled wood shutters and a grey

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof that is steeply pitched with set-in

dormer windows A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

and end chimneys.

William Ziegler Jr. William J. Ziegler Jr. (July 21, 1891 – March 3, 1958) was an American business executive, philanthropist, polo player, yachtsman, and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. Born William Conrad Brandt in Muscatine, Iowa to the half-brother ...

, who was a businessman, sportsman, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

– he was the head of several foundations for the blind – lived in the house until 1958, after which it was converted into offices for

Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...

's New York architecture branch. It was then purchased by the

Radio Advertising Bureau (US) The Radio Advertising Bureau (or RAB) is a membership organization for radio stations and others in the US radio industry The "radio industry" is a generic term for any companies or public service providers who are involved with the broadcast of ...

in 1962, then Allied Bank International from 1969-1986,

BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and is present ...

's Ancla Investments from 1986-2001, then

TIAA The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, ...

in March 2001. The building was designated a

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

on May 1, 2001.Historical marker on site It is currently used by the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

, as the SUNY Global Center, which houses the

Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce The Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce (in short form, the Levin Institute) was established by Governor George Pataki and the State of New York. It is located in the Manhattan district of New York City, and is ...

References

{{New York City Historic Sites, state=collapsed Georgian Revival architecture in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Midtown Manhattan

See also

References