George Frederick Pelham (1867^[1] – February 7, 1937) was a Canadian-Americanarchitect and the son of George Brown Pelham, who was also an architect.^[2]

Pelham was born inOttawa,Ontario, coming to New York City when his father opened an architectural office there in 1875. The elder Pelham designed for the city'sDepartment of Public Parks, and employed his son as a draftsman in his firm.

The first building architected by George F. Pelham was NB 880-1889, at 200 West 99th Street, a 5-story brick and stone flat, 25×89, tin roof, built for Martin J. Barron.^[3]

After being privately tutored in architecture, the younger Pelham opened his own office in 1890, specializing in apartment houses and hotels, row houses, and commercial buildings and utilizing theRenaissance Revival,Gothic Revival,Beaux-Arts, andColonial Revival styles. His work is particularly represented on theUpper West Side ofManhattan. He designed buildings for 43 years;.^[4] Over his career, George F. Pelham designed at least 1245 buildings inNew York City per the Office for Metropolitan History, founded byChristopher Gray (architectural historian).

George F. Pelham at one time provided typical drawings for tenements (24 apartments on 6 floors, on a lot 25-feet wide) for $25 a set.^[5]

In 1905, he designed the Riverdale apartment building at 67Riverside Drive for developer John Louis Miller. It opened on October 31, 1907. In 1905 he also designed a new synagogue building for Brooklyn'sBeth Jacob Anshe Sholom, based onArnold Brunner's West Side Synagogue building on Manhattan's West 88th Street.^[6] The synagogue is no longer extant.

Pelham was the architect of the Chalfonte Hotel at 200 West 70th Street inManhattan. Built in 1927, it was later converted to rental apartments and is still standing today.^[7]

There are three buildings designed by George F. Pelham in theSutton Place neighborhood, all located on East58th Street:444 East 58th Street,422 East 58th Street, andStonehenge 58 (400 East 58th Street).

For many years, his office was at 200 West 72nd Street, originally built as a clubhouse for the Colonial Club of New-York. Pelham, like Rosario Candela, chose that address because a number of developers had their offices there, including Paterno & Son and Anthony Campagna.^[8]

The last building architected by George F. Pelham was NB 66-1931, at 1082-1084 Amsterdam Avenue, a 19-story and penthouse apartment, 50×90, built for St. Johns House, Inc., Herman A. Axelrod, president.^[3]

Pelham's son George Fred Pelham Jr. joined the firm in 1910^[4] and continued the family tradition; he was the architect of a number of New York City buildings, such asCastle Village in 1938-1939, 411West End Avenue in 1937, and 1150Park Avenue in 1940.

Sources (unless otherwise noted):^[46][47]

Notes

Bibliography

• Harris, Gale and Shockley, Jay.East 17th Street / Irving Place Historic District Designation ReportNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (June 30, 1998)
• New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission;Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.).Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
• Pearson, Marjorie.Ladies' Mile Historic District Designation Report, volume 2New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (May 2, 1989)
• Pearson, Marjorie.Tribeca West Historic District Designation ReportArchived 2012-11-03 at theWayback MachineNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (May 7, 1991)
• Presa, Donald G.NYCLPC SoHo - Cast-Iron Historic District Extension Designation ReportNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (May 11, 2010)
• Wade, Karen Graham; Pearson, Marjorie and Dillon, James T.SoHo - Cast Iron Historic District Designation ReportNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (August 14, 1973)
• White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000).AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press.ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.

• Media related toGeorge F. Pelham at Wikimedia Commons

• 1867 births
• 1937 deaths
• Architects from New York City
• 19th-century American architects
• Canadian emigrants to the United States

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