Houses at 1026-1028 Fifth Ave.

Three Beaux-Arts townhouses stand at 1026-1028 Fifth Avenue, on the corner of East 84th Street across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Built in 1901-03, the houses at 1026 and 1027 were designed by Van Vleck & Goldsmith for marble dealer Benjamin A. Williams, while 1028 was designed by C. P. H. Gilbert. Their facades combine limestone and marble, curved bays, rusticated ground floors, balustrades and copper or slate mansard roofs with pedimented dormers. Inside, the buildings keep much of their original finishes, including paneled rooms, ornate stairhalls, marble fireplaces and a basement kitchen. Fifth Avenue once held many comparable mansions, and this row is one of the few groups of turn-of-the-century residences left on the avenue. The Marymount School began converting the houses to school use in 1926 with the purchase of 1028, and the buildings are now joined internally. Their architecture and high level of preservation are the basis for their listing.