Association Residence Nursing Home
Also known as: Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Fema
Why it's listed
Built between 1881 and 1883 at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 104th Street in Manhattan, this red brick building was a home for elderly women run by the Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females, a charity chartered in 1814. Richard Morris Hunt designed it, and John J. Tucker built it. The C-shaped structure rises three stories from a brownstone basement to a slate mansard roof, with a covered brownstone entrance porch and projecting bays topped by gables and a pyramidal corner spire. A 1907 addition by architect George Rich extended the west front and nearly duplicated Hunt's design; its chapel held seven Tiffany stained-glass windows, now in a Florida museum. The building is valued as one of the few remaining Hunt works in the city and probably his only surviving institutional design there. When documented, it stood unoccupied, with an intact interior including a ceramic tile hall floor.
Significance in brief: It is a visual landmark on the upper west side and illustrates the charitable concerns of wealthy 19th-century New Yorkers. It is one of the few remaining works of Richard Morris Hunt in New York City and is believed to be the only surviving example of his institutional style in the city.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 75001201, listed February 20, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 891 Amsterdam Ave., New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | February 20, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75001201 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1881-83 (1907, addition) |
| Architect / builder | Richard Morris Hunt (architect); John J. Tucker (builder); George Rich (architect of 1907 addition) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as an unoccupied nursing home in good condition; the interior is largely intact though filled with debris, with some broken windows and doors and two missing mantels. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 40.79868, -73.96663 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 75001201.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4809305
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.