HISTORIC PRESERVATION OVERVIEW
The Burnham Building
Irvington-on-Hudson, New York
At the foot of Main Street, where the Village of Irvington meets the train station and the
Hudson River, a signature historic building complex now houses a modern public library and 22 units of affordable housing. Vacant for 10 years, the building was a hazard and an eyesore, and it occupied the perilous realm of threatened destruction that faces so many historic buildings. It was saved by unique collaboration (spearheaded by the architect) of the village administration and a non-profit developer of affordable housing.
The balancing act:
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Restore and highlight the historic fabric of the building complex now listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
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Link six adjacent structures dating from 1881 to 1950 into one seamless 10,000 square foot state of the art library on the main floor and an integrated housing facility on the floors above.
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On three upper floors, meet rigorous State low income housing requirements providing studio, one and two bedroom units for people making 30 to 60% of the area median income.
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Radically upgrade the energy performance of the structure--green technologies where possible.
Of 22 studio, one and two bedroom apartments (475 to 1000 square feet), 16 are handicapped-accessible. Residents use two roof terraces and a greenhouse atrium (cooled by a demonstration photovoltaic array), enjoy views of village and river and inhabit oneof-a-kind apartments featuring original wainscotting, timbers and windows where salvageable.
In the library, the rhythm of original tree trunk columns and new burnished steel supports suggests the interplay of centuries. Restored brick walls and Tiffany sconces from the library’s former quarters are similarly juxtaposed with contemporary lighting and year
2000-and-beyond media capabilities. A linear skylight imbedded in a residential terrace above augments natural light from four exposures.
Both components of the project have attracted extraordinary public support.
This historic structure, the Burnham Building, had sat derelict on an important village intersection, across from the Metro-North train station, since its Owner, the Lord and
Burnham Greenhouse Company, closed up shop in the late 1980s. The library was crammed into part of the Village Hall that contained Arts and Crafts bookcases and
Tiffany lamps, but none of the space and amenities required for a contemporary library.
Housing of any kind in great demand in Irvington, especially affordable rentals that could be targeted to seniors and others who have a particularly difficult time finding suitable units, and for whom the central village location would be a boon.

Starting in 1870 the Lord and Burnham Company manufactured greenhouses on this site.
They later added the manufacture of greenhouse heating systems, and finally, heating systems for the general market. In 1880 a fire destroyed the greenhouse at Lyndhurst and
Jay Gould, then in residence at Lyndhurst, commissioned the first iron-framed greenhouse in this country. Another fire, this one at the Lord and Burnham site, required the construction in 1881 of the Flemish Revival corner building and the carriage house/stable that comprise the oldest and most historic portions of the current complex.
The Lord and Burnham Company manufactured and installed the greenhouses at
Lyndhurst and numerous estates around the country. In 1903 they built the conservatory that is still a major feature at the New York Botanical Garden. By the 1890s most of their manufacturing took place in a complex across the railroad tracks, and the Astor
Street buildings gradually became administrative and engineering offices.
Sensitivity to Historic Character
The premise of the project was the preservation of this historic structure on an important village corner, thwarting the impression of many in the village and previous engineers, that the building was not suitable for reuse and should be demolished. A thorough review of exterior and interior historic fabric was undertaken by the architects and consultants, the NY State Historic Preservation Office staff and the Department of the Interior. The design intentionally highlighted historic features and made clear the boundaries and differences between new and "original" features, celebrating the juxtaposition. The project was carried out following the Secretary's Guidelines and documented to verify that it qualified for Historic Preservation Tax credits, which were an important part of the financing package. All viable historic interior finishes were restored, repaired, exposed and incorporated into the design, both in the apartments and the library. The exterior masonry was painstakingly examined and restored, as were windows and doors where possible.
Project Execution
Techniques for the protection of existing fabric, and the subsequent restoration and repair of that fabric were carefully spelled out in the design documents and monitored by the architects, by the SHPO, and by preservation consultant Elise Quasebarth. To ensure a proper approach to the masonry work, the Owners engaged David Overholt, restoration staff head at Lyndhurst, to meet with masons as they started work on each new section, to review techniques for cleaning, staining, and repointing for conformance to the
Guidelines, to convene the design team for reviews of samples, to send samples to testing laboratories, and to make unannounced visits to the site.
Degree of Difficulty
Difficulties were myriad: an initially premiated developer who had no clue about dealing with historic buildings; structural deficiencies in the original building; numerous existing conditions that were concealed and could only be dealt with after demolition in spite of extensive probes; high ground water in the waterfront location; multiple funding sources with guidelines that sometimes overlapped; multiple clients and managing entities, some of whom were initially highly skeptical; multiple contracts for construction under state

Wick's law requirements without the presence of a Construction Manager (and therefore undertaken by the Architect, Owner and Developer); some subcontractors unprepared for work on a project with extra oversight and coordination requirements; a tight budget; an aggressive schedule; etc.
Impact
There has certainly been a positive impact on the community: library patronage has dramatically increased; some affordable housing units are in place; the anchor of Main
Street has been brought back to life.
Economic Benefit
A primary and palpable economic benefit of the project is to the residents of the apartments. A related benefit results from the fact that new population has been brought within walking distance of the Main Street shopping district. The central location near the train station will allow people to overlap trips, saving time and gasoline, and the housing condominium will provide some tax income for the Village. Other economic/environmental benefits include avoiding the impact and long term costs of disposing the building, had it been demolished, and replacing it with a building composed of new materials.
Budget Statistics:
Building: $4,014,121
Site: $245,084
Furniture-fixtures-equipment: $253,554