Architect Louis A. Abramson Home
Introduction
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Images
Louis A. Abramson House (Modern Day)
Backstory and Context
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Born in 1887, Louis Allen Abramson was a New York architect whose career spanned seventy years. Trained in the traditional classical styles, Abramson transitioned from the Beaux-Arts style to the Art Deco and Moderne in the 1920s. He was known as an expert in the design of hospitals, nursing homes, and restaurants. Most notably he was credited with the design of the 1939 World’s Fair restaurants operated by The Brass Rail, with prestigious architectural firm Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker as consultants. He was also known as prominent architectural figure during the post-war synagogue center boom of the 1960s.
Among his large-scale projects were the Daughters of Jacob Geriatric Center in The Bronx (1916), The Astoria Center of Israel (1925-26), and the Long Island Jewish Hospital (1954). His last major project was a large apartment complex that was completed in 1971, two years before his retirement.
The home was originally built in 1928 from a Lewis Manufacturing New Liberty home kit called “The Newport.” In 1945, Abramson bought the house and remodeled the distinctive Cape Cod-esque Colonial Revival structure with storefront glass to provide the home with panoramic views of Jefferson Valley. On the surrounding land he added park-like gardens and a spring fed pond to create a beautiful country home.
Abramson sold the property in 1984, just a few months before he passed away in January of 1985. Today, the home and property retains Abramson's redesigns.
Sources
Willensky, Elliot, Norval White, and Fran Leadon. AIA Guide to New York City. 5th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Natinal Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: East Midwood Jewish Center, Kings County, New York. Brooklyn, NY: National Archives at College Park, 2006.
Westchester County, New York, Liber 4272: 295; Herman Goodman & Louis Allen Abramson, 12 July 1945; Westchester Records Online.
Yorktown Heritage Preservation Commission