Church Missions House, Religious heritage building in Gramercy Park, Manhattan, United States
Church Missions House is a six-story building at Park Avenue South and East 22nd Street, with rock-faced granite on the ground story and Indiana limestone above. Its facade is laid out as a grid of rectangular bays, with a tourelle running the full height at each corner. The main entrance is a porch at the center of the Park Avenue facade, where a triangular pediment holds a bas-relief tympanum carved by Edward J. N. Stent.
The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church had sought a dedicated headquarters for much of the 19th century; the building was constructed between 1892 and 1894 to designs by Robert W. Gibson and Edward J. Neville Stent. It was sold in 1963 to the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, which moved out in 2015. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it a landmark in 1979, and it joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The building displays Dutch architectural influences reminiscent of medieval town halls, visible in its decorative stone details and corner towers. These European design choices create a distinctive look that stands out among Manhattan's typical commercial structures.
The main entrance is a porch at the center of the Park Avenue facade, under an archway with a carved tympanum. The building sits on the southeast corner of Park Avenue South and East 22nd Street, with a subway entrance to the 23rd Street station right outside. The 22nd Street facade is asymmetrical because of how its bays are arranged.
This building was once part of Charity Row, a neighborhood where charitable organizations clustered together in the late 1800s. Few visitors today realize the area was once a hub for social service agencies working side by side in connected buildings.
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