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Cross and Cross (1907-1942) ^[1] was a New York City based architectural firm founded by brothers John Walter Cross and Eliot Cross.

History

Cross and Cross was known as Old New York City Society's architectural firm of choice. ^[2] John Cross studied architecture at Columbia University and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and served as the creative half of the partnership, while Eliot Cross focused on the development side of the business, particularly through his role as Chairman of the Board of the real estate development firm of Webb and Knapp, which he organized in 1922. ^[3] The two firms shared office space in The Knapp Building on Madison Avenue. ^[3]

History

Cross and Cross was known as Old New York City Society's architectural firm of choice. ^[2] John Cross studied architecture at Columbia University and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and served as the creative half of the partnership, while Eliot Cross focused on the development side of the business, particularly through his role as Chairman of the Board of the real estate development firm of Webb and Knapp, which he organized in 1922. ^[3] Both firms, Cross & Cross and Webb and Knapp, had offices in the Knapp Building, 385 Madison Avenue, previously two buildings combined into one and altered to designs by Cross & Cross in 1923. ^[3]

The building commissions of Cross & Cross fell into three general categories: 1) smaller-scaled buildings including private residences, churches, clubs, neighborhood bank branches, and schools; 2) hotel and apartment buildings; and 3) tall office buildings. The firm’s early design work reflects John Cross’s architectural education in the French Beaux-Arts tradition, as at the Church of Notre Dame, at Morningside Drive and West 114th Street, designed in 1914 and modeled on the church of the Invalides, one of the most famous eighteenth-century buildings in Paris. Their designs for other small scale work, and for hotels and apartment buildings, tended to the eighteenth-century English style, either Georgian or Adamesque. Their designs for tall office buildings initially drew inspiration from Classical or Gothic ornamental patterns, but in the late 1920s moved in the general direction of Art Deco.

In the late 1920s, the office buildings of Cross & Cross began to show the influence of modern design. The first to begin to do so was the City Bank-Farmers Trust Company Building, begun in 1929 in a “Modern Classic” style. Two bank, office and storage buildings designed for the Centrum corporation, the real-estate arm of the Central Hanover Bank & Trust, at 271 Church Street and 335 Greenwich Street (both 1930), continued the evolution of their design in a modernist direction. The culmination of this tendency in the work of Cross & Cross came in the RCA Victor Building (1929-31, later known as the General Electric Building) at 570 Lexington Avenue, a designated New York City Landmark, which is one of New York’s finest Art Deco skyscrapers.

Commissions

1 East 42nd Street, New York, NY ^[4]
53 Park Place, New York, NY, ^[5]
123 East 53rd Street, (demolished 1953-1955 to build 399 Park Avenue, the new headquarters for the First National City Bank, today's Citigroup)
155 East 72nd Street, New York, NY, ^[6]
405 Park Avenue, New York, NY (12 story apartment building, completely modernized in 1956) ^[7]
720 Park Avenue, with Rosario Candela, New York, NY ^[8]
Ampico Building, 29 West 57th Street, New York, NY
Assisium School, 36 East 63rd Street, New York, NY (originally The Hanger Club) ^[9]
Bank of America International, 37-41 Broad Street, New York, NY (originally Lee-Higginson Bank) ^[10]
Bank of the Manhattan Company, Bayside, New York ^[11]
Bayberry Land, Southampton, New York (demolished) ^[2]
Central Hanover Building ^[12]
Chase Bank, 35 East 72nd Street, New York, NY (originally Manufacturers Trust Company branch)
Chase Bank East 57th Street, New York, NY (originally Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company branch) ^[13]
Church of Notre Dame, Columbia University, New York, NY ^[14]

City Bank-Farmers Trust Company Building, 20 Exchange Place, New York, NY ^[15]
Eglisa De Notre Dame, 40 Morningside Drive, New York, NY
Federal Office Building, 90 Church Street, New York, NY ^[16]
Field Mansion, Yorktown, New York, ^[17]
Franklin Towers, New York, NY ^[18]
General Electric Building, 570 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY ^[19]

Harriman Building, New York, NY [^[20] ^[21]
Hotel InterContinental, New York, NY ^[22]
The Hewitt School 45 East 75th Street, New York, NY
ILX Systems (Aetna) 151 William Street, New York, NY ^[23]
James McCutcheon & Co. store, 609 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY ^[24]
The Knapp Building, 383-385 Madison Avenue, New York, NY (demolished)
Leigh Hall, Yale School of Music, New Haven, CT, ^[25]
The Links Club, 36 East 62nd, New York, NY
Louis Spencer Morris and Emily Coster Morris House, 116 East 80th Street, New York, NY
Edward S. Moore Residence, Roslyn, New York
Museum of Non-Objective Painting, 24 East 54th Street, New York, NY
One Sutton Place South with Rosario Candela, New York, NY ^[26]
Park Plaza Apartments, Worcester, MA, ^[27]
Guaranty Trust Company of New York building at Place de la Concorde, Paris, France ^[28]
Postum Building, 250 Park Avenue, New York, NY ^[29]
Ernest Stillman House, 45 East 75th Street, New York, NY
Stone & Webster Building, New York, NY ^[30]
Tiffany's, 727 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY ^[31]
The Union and New Haven Trust Building (now Wachovia Bank) on the New Haven Green New Haven, CT.^[32]
Warner Bros. Studio Store, 1 East 57th Street, New York, NY (originally New York Trust Company Building)
Wiley Building, New York, NY, ^[33]
George and Martha Whitney House 120 East 80th Street, New York, NY ^[34]
The Yorkgate, New York, NY, ^[35]

Notes

[1] NY Times- Eliot Cross Obituary

[Hamptons.com_Bayberry_Land-2] Hamptons.com Bayberry Land

[nyc.gov-3] NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, page 3

[4] Emporis- 1 East 42nd Street

[5] Emporis- 53 Park Place

[6] Emporis- 155 East 72nd Street

[7] Emporis- 405 Park Avenue

[8] Emporis- 720 Park Avenue

[9] NYC-Architecture- The Assisium School

[10] Emporis- Bank of America International

[11] U.S. Library of Congress

[12] Emporis- Central Hanover Building

[13] Emporis-Manufacturers Trust Company Building

[14] Columbia University Church of Notre Dame

[15] Emporis- City Bank Farmers Trust Company Building

[16] Emporis- Federal Office Building

[17] Yorktown, NY

[18] Emporis-Franklin Towers

[19] NYC-Architecture- General Electric Building

[20] Emporis- Harriman Building

[21] NY Times- Harriman Building Sold

[22] Emporis- Hotel InterContinental

[23] NYC-Architecture- ILX Systems

[24] Emporis- McCutcheon Building

[25] Yale University

[26] Emporis- One Sutton Place

[27] Emporis- Park Plaza Apartments

[28] NY Times Obituary- John W. Cross

[29] Emporis- Postum Building

[30] Emporis- Stone & Webster Building

[31] The City Review- Tiffany's

[32] www.travelphotobase.com, photo of building

[33] Emporis- Wiley Building

[34] City Realty

[35] Emporis- The Yorkgate

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==History==
 Cross and Cross was known as Old New York City Society's architectural firm of choice. <ref name="Hamptons.com Bayberry Land">[http://www.hamptons.com/hamptons_article_magazine_568.htm Hamptons.com Bayberry Land] </ref>  John Cross studied architecture at [[Columbia University]] and the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in [[Paris]] and served as the creative half of the partnership, while Eliot Cross focused on the development side of the business, particularly through his role as Chairman of the Board of the real estate development firm of [[Webb and Knapp]], which he organized in 1922. <ref name="nyc.gov">[http://nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/citybankfarmers.pdf NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, page 3] </ref>  The two firms shared office space in [[The Knapp Building]] on Madison Avenue. <ref name="nyc.gov"/>
+==History==
+Cross and Cross was known as Old New York City Society's architectural firm of choice. <ref name="Hamptons.com Bayberry Land">[http://www.hamptons.com/hamptons_article_magazine_568.htm Hamptons.com Bayberry Land] </ref>  John Cross studied architecture at [[Columbia University]] and the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in [[Paris]] and served as the creative half of the partnership, while Eliot Cross focused on the development side of the business, particularly through his role as Chairman of the Board of the real estate development firm of [[Webb and Knapp]], which he organized in 1922. <ref name="nyc.gov">[http://nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/citybankfarmers.pdf NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, page 3] </ref> Both firms, Cross & Cross and Webb and Knapp, had offices in the Knapp Building, 385 Madison Avenue, previously two buildings combined into one and altered to designs by Cross & Cross in 1923. <ref name="nyc.gov"/>
+The building commissions of Cross & Cross fell into three general categories: 1) smaller-scaled buildings including private residences, churches, clubs, neighborhood bank branches, and schools; 2) hotel and apartment buildings; and 3) tall office buildings. The firm’s early design work reflects John Cross’s architectural education in the French Beaux-Arts tradition, as at the Church of Notre Dame, at Morningside Drive and West 114th Street, designed in 1914 and modeled on the church of the Invalides, one of the most famous eighteenth-century buildings in Paris. Their designs for other small scale work, and for hotels and apartment buildings, tended to the eighteenth-century English style, either Georgian or Adamesque. Their designs for tall office buildings initially drew inspiration from Classical or Gothic ornamental patterns, but in the late 1920s moved in the general direction of Art Deco.
+In the late 1920s, the office buildings of Cross & Cross began to show the influence of modern design. The first to begin to do so was the City Bank-Farmers Trust Company Building, begun in 1929 in a “Modern Classic” style. Two bank, office and storage buildings designed for the Centrum corporation, the real-estate arm of the Central Hanover Bank & Trust, at 271 Church Street and 335 Greenwich Street (both 1930), continued the evolution of their design in a modernist direction. The culmination of this tendency in the work of Cross & Cross came in the RCA Victor Building (1929-31, later known as the General Electric Building) at 570 Lexington Avenue, a designated New York City Landmark, which is one of New York’s finest Art Deco skyscrapers.
 ==Commissions==