160 Fifth Avenue, The Mohawk Building
A solid example of the late commercial style of architecture, 160 Fifth Avenue was designed by the popular and prolific architect R.H. Robertson, whose work includes numerous townhouses, mansions, public buildings and commercial works, including the enormous Park Row Building of 1899, the tallest building in the world for nearly a decade; Hammersmith Farms, the famed childhood home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and “Summer White House” of John F. Kennedy Jr. in Newport, RI; and the Shelburne Farms complex in Shelburne, VT, now a museum and inn open to the public.
160 Fifth Avenue was commissioned by E.H. Van Ingen & Company, a large importer of woolen goods, whose president, Edward Hook Van Ingen, was rumored to have made no less than 178 Atlantic crossings during his career, a remarkable thing in the 19th century. For this (we may assume) business-oriented client Robertson produced a straightforward and sensible design, handsome but not showy. Ornate ironwork decorates ground floor entries.
The building’s red brick has been painted a light gray, which greatly detracts from the original effect.