Designated: September 19, 2017
*Old Saint James Episcopal Church (now Old Saint James Parish Hall) is located at the southwest corner of Broadway and 51st Avenue within the central district of Elmhurst, Queens. The fenced lot is long and narrow, with paved parking at the rear of the property (the rear of the lot is not part of the designation). The free-standing wood structure is oriented with its front facade facing east, close to Broadway. The building consists of the main section, built in 1735-36 and updated in 1883, and an attached rear addition that replaced a Colonial-era tower in 1883. Both sections are one story tall and similar in form and ornamental details.
The main section (58 feet by 30 feet) is clad with wood shingles and has three bays of round-arched window openings along each long (north and south) side; each contains a pair of lancet windows with a small inset of stained glass. The eaves of the overhanging roof are flared slightly over closely-spaced brackets. Three concrete steps lead to a pair of entry doors at the front (east) facade. Above the doors is a round window that is centered below the gable. At the west end of the main section, there is a brick chimney and two round-arched windows that flank the rear addition. The dominant decorative feature at the front and rear of the main section is the truss-like trim within each gable end.
Colonial-era features of the 1735 main building include a rectangular box-like form with a front-facing gable roof, wood-shingle siding, round-arched window openings and heavy-timber framing. Nineteenth-century details include the gable-end truss-like trim, flared eaves, stained glass, and round window at the front facade.
The 1883 rear addition (25 feet by 15 feet) with clapboard siding is narrower and shorter than the main section. Like the main section, it has eave brackets and two bays of round-arched window openings with lancet windows along each of the longer sides. There are two single lancet windows and a gable-end half-round window at the rear facade.
Nineteenth-century details on both building sections include profiled brackets, lancet windows, clipped gable roofs, and drip molding.
Restored to its late 19th-century appearance, this heavy-timber-framed building exhibits both the Colonial-era’s basic form and shingle siding along with ornamental details from its last significant alteration in 1883.
*Building description from the Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Report
Photograph: Sarah Moses 2017
