William Lescaze came to New York from Switzerland in 1920 as an unknown and started out as a draftsman. After the PSFS bank in Philadelphia, which he built together with George Howe, he made a house for himself in Midtown: a white box with two glass-block walls among brick townhouses.
At ground level, a curved concrete wall and a matching canopy mark the stairs to the living quarters. A separate entrance leads to the basement, where Lescaze had his studio. It runs under the backyard all the way to the end of the lot.
