Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox Store ARCHITECT: Unknown DATE: 1861 STYLE: Cast-iron The 85 Leonard Street Building is the last remaining building in New York City by James Bogardus, self-described “inventor of cast-iron buildings.” It is one of the few extant buildings of cast iron designed in the so-called “sperm candle” style, a style which uses classical elements in combination with a non-classical emphasis on verticality, lightness, and openness, and that the fine quality and wealth of detail enhance the basic forms of the building and illustrate the desirability of cast-iron as a building material in the 19th century.

Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox Store, No. 85 Leonard Street, ca. 1974. Constructed on property owned by the estate of Thomas Swords, this cast iron structure was commissioned in 1861 by dry goods merchants Kitchen, Montross, & Wilcox. The firm, leased the land to architect James Bogardus under the condition that he erect “a good and substantial store house.” When completed in 1861, he unveiled a five-story Italianate structure that amazed its owners. Unlike the neighboring buildings made of stone, the facade at No. 85 Leonard Street was made from cast-iron, allowing for greater detail in its ornamentation. Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox operated a retail store in the building until 1868, whereafter the ground floor remained in use by various other dry goods merchants. In the late 20th century, Joseph Salamon of FRF Promotional Fabrics purchased the building and rented out the fourth floor as an artists' studio. In 1974, the site achieved Landmark designation, in recognition of its significance as perhaps the only extant structure by Bogardus (while a handful of other Bogardus-designed cast iron facades remain on buildings associated with other architects, the design construction of 85 Leonard is believed to have been executed by Bogardus, alone). A plaque testifying to his influence reads: "James Bogardus, Originator and Constructor of Iron Buildings, New York."