The Belnord

The Belnord building is located in the East Rock neighborhood, and is a popular off-campus housing destination for Yale University Graduate students. This four story, brick building covers about half the block and can be accessed directly from Orange Street, but is mostly enclosed by a low brick wall with additional cast iron fencing. The property includes a small front lawn with landscaping covering the bottom floor of the building. Jacob Weinstein, a Yale College Graduate, remodeled the building in 1915.

545 Orange St: Augustus D. Hendrick; James D. and Dorothy J. Hershman

547 Orange St: Giovanni A. Brecevich

549 Orange St: Viking Realty; Freeling W. Arvine (July 1869)

551Orange St: Susan M. Woody

548 Orange Street

Owner: Mrs. F.W. Fellows

Belnord Apartments: 545-551 Orange St. previously existed as identical, yet individual brick row houses from 1868 until 1915. Remodeling converted the row into one continuous property under the singular address 548 Orange St.

This block originally existed as a row of four brick houses, erected in 1868-69 by Nelson Newgeon. It was historically known as the Nelson C. Newgeon Block until 1915, when Sheffield Scientific School graduate, Jacob Weinstein, constructed newer and more attractive apartment housing presently known as The Belnord. 

Since 1915, The Belnord has served as apartment housing. Yale College graduate, Jacob Weinstein, designed the building, so this suggests to some extent that the type of tenant residing in this building stayed for the purpose of attending the nearby university and was of similar background as Weinstein, considering Yale’s lack of women and people of color. The original rows of houses were home to Augustus D. Hendrick, a clock maker, as well as Viking Realty, a real estate broker’s office. This may suggest that this block was some sort of quasi residential-commercial area with neighboring, small businesses along the entire block and along the rest of the eastern end of Orange Street. 

The Belnord apartment building is nestled between a highly populated residential area of East Rock on the eastern end of Orange Street. Along the street are other late 19^th century buildings of various styles, where a few of which have since then been remodeled. Its proximity to the Yale School of Management make for ideal commute times. There are also numerous restaurants and retail establishments close by who cater to the young-adult social scene. The Belnord is directly in front of the New Haven Lawn Club, partially serving as a privacy wall from the main street to obscure views of the tennis courts and swimming pool. The building does not particularly stand out from the other Orange street buildings, however it is one of the larger structures on the block and in surrounding areas. An exact replicate of the original 1868 brick row houses still stands directly on the other side of the street.

Before the building’s remodeling in 1915, this address was a part of identical, Second Empire style, brick row houses with French influences. They all fell under one continuous, mansard style, slate roof. Each individual house featured intricate molds along the large arched windows. The entryway to each house had double-paneled doors, which were directly below arched canopies supported by the porch floor and engaged piers. The front doors were above street level, which included their own raised porch and set of stairs that could be accessed directly from Orange Street. The railings leading up to the front doors were made of cast iron. Short blocks of row houses were sporadic in distribution throughout New Haven, and this structure stood out amongst the other neighboring buildings.

The remodeling was for the purpose of apartment housing, which led to the erasure of the four distinct addresses. Now the wood frame is reinforced by load-bearing masonry. The present-day design no longer takes on the original Second Empire style, but contains Georgian style influences. The roof is now flat roll asphalt; the previous attic space that existed above the third floor has been extended into a complete fourth floor. 

Modern Connecticut homes and homecrafts; a book of representative houses, interiors, gardens, decorations, furnishings and equipment appropriately described and illustrated by several hundred beautiful engravings. New York: American Homecrafts, 1921. Accessed February 23, 2018.

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United States . State of Connecticut Historic Resources Inventory . Connecticut Historical Comission. By Charlotte R. Hitchcock. New Haven, CT, 1982. Accessed February 22, 2018.