Pictures dated c. 1941 and 2004 Click on images to enlarge.

The Onslow House

By PETER JUTRO

The black and white photograph is of 45 Kew Gardens Road, built in 1939 on the northwest corner of Kew Gardens Road and 82nd Avenue. Originally the 6-floor, 2 elevator, 96 apartment building was named the "Onslow House" and had (until 1945) as its address, 82-60 Onslow Road (the legacy name for 82nd Avenue).

The main entrance was on 82d Avenue, at the central portion of a courtyard between the North and South wings of the building (the entrance to which is visible on the right side of the building). There one encountered a doorman, who announced guests using an intercom system that connected to all the apartments. In the late 1950's, the doorman retired, and the intercom system was upgraded and replaced by a button intercom system in the vestibule between two front doors that guests themselves had to use to be buzzed into the building by residents. The more widely used entrance (because of its proximity to the Union Turnpike subway entrance), and which became the basis for the revised address, is in a smaller entry court (the entrance to which is visible on the left) off Kew Gardens Road, but could only be used by residents, because it required the use of a key.

Circa 1941 photograph by Kurt T. Jutro, courtesy of Peter Jutro.

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