This is the building that Major Armstrong built to house his laboratory, after David Sarnoff had him kicked out of the Empire State Building. (You might ask where Armstrong got the money to build this at the height of the Great Depression. As a result of his earlier work, Armstrong had ended up with a substantial minority stake in RCA, in addition to ongoing patent royalties from other radio manufacturers. When he needed money to support his operations -- or, in later years, his lawsuits -- he was able to sell some of his RCA shares, there being a ready market for stock in one of the few companies to make money during the Depression.)
He chose this site in the Palisades in no small part because it was across the Hudson River from his home in Yonkers.
Copyright 2005, Garrett Wollman. All rights reserved. Photograph taken 2005-06-11.