New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-02
SOME FIFTH-AVE. FRONTS.
POINTS ON ARCHITECTURE PICKED UP BY
AN OBSERvANT STROLLER
FIRST ARTICLE


down upon the man who strolls up Fifth-ave.
from the unpretentious brick house at the corner
of Washington Square to tho white marble church
that towers loftily above the brownstonc fronts
al Fifticth-st-from the homely dwelling place
Of our fathers TO the majestic Gothic Cathedral
soaring heavenward with an expression of inward
fSith notwithstanding the fact that the clus-
tered pillars between fts nave and aisles arc made
of beton-co gnet That nineteenth century brick
house which looks so fresh and neat and clean,
whose Fifth-aVe. facade is fiat wall that appears
rather TO be suspended in the air than supported
intellectually, hns in its rear conservatory at
the corner Of which the stroller finds duted
Ionic column Thus early in his march does he
sec how Classic Art was Inundated for endeavor-
ing TO creep in at the back door. little further
on near Clinton place, is brick house of similar
design, onto whose Dutch stoop OF white marble
two severe DOric columns have climbed There
like solemn Greek sentinels, they stand guard
over the awful encroachments of Trade, whose
remorseless lcgions are steadily advancing north
ward with the demon Of demolition as an advance
agent
The stroller must not think harshly of these
simple facades and their cnssic entrances Once
upon time they were the heart of fashionable
New York. They were built for purpose, and
sive vulcarity that crops out all along the
in that cheap article of veneering called brown
stone 'front.' vercstchagin the Bold could never
say OF them that the pictures on their walls were
furnished by the man who laid the bricks and
spread the mortar. They were built before the
age Of sham and furnished accordingly
II ANYTHING is more depressing to an artistic
sense than painted brick wall perforated with
windows which yawn under decorated entabla-
lures and adorned with narrow portico built
somewhat after a style approved in the town OF
Corinth several years ago. why should the stroller
turn aside to weep as he passes the Brevoo't
House,
And. on the other hand, why should he brighten
up when he arrives opposite that quaint sand
stone building at Twclfth-st. which has turrets
for chsshneys and instead of cornicc crowns its
walls with battlementsp The sight of it must
remind him of the good old days when an English
archer who did not discharge from the alur of We
haronial castle twelve minute. Of which
one only should fail its aim, Vas forever dis
honorcd Or perhaps he imagines that behind
each narrow merton an arquehuse lay concealed.
ready at the word to thrust its tantaizinE muzzle
through an Smbrasure, and belch both shot and
rmc in the face of the besieger who can be none
other than Old Nick himself. for the discovery
is suddenly made that the sham Gothic fortress is
defended by the Boards of Home and Foreign
Missions of the Presbyterian Church.
relic Of antiquity that should he preserved
in glass case for the dedication Of future ages
is the crcam-colored brick house at Ninth-st. It's
jncloscd doorway of two Ionic columns set in
between two sandstone piers, which support an
architrave flush with the wall that rests fat upon
it, is one Of tho architectural curostics of New
York. The Greeks themselves before the time
Of Solon could not have designed anything more
solemn and severe.
More ecclesiastical battlCmentS appear on the
Lcnox House on Thireen'hst but the stroller
passes on to the age of hrownstonc. recollectinS
Us ne goes Richard Grant Whites story about the
millionaire who refused to have his house built
Of granite because all the other m.ilOnaircs were
living IN brownstone and he wanted brownstone,
too lest the public might think he was not IN
the swim The Dutch stoop reigns everywhere,
II was the fashion for twenty years TO call II the
English stoop. but Dutch il was. Dutch it is, and
Dutch it always Will be. Englishmen are still
crumbling, don't you know. at the way Dutch
architects ian over them q few decades ago.
Many OF these so-caled stocps arc not stoops at
all but simply flights OF steps running from
pavement 10 doorsll Those which have land
ing are generally protected by porchcs which, IN
the majority of eases. constitute the only APP
prOach to classic art that can be found In the
gloomy and monotonous facadcs of the avenue
I he style most affected j. distorted adaptat non
OF the Greek and Roman orders. a combination OF
architecture and arch That was fms; used III 4ialy
after the decline of Gothic architecture. IN a
few instances the tops of Windows follow the
same style, being arranged as pediments, seq
menttd or dnguIaI. which are supported on
brackets but as rule the facadcs are not worth
noticing. a.,
The stroller runs across a suggestion Of the
Renaissance at No l0I. the most ambitious iacade
south Ct Eiehtcenth-st In looking at IL, ne II
reminded OF the mistakes Of Michael Angelo, 10
who's lofty genius Rome is indebt for The m ghty
and glorious dome OF St Peters which has no
rival IN the world. The descendants of Antonio
Saneallo have never forgiven Michael Angelo Tor
spelling the FarnesC Palace by sticking row oil
Kccc0cO windows IN the third story. Inc mouse
at No. OF has a good deal OF thus same Roccoco
about it. but its worst feature Is the absence OF
columns in the first story and their INTRODUCTION
in the second-one OF the characteristic mistakes
of the decadence OF ancient Roman architecture.
August Belmont lives in PLAN brick house,
low, square-cut substantial Its only ornament
il a porch 1t was evidently built 10 live IN
not to look al. wherein II differs materially from
the Temple Of 1heseus at Athens whlch was
Opposite Mr. Belmonts the stroller thinks. he
sees g section OF b BoioEima p ,ho,y-
sandwicheI beiween two Broadw TaI. Sn now
s.mi-circular arches the outer two springlng from
piers of spotted marble and joining the inner one
on twin columns of the same material, form an
arcade which constitutes the second story OF
Chickering Hall Each arch has balcony. nc
spaces between the heads OF the arches are hneo
in with cOlorcd tiles while the superlnoumbene
wall OF Baltimore brick is crowned with massive
entabature which lends dignity 10 the structure
A facade that is sue TO catch the eye Is mar
of Hardman Peck Co.'s piano saesroom Here
the stroller sees the gaudest example of the Span-
ish or horseshoe arch that is 10 be found IN the
city II spans the entire front OF the pulldlng
and reaches from the middle OF the second 10 the
ceiling Of the third story. incoSng four narrow
windows. The cusps that spring from the soiht
are as numerous the teeth OF a cogwheel.
Arnold Constable * Co.'S big. white iron
building somewhat after the modern Italian ana
French Renaissance styles, cannot 90 uhhouceo'
beca use OF its size and color. 49,,
The printing house that Judge is building
nj Sixteenth-st teaches the stroller an important
lesson i'm the modern art of consru tlOn 1T is the
cnstnrn OF the time 10 cOmplete as nearly a. pos