Saturday, September 7, 2013

A MEDIEVAL POEM DONE IN STONE

Charles L. Tiffany Residence, N.W. corner of Madison Ave. and 72nd St. New York City - 1885

  Doubtless the most picturesque private residence in New York, when completed, will be that of Charles L. Tiffany, at the northwest corner of Madison avenue, and Seventy-second street, It will be noticeable alike for its size, for the fact that it embodies an idea, for its total dissimilarity to any other  house in the metropolis, as it is the first example of its peculiar type of architecture in this city, and for its bold and somewhat aggressive individuality. To give the details of construction conveys no idea of the building; but its ground plan is 100 by 125 feet, it will be four stories in height, with an attic, fireproof, and of blue stone. It will have a peaked roof, the highest point 113 feet from the sidewalk, and the greatest height of main walls 90 feet. The architects are McKim, Meade & White, and the estimated cost is in the neighborhood of $200,000. The first two floors will be occupied by the owner, the third by Mr. Tiffany's daughter and the peaked roof will be used by Louis C. Tiffany for his studio and other rooms. The entrance will be reached through an arched court, and from this court to the unconventional and broken skyline, the whole building will be A MEDIEVAL POEM DONE IN STONE. It is to be such a structure as one finds in Amsterdam or Antwerp, and such as the citizen of the New World crosses the ocean to see. If there were such a thing as a Dutch Renaissance;—which the authorities in architecture do not recognize, but which in reality does exist—this projected house of Mr. Tiffany's could be so described.

  Click this link to view all past posts on Tiffany's 72nd Street home.

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