November 29, 2006
MIDTOWN STUCCO
This is my secret shame: When walking the streets of NYC I often notice interesting buildings that seem completely out of place with their surroundings. On these occasions, I will snap a few pictures, pull out my notebook and write down the address, and then later try to find out what the structure's story is. This happened a few weeks ago while I was searching out another building whose lights flash randomly from floor to floor in rapid-fire fashion every night; but that is a whole different story.
The Thursday before Thanksgiving, I was walking down Lexington Ave. from the Upper East Side when I came across a building on the corner of Lexington and 65th St. that looked like an 19th-Century Teutonic Tudor amalgamation of styles. What made it stick out, aside from its relatively low profile on Lexington Ave. and its mansard roofing was an abundance of stucco relief on the 65th St. side of the building. Here's what the AIA Guide to NYC has to say about it:
The Parge House, 132a E. 65th St., SW cor. Lexington Ave., Altered, 1922, Frederick J. Sterner. Altered since.Though compromised by the addition of a Lexington Ave. shop, this picturesque conversion of a row house into architect Sterner's office and apartments remains an unusual work. Note the decorative stucco relief.
NB: While the AIA Guide lists the origin of the building as 1922, the relieving arch over the door on 65th St. that identifies the structure as The Parge House says 1921.
So who was Frederick Sterner? According to a NYTimes article written in 2003, Sterner was an architect most famous for the "Block Beautiful" movement in the early 20th Century. At the time, Sterner prompted the conversion of drab uniform rowhouses into eclectic collections of differing colors and facades.
What to do with mid-19th-century brownstones -- built by the mile, of identical boring design, awkwardly planned and often poorly constructed -- was a subject that puzzled writers at the time, and the question was in the air when Sterner arrived. His earlier projects offered no hint of what he was to introduce in New York. He removed the stoop, covered the dark brownstone with a coat of light cream-colored stucco and replanned the interior. It is now a common approach, but nothing like it had been done in New York before.
Perhaps by design, Sterner's architectural sleight of hand sparked a wave of renovations on the block. Within a few years, several rebuilders changed the East 19th Street block into one of tinted stucco, iron balconies, Arts and Crafts style tilework, flower boxes and projecting tile roofs, mostly in a Mediterranean style and clearly embodying a new vision for an aging city.
The block mentioned above is 19th St. between Irving Place and 3rd Ave. I actually find myself in that neighborhood frequently. The next time I'm over there I'll try to take some pictures.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at November 29, 2006 7:51 AM
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