Monastery at Large

From the Notebook

  • Postcards from the South: Howard Library – New Orleans

    Postcard view of the Howard Library, New Orleans

    Several years ago I drove around New Orleans for about two hours—long enough to learn that the place is a charmless shithole.

    On my way out of town, I was chased for several miles by some cracked-out asshole screaming and throwing objects at my rental car, for reasons that could only make sense to an addled mind.

    Before that inglorious send-off, I drove through the French Quarter and the Garden District and was quite underwhelmed by New Orleans’ so-called architecture, which is little more than cheap cast iron slapped onto a lot of gaudy, poorly designed buildings.

    I made a point of driving by the former Howard Memorial Library, completed in 18891 and ostensibly designed by H.H. Richardson,2 who grew up in New Orleans but wisely moved North to practice architecture.

    Location of Howard Memorial Library

    The building’s style is, of course, Romanesque—Richardson is credited with inventing the style. It’s not one of his better works, though, and was based on a rejected design for a Michigan library.3

    Richardson never saw the building either: construction began a year after his death, and his successor firm, Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, dusted off the plans and reworked them.4

    Thus, it could reasonably be argued that Richardson didn’t design the building at all, although it’s often touted as his only work in the South. It certainly lacks the sophistication of his better Northern designs, but Richardson’s output was always hit-or-miss.

    I also suspect that Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, who were originally Richardson’s assistants, were largely responsible for his later designs anyway, but that’s a discussion for another time.

    I’d originally planned to take pictures of the library, but I’ll never set foot in New Orleans again, so this postcard will suffice.

    On the front, S.S. writes:

    “Good morning Edith. How did you enjoy the 4th.”

    The card was addressed to Miss Edith Smith of Box 85, Clinton, Miss., and postmarked on July 5, 1907.

    References

    1. “Opening the Howard Library.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), March 4, 1889, p. 4. ↩︎
    2. “Howard Memorial Library.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), January 30, 1887, p. 10. ↩︎
    3. The Howard Memorial Library – myneworleans.com ↩︎
    4. Howard Memorial Library | SAH ARCHIPEDIA ↩︎

  • Fulton County Almshouse (1910-2024) – Atlanta

    Morgan & Dillon. Fulton County Almshouse. (1910-August 8, 2024). Buckhead, Atlanta.
    Morgan & Dillon. Fulton County Almshouse. (1910-August 8, 2024). Buckhead, Atlanta.1 2 3 4

    References

    1. “New County Almshouse, Costing $75,000, Will Be Most Modern In The South.” The Atlanta Journal, March 23, 1909, p. 9. ↩︎
    2. “Work Has Started On New Almshouse”. The Atlanta Journal, October 28, 1909, p. 9. ↩︎
    3. “New Almshouse Is Now Ready For County”. The Atlanta Journal, September 24, 1910, p. 3. ↩︎
    4. Buckhead’s Galloway School demolishes historic Gresham Building – Rough Draft Atlanta ↩︎

  • Postcards from the South: Adams Motel – Dothan, Alabama

    Postcard view of the Adams Motel, Dothan, Alabama

    Ever been to Dothan, Alabama?

    I know I’ve driven through there a few times, but I’ll be damned if I can remember anything about it. That doesn’t surprise me, though—Alabama towns are generally sad and unremarkable.

    This postcard depicts the Adams Motel in Dothan and was published by W.P. Shealy Advertising of Dothan.

    The back of the postcard contains the following description:

    ADAMS MOTEL
    Located 1 block North of Traffic Circle
    on U.S. Hwy. 231
    39 Units – Air-Conditioned – Panel-Ray Heat –
    Tile Tubs and Showers – Room Phones – Con-
    veniently Located Near Restaurants.
    Phone: Area Code 205 – 792-5194
    Dothan, Alabama
    Owned & Operated by Mr. & Mrs. Luther Snell

    The motel still exists, albeit altered, and is now the Adams Inn. The Googie-style sign shown on the postcard is long gone.

    This postcard was never mailed, but someone used it to tally up their trip expenses, with the following calculations scribbled on the back:

    1/30/66 With Red Massy [?]

    2 Rooms $14.00

    Tax .42

    Dinner “Billy’s”

    3 meals 11.50

    Tax .36

    Tip 1.25

    13.11

    You only tipped 10 percent? Cheap bastard.

  • Tampa Museum of Art (2010) – Tampa

    Stanley Saitowitz. Tampa Museum of Art (2010). Tampa.
    Stanley Saitowitz. Tampa Museum of Art (2010). Tampa.1 2 3
    Cantilever, porch, and "slice" on the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Cantilever, porch, and “slice” on the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Facade of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Facade of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Aluminum screen on the facade of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Aluminum screen on the facade of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Porch of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Porch of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Looking up in the courtyard of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
    Looking up in the courtyard of the Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa

    References

    1. Gedalius, Ellen. “He Has Designs On Museum’s Dashed Hopes”. The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), December 6, 2006, p. 1. ↩︎
    2. “The beauty within.” The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), February 6, 1910, p. 1. ↩︎
    3. Tampa Museum of Art | Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects Inc. ↩︎

  • In the Words of Wilson Eyre, Jr.: “A Criticism” (1910)

    Wilson Eyre, Jr. Henry Genet Taylor Residence (1884). Camden, New Jersey.
    Wilson Eyre, Jr. Henry Genet Taylor Residence (1884). Camden, New Jersey.

    The Background

    The following anecdote is about Wilson Eyre, Jr. (1858-1944), a leading Philadelphia architect in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

    First published in The Washington Post in December 1910, the story was subsequently reprinted in newspapers across the United States in early 1911.

    Much like G.L. Norrman in the Southeast, Eyre was a uniquely expressive designer and a colorful public figure whose surviving body of work I greatly admire.

    Reportedly, Eyre was openly homosexual—long before it gained social acceptance—which makes him even more interesting.

    Who knows if this tale is true, but it at least reveals something of Eyre’s reputation, and it’s hella good for mythmaking.

    A Criticism.

    ‘Wilson Eyre, Jr., the noted Philadelphia architect, can criticize with delicate wit architecture which he disapproves. A brother architect induced Mr. Eyre the other day to go to see one of his latest constructions, a flaring edifice not far from the city hall. Mr. Eyre looked over the new building gravely and silently, and at the end of the inspection the host said in rather anxious tones:

    ‘”Well, how do you like it? It’s pretty good, don’t you think?”

    ‘”Excellent!” said Mr. Eyre. “It has only one fault.”

    ‘”What’s that?” the other asked.

    ‘”It’s fireproof,” was the reply.’1

    References

    1. “A Criticism.” The Washington Post, Magazine Section, December 11, 1910, p. 4. ↩︎

  • Parish House, The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York (1893)

    McKim, Mead & White. Parish House, The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York (1893).
    McKim, Mead & White. Parish House, The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York (1893).

    Most of McKim, Mead & White’s projects are well documented, but one that is never mentioned in history books and usually omitted from project lists is the charming parish house of First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York.

    Built in 1893,1 the three-story structure with a full basement is located at the corner of 5th Avenue and West 11th Street in Greenwich Village.

    Location of Parish House, The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York

    I don’t know which employees from the firm are responsible for this design, but they did a fine job—surely none of the named partners would have bothered to lift a finger for such a small project.

    By the early 1890s, McKim, Mead & White drew almost exclusively on Renaissance inspiration for their designs, and this is a rare example of the firm employing the Gothic style.

    Looking at the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Looking at the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York

    Plans for the structure were reportedly drawn by January 1893,2 and when ground was broken in April 1893, the New-York Daily Tribune reported that it would appear as “part of the original church building and will not have the semblance of an addition.”3

    They weren’t lying.

    Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York4

    Faced with Kibbe brownstone, the addition cost a modest $50,000,5 and was seamlessly attached to the church’s sanctuary, designed in 1846 by Joseph C. Wells (no relation to Joseph M. Wells of McKim, Mead & White).

    Three-story window on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Three-story window on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York

    The centerpiece of the parish house’s original design was the large Sunday School room, occupying a 60×30-foot space on the second and third floors, and topped with a skylight.6

    Described as “unusually commodious and well arranged,” the building’s interiors featured ash and oak woodwork and oak ceilings, with a mosaic floor in the vestibule, although it was said that the furnishings would be “of a simple and unostentatious character.”7

    Bay window on the east facade of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Bay window on the east facade of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York

    A cornerstone ceremony for the parish house was held on May 16, 1893,8 and the building was presumably completed by late 1893.

    While its original interiors have long since been altered, the parish house, now known as the South Wing,9 is a hidden gem in Greenwich Village, gracefully obscured by a beautiful walled garden and gnarled old street trees.

    Gallery

    Bay window on the east facade of Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Bay window on the east facade of Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Buttress on the east facade of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Buttress on the east facade of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Window spandrel with quatrefoils on the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Window spandrel with quatrefoils on the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Looking up at the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Looking up at the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Window and spandrel on the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Window and spandrel on the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Second-floor window and balcony on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Second-floor window and balcony on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Second-floor window on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Second-floor window on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Balustrade on the roof of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Balustrade on the roof of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Balustrade on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York
    Balustrade on the south elevation of the Parish House, First Presbyterian Church, New York

    References

    1. “Ground Broken For A Parish House.” New-York Daily Tribune, April 23, 1893, p. 4. ↩︎
    2. “A Memorial To Professor Bull.” New-York Daily Tribune, January 5, 1893, p. 4. ↩︎
    3. “Ground Broken For A Parish House.” New-York Daily Tribune, April 23, 1893, p. 4. ↩︎
    4. Illustration credit: ibid. ↩︎
    5. ibid. ↩︎
    6. ibid. ↩︎
    7. ibid. ↩︎
    8. “New Parish House’s Corner Stone.” New York Herald, May 15, 1893, p. 8. ↩︎
    9. First Presbyterian Church (Manhattan) – Wikipedia ↩︎

  • Samuel W. Bowne Residence (1900) – New York

    Schickel & Ditmars. Samuel W. Bowne Residence (1900 addition and renovation)
    Schickel & Ditmars. Samuel W. Bowne Residence (1900 addition and renovation)1
    Looking at the Samuel W. Bowne Residence from the southwest
    Looking at the Samuel W. Bowne Residence from the southwest
    Third-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Third-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Fifth-floor windows on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Fourth-floor windows on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Second-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Second-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Bow windows on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Bow window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Looking at the bow window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence from the southeast
    Looking at the bow windows on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence from the southeast
    Third-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Third-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Window spandrel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Window spandrel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Second-floor window and ribbed brownstone corbel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Second-floor window and ribbed brownstone corbel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Pedestal, cornice, and corbel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Pedestal, cornice, and corbel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Second-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Second-floor window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    First floor (altered) of the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    First floor (altered) of the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Pedestal on the roof of the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Pedestal on the roof of the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Pedestal, cornice, and corbel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Pedestal, cornice, and corbel on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Fleur de lis ornamentation on the first-floor facade of the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Fleur de lis ornamentation on the first-floor facade of the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York
    Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York

    References

    1. “Alterations.” Real Estate Record And Builders Guide, Volume 60, No. 1669, March 10, 1900, p. 428. ↩︎

  • Postcards from the South: Dinkler Motor Hotel – Atlanta

    Postcard illustration of the Dinkler Motor Hotel (1965), Atlanta

    This postcard depicts the Dinkler Motor Hotel in Atlanta, designed by Herbert C. Milkey Associates and completed in 1965.1 The building is still in use as a sleazy motel and is the only part of the Dinkler Plaza complex that survives.

    The card was published by Dinkler Hotel Corporation, “A wholly owned subsidiary of Transcontinental Investing Corporation”, and contained the following description on the back:

    THE DINKLER MOTOR HOTEL, Atlanta, Georgia
    The Crossroads of the South and center of social, business and political life. Air conditioned, television, free parking, swimming pool, four famous restaurants, outstanding convention service. International welcome center to greet foreign guests.

    The card was addressed to Mrs. Margaret Cohen of 47 Phipps Lane in Plainview, N.Y, and included the following heartfelt note:

    “3/1/66

    Honey —

    Thinking of you

    Love
    Irving“

    There was a Playboy Club in the motel.2 Just saying.

    References

    1. “Dinkler To Open 11-Story Addition”. The Atlanta Journal, February 17, 1965, p. 44. ↩︎
    2. O’Dark, Aft. “Playboy Club To Open Up With Fanfare”. The Atlanta Journal, February 27, 1965, p. 20. ↩︎

  • First Christian Church (1950) – Decatur, Georgia

    Poundstone, Ayers & Godwin. First Christian Church (1950). Decatur, Georgia.
    Poundstone, Ayers & Godwin. First Christian Church (1950). Decatur, Georgia.1 2 3 4
    Facade of First Christian Church sanctuary, Decatur, Georgia
    Facade of First Christian Church sanctuary, Decatur, Georgia
    Steeple of First Christian Church. Decatur, Georgia
    Steeple of First Christian Church. Decatur, Georgia
    Cornice and steeple on First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Cornice and steeple on First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Swan-neck pediment over the entrance of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Swan-neck pediment over the entrance of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Office of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Office of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Entrance beneath the steeple of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Entrance beneath the steeple of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Entablature and Ionic capital on the facade of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Entablature and Ionic capital on the facade of First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Sanctuary windows on First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia
    Sanctuary windows on First Christian Church, Decatur, Georgia

    References

    1. “Service Sunday To Mark Start On New Church”. The Atlanta Journal, September 22, 1949, p. 17. ↩︎
    2. “New Church”. The Atlanta Constitution, September 24, 1949, p. 14. ↩︎
    3. “$300,000 Building To Be Dedicated”. The Atlanta Constitution, November 25, 1950, p. 3. ↩︎
    4. “$300,000 Church to Be Dedicated in Decatur”. The Atlanta Journal, November 25, 1950, p. 4. ↩︎

  • Postcards from the South: Top of the Mart – Atlanta

    Postcard view of Top of the Mart (1961), Atlanta

    This postcard depicts the Top of the Mart restaurant at the Atlanta Merchandise Mart, designed by John C. Portman, Jr. of Edwards & Portman and completed in 1961.

    Published by Colourpicture of Boston, the card includes the following description of the restaurant:

    TOP OF THE MART
    240 Peachtree St., N.W. Atlanta Ga 30303


    This enchanting, live Mediterranean Garden Court is a delightful introduction to the exciting “Top of the Mart” restaurant-lounge on the 22nd floor of Atlanta’s new Merchandise Mart. Luncheon, dinner and late dining . . . famous Stouffer food and your favorite beverages are served. Party and banquet facilities are available. Call 688-8650.

    The postcard was addressed to Mr. + Mrs. C.M. Whyte of Platt Hill Road in Winsted, Connecticut. Oh, they were whyte, alright.

    A note dated “Mon.-8-2-76,” states:

    “Hi! Congratulation! to Angies Deal. You must be happy with the performance. I missed the boat this time. Did you go up? Had dinner at This Restorant twice. last yr – in Atlanta, very good. Am looking forward to my 4 days at Wentworth by the Sea. Love to all

    Aunt Agnes.”

    I thought only TV characters were named Aunt Agnes.