Monastery at Large

Category: Beaux-Arts

Postcards from the South: Sarasota Terrace Hotel – Sarasota, Florida
I grew up in Florida, so I can say with complete authority that it’s a miserable state: ugly, plagued with deadly heat and reptiles, and teeming with the most hostile, willfully ignorant people in the United States—though they’ve got a lot of competition these days.

In recent years, I’ve occasionally dipped back into Florida to photograph buildings, but only in the winter, when snakes and alligators are in hibernation. Unfortunately, the people never disappear.

I visited Sarasota twice, primarily to see its surviving Modernist structures from the Sarasota School of Architecture, but I never got around to photographing the old Sarasota Terrace Hotel, completed in 1926¹ and designed by Pringle & Smith² of Atlanta.

Location of Sarasota Terrace Hotel

In truth, the building just doesn’t interest me that much. It’s a standard Beaux-Arts affair: handsome and solidly executed, but not unlike a thousand others of the same style.

The 10-story hotel cost $750,000³ to build and was developed by Charles Ringling⁴ of the Ringling Brothers. Yep, the circus people.

When the Sarasota Terrace closed in 1972, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune noted that “it never achieved the prominance [sic] of some of the other area hotels.”⁵

Sarasota County purchased the property the same year, and the building was renovated to serve as the county’s administration center.⁶

Pringle & Smith designed another building in Sarasota at the same time as the hotel: the nearby American National Bank,⁷ ⁸ also 10 stories, and also underwhelming.

Atlanta architects have rarely done their best work in Florida.

References
1. “Robinson First Guest At Sarasota Terrace”. Sarasota Herald (Sarasota, Florida), May 15, 1926, p. 1. ↩︎
2. Craig, Robert M. The Architecture of Francis Palmer Smith, Atlanta’s Scholar-Architect. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press (2012), p. 120-22. ↩︎
3. “Building Activities Here”. Sarasota Herald (Sarasota, Florida), June 29, 1926, p. 2. ↩︎
4. “Ringlings To Arrive Saturday”. Sarasota Herald (Sarasota, Florida), January 29, 1926, Section Four, p. 1. ↩︎
5. Cullinane, Jim. “Hotel Rooms, Corridors Now Quiet”. Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Florida), December 11, 1972, p. 2B. ↩︎
6. The Sarasota Terrace Hotel | Sarasota History Alive! ↩︎
7. “Permit Issued For Bank Home”. Sarasota Herald (Sarasota, Florida), October 21, 1925, p. 16. ↩︎
8. “American National Is Towering Structure Of Prominence In City”. Sarasota Herald (Sarasota, Florida), December 15, 1926, p. 12. ↩︎
September 13, 2026
Postcards from the South: New Orleans Courthouse
I find it interesting that the same people who insist New Orleans is some kind of exceptional cultural destination (it’s not) also admit to being shitfaced the entire time they visit there.

“There’s no other place like it,” they gush, after recounting the evening they spent barfing their guts out in a French Quarter gutter. Truly unique and magical.

If your personality is alcohol—and to be fair, that’s a large chunk of the American population—I can see why New Orleans would be appealing: I’ve never seen another city with so many bars and liquor stores. But I digress.

The postcards here depict one of the few buildings in the French Quarter of any architectural caliber: the New Orleans Courthouse, completed in 1909¹ and designed by Frederick W. Brown, associated with A. Ten Eyck Brown (his son²) and P. Thornton Marye,³ both of Atlanta.

Location of the New Orleans Courthouse

Built for a princely $1,000,000,⁴ the structure was designed in the obligatory Beaux-Arts style, faced with Georgia marble and matching white terracotta trim.⁵

Frederick W. Brown was probably little more than a figurehead for the project: he’d reportedly worked as the assistant state architect of New York,⁶ so using his name must have lent a certain gravitas.

A. Ten Eyck Brown had previously worked as an assistant in the supervising architect’s office at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.⁷ ⁸ He was more of a salesman than a designer, and was also quite willing to claim other people’s work as his own, so who knows how much he contributed—probably not a lot.

Brown and Marye entered into partnership when Brown moved to Atlanta from Washington, D.C., circa 1906, and it appears they joined forces expressly to work on the courthouse. Brown was a competent designer, but Marye was better. The firm dissolved in 1907,⁹ two years before the project’s completion.

Marye appears to have been the primary designer for the New Orleans Courthouse: he supervised construction and provided progress reports to the press,¹⁰ ¹¹ ¹² and attended the building’s official inspection with the state governor.¹³

As interior work neared completion in late 1909, Marye’s firm handled the bids for the lighting and furniture,¹⁴ ¹⁵ and he even traveled to New Orleans to discuss furniture selection.¹⁶

Meanwhile, Brown’s last recorded visit was at the building’s cornerstone ceremony in January 1908.¹⁷ Later reports stated he was a “consulting architect” on the project.¹⁸

Anecdotally, I see a whole lot of Marye in the design, specifically in the cornice, bays, and windows, which recall his work on the State Administration Building (1914)¹⁹ in Raleigh, North Carolina.

For whatever reason, A. Ten Eyck Brown rarely mentioned his father in biographical sketches, and when he did, he never identified their relationship. One sketch from 1909 noted :

“…in association with Fred W. Brown, he entered the competition for the best design for the magnificent court house at New Orleans, La.”²⁰

When Frederick W. Brown died in Atlanta in 1923, the Atlanta newspapers didn’t report it, but word got back to New Orleans,²¹ where he opened a practice in 1907,²² ²³ although it appears he never did much work there beyond the courthouse.

In the 1890s, the senior Brown practiced in Buffalo, New York, where one reporter wrote the following in 1901:

“I wonder what has become of Frederick W. Brown, who came to this State some years ago with good prestige from other places but no certificate of membership in the American Association of Architects, and who was a scholarly, brainy, rather handsome and entirely capable man, full of ideas and with a bright gifted boy following in his footsteps with enormous ability as an artist and architect. And I thought the older Brown was going to make a big hit in Buffalo and get big contracts on municipal work, as public schools and other buildings, but he didn’t get a smell…”²⁴

Speaking of which, the New Orleans Courthouse is surrounded by the bars of the French Quarter, so you know it gets a smell—probably from all the people barfing their guts out in the gutter.

See how I tie this shit together?

References
1. “Millions Invested In Modern Buildings In Queen City of South”. The New Orleans Item, August 30, 1909, p. 23. ↩︎
2. “The Romance Is Passing”. Alexandria Daily Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana), April 3, 1909, p. 4. ↩︎
3. “Courthouse Commission Decides The Prize Plan”. The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), April 7, 1906, p. 12. ↩︎
4. “New Courthouse Building Will Be Completed Four Months In Advance Of The Time Specified In Contract”. The New Orleans Item, October 31, 1907, p. 2. ↩︎
5. ibid. ↩︎
6. “The Romance Is Passing”. Alexandria Daily Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana), April 3, 1909, p. 4. ↩︎
7. ibid. ↩︎
8. “A. Ten Eyck Brown Architect”. The Atlanta Journal, October 17, 1909, p. 68. ↩︎
9. ibid. ↩︎
10. “Mr. Marye Here.” The Times-Democrat (New Orleans), January 8, 1908, p. 5. ↩︎
11. “Mr. Marye On Visit To New Courthouse”. The Daily States (New Orleans), May 3, 1909, p. 3. ↩︎
12. “Looking After the Courthouse.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), May 4, 1909, p. 16. ↩︎
13. “To Invite Proposals”. The Times-Democrat (New Orleans), August 4, 1909, p. 5. ↩︎
14. “Courthouse Commission.” (advertisement) The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), May 16, 1909, p. 11. ↩︎
15. “Proposals.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), August 24, 1909, p. 9. ↩︎
16. “Courthouse Furniture.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), October 16, 1909, p. 7. ↩︎
17. “Hundreds Present At Dedication Of Million Dollar Courthouse”. New Orleans Item, January 8, 1908, p. 1. ↩︎
18. “Architect Suggests 20-Story Courthouse”. The Miami Herald, February 13, 1925, p. 3. ↩︎
19. “State Building Will Open Monday”. The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), February 1, 1914, p. 13. ↩︎
20. “A. Ten Eyck Brown Architect”. The Atlanta Journal, October 17, 1909, p. 68. ↩︎
21. “Frederick W. Brown Dead, Says Atlanta News”. The New Orleans Item, September 26, 1893, p. 20. ↩︎
22. “Frederick W. Brown.” The Daily States (New Orleans), September 27, 1907, p. 11. ↩︎
23. “Courthouse Architects.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), September 27, 1907, p. 12. ↩︎
24. “Mostly About People”. Buffalo Evening Times, August 3, 1901, p. 4. ↩︎
September 11, 2026
Samuel W. Bowne Residence (1900) – New York
Schickel & Ditmars. Samuel W. Bowne Residence (1900 addition and renovation)¹

Looking at the Samuel W. Bowne Residence from the southwest

Third-floor window 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

Bow window on the Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York

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

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

Pedestal, cornice, and corbel 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

Pedestal on the roof of 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

Samuel W. Bowne Residence, New York

References
1. “Alterations.” Real Estate Record And Builders Guide, Volume 60, No. 1669, March 10, 1900, p. 428. ↩︎
August 30, 2026
Postcards from the South: Hillyer Trust Building – Atlanta

This postcard depicts the Hillyer Bank and Trust Building in Atlanta, designed by Hentz & Reid and completed in 1911.

Published by I.F. Co. of Atlanta, the card was postmarked in Atlanta on August 3, 1913, and addressed to Mrs. J.H. Harris of McCredie, Missouri.

The following note is written on the back:

“I am mighty glad to hear from you, will answer soon

This is a lonesome Sunday wish I could be with you all

Brother“

Gallery

Hentz & Reid. Hillyer Bank and Trust Building (1911). Atlanta.

Entrance of the Hillyer Bank and Trust Building, Atlanta

Second-floor window and balcony on the Hillyer Bank and Trust Building, Atlanta

West facade of the Hillyer Bank and Trust Building, Atlanta

August 11, 2026
Postcards from the South: Candler Building – Atlanta

This postcard depicts the epitome of Atlanta piss elegance: the atrocious Candler Building, designed by George E. Murphy and completed in 1905. Also in the foreground is a portion of the Peck Building, completed in 1893 and designed by G.L. Norrman.

Published by the Sugarman-Hirsch Co. of Atlanta, the card was printed by the Fort Wayne Printing Co. of Fort Wayne, Indiana, postmarked in Atlanta on August 25, 1937, and addressed to Miss Edith McKinney of Route 4, Lexington, Kentucky.

The following note is written on the back:

“Came down on train with Dr. Powell – on his way to Gainesville Ga. to perform a wedding member Bap. Sunday School Board. Tell Jane will write a regular Pierce Epistle tomorrow. Love, Ruth“

August 3, 2026
Public Comfort Building, Piedmont Park (1911) – Atlanta
Harry Leslie Walker of King & Walker. Public Comfort Building (1911), Piedmont Park, Atlanta.¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

Piazza on the Public Comfort Building, Atlanta

Keystone on the Public Comfort Building, Atlanta

Capital on the Public Comfort Building, Atlanta

Window on the Public Comfort Building, Atlanta

Cornice on the Public Comfort Building, Atlanta

East elevation of the Public Comfort Building, Atlanta

References
1. “Handsome Building For Piedmont Park”. The Atlanta Constitution, April 20, 1910, p. 7. ↩︎
2. “Plans Adopted For New Public Comfort Bldg.” The Atlanta Journal, April 20, 1910, p. 6. ↩︎
3. “Parks Will Divide Up The $57,000 They Got”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 21, 1911, p. 3. ↩︎
4. “Barring Of Kinfolks Makes Cochran Tired”. The Atlanta Journal, January 24, 1911, p. 9. ↩︎
5. “Refreshment Bids.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 16, 1911, p. 5. ↩︎
May 25, 2026
United States Post Office (1913) – New York
William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White. United States Post Office (1913). New York.

The imposing United States Post Office in New York City was a very late work of McKim, Mead & White—so late that two of the firm’s namesake founders, Charles McKim and Stanford White, had been dead for several years by the time it was completed in 1913.

At that point, McKim, Mead & White was a well-oiled machine that ran on an army of anonymous architects, but the project is now primarily credited to William M. Kendall.

The gleaming white five-story structure occupies two blocks of prime real estate in Midtown Manhattan and was built to complement its original neighbor, Pennsylvania Station,¹ also designed by McKim, Mead & White, which was demolished in 1963.

Location of the United States Post Office

The firm’s later output was often unremarkable and derivative, but there’s something special about this building, which is chock-full of exquisite materials and elegant details that reveal thoughtful attention to design despite the project’s massive scale.

United States Post Office, New York, circa 1913

Built for a hefty $6 million, the original structure included over 400,000 square feet of floor space and was composed of 165,000 cubic feet of Massachusetts granite, 18,000 tons of steel, 7 million bricks, and 200,000 square feet of glass.²

Most of that glass went into the giant skylight over the building’s central workroom, which was reportedly the largest room in the United States when the facility opened.³

Looking at the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

The building’s public-facing interior spaces were elaborately decorated with Tennessee marble on the floors and walls, topped by ornamental plaster ceilings featuring the seals of 10 nations recognized for doing “great things for the advancement of the universal mail service.”⁴

A Harvard professor reportedly suggested that the architects add the inscription spanning the building’s facade, quoting Herodotus: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”⁵

The statement originally referred to mail service in ancient Greece, but its inclusion in the building’s design made it an unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service.

Inscription and Corinthian capitals on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

A portion of the building still serves as a post office, but most of the structure now houses the Moynihan Train Hall, which opened in 2021.

The demolition of Penn Station is often cited as the event that launched the historic preservation movement in the United States, and the dark, dank, subterranean maze of low-slung corridors that replaced it is entirely unworthy of one of the world’s great cities.

Although that unnavigable mess still exists, converting the former post office into a modern train hall has restored much-needed prestige to New York’s landscape, and it’s encouraging to see such a fine building put to a worthy new use.

Gallery

Looking at the northeast corner of the United States Post Office, New York

Cornice and Corinthian capital on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Inscription on the northeast corner of the United States Post Office, New York

Inscription on the southeast corner of the United States Post Office, New York

Fourth-floor windows, inscription, and Corinthian capitals on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Third-floor window on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Looking at the northeast corner of the United States Post Office, New York

Fourth-floor windows, inscription, and Corinthian capitals on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Ornamental crest on the United States Post Office, New York

Corinthian capitals and entablature on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Ornamental iron on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Fifth-floor windows on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Inscription and Corinthian capitals on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Niche on the northeast corner of the United States Post Office, New York

Ornamental iron spandrels on the facade of the United States Post Office, New York

Columns and front steps of the United States Post Office, New York

Southeast corner of the United States Post Office, New York

Front steps of the United States Post Office, New York

Floorplans and Sections⁶

First floor plan of the United States Post Office, New York

Second floor plan of the United States Post Office, New York

Detail and section drawings of the United States Post Office, New York

Detail drawings of the plaster ceiling and public corridor in the United States Post Office, New York

References
1. “New York’s New Post Office A $6,000,000 Wonder”. The Sun (New York), March 2, 1913, p. 1. ↩︎
2. ibid. ↩︎
3. ibid. ↩︎
4. ibid. ↩︎
5. ibid. ↩︎
6. A Monograph of the Work of McKim Mead & White, 1879-1915. New York: The Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1915. ↩︎
May 14, 2026
696 Peachtree Apartments (1923) – Atlanta
Hentz, Reid & Adler. 696 Peachtree Apartments (1923). Midtown, Atlanta.¹ ² ³ ⁴

Looking up at the facade of 696 Peachtree Apartments

Segmental pediment and ornamentation on second-floor window of 696 Peachtree Apartments

Cornice and windows on 696 Peachtree Apartments

Fifth-floor window on the facade of 696 Peachtree Apartments

Ball finial on the north elevation of 696 Peachtree Apartments

Looking up at the north elevation of 696 Peachtree Apartments

North elevation of 696 Peachtree Apartments

References
1. “Building Permits”. The Atlanta Journal, October 20, 1922, p. 12. ↩︎
2. $250,000 Bond Issue Is Handled By Adair Co.” The Atlanta Constitution, November 16, 1922, p. 3. ↩︎
3. “Dr. Coon Discovers An Apartment House Built Right”. The Atlanta Constitution, May 6, 1923, p. 7. ↩︎
4. “Apartments For Rent 696 Peachtree Street” (advertisement). The Atlanta Journal, June 3, 1923, p. 4F. ↩︎
April 17, 2026
Atlanta Lodge, No. 78, of B.P.O. Elks (1911)
J.R. MacEachron of MacEachron & Trowbridge. Atlanta Lodge, No. 78, of B.P.O. Elks (1911). Atlanta.¹ ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

Entrance of Atlanta Lodge

Looking at Atlanta Lodge from the west

Cornice on the east elevation of Atlanta Lodge

Terracotta spandrel panel on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

First-floor window on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

Pilaster and terracotta molding on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

Cornice, pediment, and terracotta ornamentation on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

Third-floor window on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

Terracotta molding at the entrance of Atlanta Lodge

Cornice on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

Terracotta corbel and molding on the facade of Atlanta Lodge

Entrance of Atlanta Lodge

References
1. Moran, Robert. “Floor Plans For Handsome Elks’ Building, Which Will Be Home Of Atlanta Lodge No. 78”. The Atlanta Journal, August 14, 1910, p. 3. ↩︎
2. “New Elks Home Presents Most Pleasing Exterior”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 31, 1911, p. 3. ↩︎
3. “First Meeting Of Elks In New Home Tonight”. The Atlanta Constitution, November 2, 1911, p. 7. ↩︎
4. “Elks Hold Initiation In Beautiful New Home”. The Atlanta Constitution, November 3, 1911, p. 8. ↩︎
5. “First Initiation Held In The Elks’ New Home”. The Atlanta Journal, November 3, 1911, p. 22. ↩︎
April 15, 2026
Capitol View Masonic Temple (1923) – Atlanta
Francis P. Smith of Pringle & Smith. Capitol View Masonic Temple (1923). Capitol View, Atlanta.¹ ² ³ ⁴

Windows on the east facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

South facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Limestone facing and pediment on the southeast entrance of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Dentilled cornice on the east facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Cornice on the south facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Cornice, frieze, and architrave on the east facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Pilasters with Corinthian capitals on the east facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Limestone facing on the southeast entrance of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Ground-floor store window on the south facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

Arch window on the south facade of the Capitol View Masonic Temple, Atlanta

References
1. “Masons To Begin Work On Temple”. The Atlanta Journal, August 27, 1922, p. 8F ↩︎
2. “New Temple Of The Capitol View Masonic Lodge”. The Atlanta Journal, November 4, 1923, p. 8F. ↩︎
3. “Development Work In Capitol View Near Completion”. The Atlanta Journal, September 30, 1923, p. 8C. ↩︎
4. Craig, Robert M. The Architecture of Francis Pringle Smith: Atlanta’s Scholar-Architect. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press (2012). ↩︎
April 1, 2026