Monastery at Large

Category: Architectural Movements and Styles

  • Relic Signs: Dixie Drive-In – Greenwood, South Carolina

    Dixie Drive-In (1959). 600 Montague Avenue, Greenwood, South Carolina.
    Dixie Drive-In (1959). 600 Montague Avenue, Greenwood, South Carolina.1

    I’ve passed through Greenwood, South Carolina, countless times on back-and-forth trips between Abbeville and Newberry, two towns that contain surviving works by G.L. Norrman.

    On my last pass, I was happy to find this well-preserved sign for the Dixie Drive-In, which apparently debuted with the restaurant’s opening in 1959.

    This is a true Googie relic, which is quite rare in the Deep South. Sorry, I ain’t calling it Dixie.

    Location of Dixie Drive-In

    References

    1. “Announcing the Grand Opening of the Dixie Drive-In” (advertisement). The Index-Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina), October 17, 1959, p. 3. ↩︎

  • M.A. Hale Residence (1892) – Atlanta

    J.W. Golucke. M.A. Hale Residence (1892). Inman Park, Atlanta.
    J.W. Golucke. M.A. Hale Residence (1892). Inman Park, Atlanta.

    This Queen Anne-style home is Atlanta’s only known extant work designed by J.W. Golucke (1857-1907),1 2 a shyster carpenter who built a career on smooth talk and grand delusions of being a legitimate architect.

    A thoroughly fraudulent and incompetent designer, Golucke was one of several “Atlanta architects” of his era who did little actual work in the city, primarily peddling their shoddy plans to poor, rural communities that didn’t know any better.

    If you travel through backwoods Georgia, you’ll find more than a dozen county courthouses by Golucke’s design3—all of them terrible.

    Golucke fittingly died in a southwest Georgia jail cell while being held on charges of forgery,4 weeks after attempting suicide under the influence of drugs.5 6 His work is not celebrated here.

    Gallery

    Gable on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Gable on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Cornice and corbels on the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Cornice and corbels on the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Second-floor bay window on the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Second-floor bay window on the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Porch post and ornamentation on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Porch post and fretwork ornamentation on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Porch pediment and ornamentation on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Porch pediment and fretwork ornamentation on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Oval window and porch post on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Oval window and porch post on the facade of the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Fretwork ornamentation on the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta
    Fretwork ornamentation on the M.A. Hale Residence, Atlanta

    References

    1. “Atlanta’s Growth.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 13, 1892, p. 7. ↩︎
    2. “Mrs. M.A. Hale’s Death.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 29, 1896, p. 6. ↩︎
    3. J.W. Golucke – Wikipedia ↩︎
    4. “Death Takes J.W. Golucke”. The Atlanta Constitution, October 28, 1907, p. 6. ↩︎
    5. “J.W. Golucke Tries to Take His Life in Newton Jail”. The Atlanta Journal, October 7, 1907, p. 1. ↩︎
    6. “Atlanta Man Tries Suicide”. The Atlanta Constitution, October 8, 1907, p. 9. ↩︎

  • Metropolitan Club (1894) – New York

    Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White. Metropolitan Club (1894). New York.
    Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White. Metropolitan Club (1894). New York.1

    The Fifth Avenue side of the Metropolitan Club enjoys just a few minutes of direct light in the winter, so I had to work fast for this picture.

    It was a freezing day in January—hours before a snowstorm hit—but damn it, the result was worth the misery.

    Location of the Metropolitan Club

    Of the many fine examples of Stanford White‘s work in New York, the Metropolitan Club is the best.

    The building’s composition is simple yet refined; the elements are perfectly balanced, and the facade is delicately textured with just the right amount of ornamentation.

    Someday I’ll get the detail shots.

    The structure was designed in the style of an Italian palazzo and built of marble, with opulent interiors that I’ll certainly never photograph. The club, after all, was founded by millionaires and is now patronized by billionaires.

    I’ll just take pics by the Halal cart across the street, thanks.

    Gallery

    Interior2

    Main Hall of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    Main Hall of the Metropolitan Club, New York

    Elevations, Sections, and Floorplans3

    Sixtieth Street Elevation of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    Sixtieth Street Elevation of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    Section and detail drawings of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    Section and detail drawings of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    First floor plan of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    First floor plan of the Metropolitan Club, New York
    Second floor plan of the Metropolitan Club, New York

    References

    1. “New Club Of The Millionaires.” The World (New York), February 25, 1894, p. 26. ↩︎
    2. A Monograph of the Work of McKim Mead & White, 1879-1915. New York: The Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1915. ↩︎
    3. ibid. ↩︎

  • Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion (1991) – Atlanta

    Smallwood Reynolds Stewart Stewart & Associates. Atrium of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion (1991). Midtown, Atlanta.
    Smallwood Reynolds Stewart Stewart & Associates. Atrium of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion (1991). Midtown, Atlanta.1 2

    Atlanta’s overall architectural quality is among the worst of any major U.S. city, and you will never find a harsher critic than I of its subpar built environment.

    May it never be said, though, that I do not praise the few works in the city that are actually worthy of admiration. Here’s one: the 1991 expansion of the Georgian Terrace Hotel, designed by Smallwood Reynolds Stewart Stewart & Associates of Atlanta.

    The 20-story tower was attached to the original 1911 structure—the first of dozens of luxury hotels in the eastern United States designed by W.L. Stoddart of New York,3 4 5 who had deep ties to Atlanta,6 7 8 and designed several other buildings in the city, notably the Winecoff Hotel,9 10 site of the deadliest hotel fire in United States history.

    W.L. Stoddart. South facade of the Georgian Terrace Hotel (1911). Atlanta.
    W.L. Stoddart. South facade of the Georgian Terrace Hotel (1911), Atlanta.

    Efficient and prolific, Stoddart became a wealthy man from his many projects, although his legacy is all but forgotten today. I would argue that’s because he spent the bulk of his career sacrificing his creative talent—and there is ample evidence that he had actual talent—by lazily repeating the same designs, which became increasingly flavorless and banal.

    Compare Stoddart’s Poinsett Hotel in Greenville, South Carolina;11 the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina;12 or the Hotel Savannah in Savannah, Georgia:13 the 3 buildings are nearly identical in appearance and plan.

    Thomas Wolfe was scathingly accurate in his assessment of Stoddart’s Battery Park Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina: “It was being stamped out of the same mold, as if by some gigantic biscuit-cutter of hotels that had produced a thousand others like it all over the country.”14

    After decades of neglect, the Georgian Terrace was abandoned in the 1980s and taken over by squatters, further damaged by a series of fires.15 16 Spared from inevitable demolition, the structure was initially renovated into luxury apartments,17 18 19 with Smallwood’s soaring glass-and-steel atrium, seen here, ingeniously connecting Stoddart’s hotel building with the modern addition.

    Looking at the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion from the west
    Looking at the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion from the west

    Considered radical at the time, the design met with some local opposition20 21(isn’t that always the case?), but in the years since, the expanded Georgian Terrace—once again a hotel—has become an integral part of Midtown Atlanta, and is something rare for the city: a beautiful and unique space that preserves history.

    Gallery

    Looking up at the atrium of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Looking up at the atrium of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Exposed exterior wall of the original Georgian Terrace Hotel in the atrium of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Exposed exterior wall of the original Georgian Terrace Hotel in the atrium of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Lobby entrance in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Lobby entrance in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    First-floor lobby in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    First-floor lobby in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    First-floor lobby in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    First-floor lobby in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Stairwell in the lobby of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Stairwell in the lobby of the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Ground-floor lobby in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Ground-floor lobby in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Conference center in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta
    Conference center in the Georgian Terrace Hotel Expansion, Atlanta

    References

    1. Patureau, Alan. “Landmark Gets New Lease On Life”. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, December 9, 1989, p. A-1. ↩︎
    2. Patureau, Alan. “A restored Georgian Terrace will shine again in city’s skyline”. The Atlanta Constitution, May 22, 1991, p. D1. ↩︎
    3. “$500,000 Hotel On Mims Corner”. The Atlanta Constitution, February 16, 1910, p. 5. ↩︎
    4. “New York Architect Is In The City”. The Atlanta Journal, August 13, 1910, p. 3. ↩︎
    5. “Atlanta’s New Hotel.” The Atlanta Constitution, October 4, 1911, p. 4. ↩︎
    6. “City Notes.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 26, 1892, p. 5. ↩︎
    7. “Bird’s-Eye View Of The Cotton States And International Exposition – Atlanta, Georgia, V.S.A.”, The Atlanta Constitution, November 4, 1894, p. 14. ↩︎
    8. “Miss Elizabeth Powell To Wed Mr. W.L. Stoddard”. The Atlanta Journal, February 19, 1898, p. 7. ↩︎
    9. “Peachtree Hotel To Cost $500,000”. The Atlanta Constitution, June 26, 1912, p. 3. ↩︎
    10. “15-Story Hotel To Grace Peachtree; Will Cost $600,000”. The Atlanta Journal, October 20, 1912, p. 1. ↩︎
    11. “Cleveland Firm To Get It At $925,000 And Structure Will Soon Be Fine Reality”. The Greenville News (Greenville, South Carolina), May 30, 1924, p. 2. ↩︎
    12. “Twelve-Story Structure For City Is Planned”. The Greenville News (Greenville, South Carolina), August 3, 1922, p. 1. ↩︎
    13. The Architectural Review, Volume 2, Part 1 (January 1913), p. 136. ↩︎
    14. Wolfe, Thomas. You Can’t Go Home Again. New York: Scribner (2011), p. 97. ↩︎
    15. Cordell, Actor. “Georgian Terrace, Imperial: old landmarks, new breed of ‘guests’”. The Atlanta Journal–Constitution, September 3, 1987, Intown Extra, p. 10D. ↩︎
    16. White, Gayle. “Georgian Terrace Hotel Is Damaged by Fire”. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 26, 1988, p. 5C. ↩︎
    17. Patureau, Alan. “A restored Georgian Terrace will shine again in city’s skyline”. The Atlanta Constitution, May 22, 1991, p. D1. ↩︎
    18. Cordell, Actor. “Georgian Terrace, in new clothes, makes bow”. The Atlanta Constitution, October 17, 1991, Intown Extra, p. D7. ↩︎
    19. Royston, Deborah. “Grand Comeback”. The Atlanta Journal, October 17, 1991, p. E1. ↩︎
    20. Fox, Catherine. “The Art of Adding On”. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, June 24, 1990, p. E-1. ↩︎
    21. Fox, Catherine. “With Preservation Ordinance in place, it’s a whole new ballgame for UDC”. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, June 24, 1990, p. N-2. ↩︎