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Home , Century Association, Jefferson Market Library, Margot Gayle

spring 2008 metropolitan chapter of the victorian society in america

SoHo Residents Welcome Proposal Honoring : For Historic District Expansion A Centennial Celebration The Metropolitan Chapter’s proposal to expand that are landmark-worthy undesignated. The the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District gained proposed expansion includes buildings on the exposure before an appreciative audience at the west side of West below Houston Annual Meeting of the SoHo Alliance at St. Street, the east side of Crosby from just south Anthony’s Church on November 27. PowerPoint of Spring Street to Howard Street and the south

illustrations and take-home handouts enhanced side of Howard at its nexus with Crosby, west the presentation by members of the Preservation to Broadway. Of the 72 sites involved, nine are Committee. buildings with cast-iron fronts, and one is a vacant Melissa Baldock led off the presentation by lot. Designation, Baldock stressed, would ensure explaining that Margot Gayle, a founder of the that whatever is built on the vacant lot would be in Metropolitan Chapter and the preeminent expert keeping the architectural heritage of the district.

on cast-iron architecture who was instrumental in Inappropriate signage and insensitive renovations,

obtaining the initial district designation, has long she added, would be curbed. wanted the expansion. Gayle will be 100 years old Stephen Gottlieb was the next speaker, but On May 14, Margot Gayle will

in May, and Baldock suggested that expansion of before he could begin, a man who identified celebrate her 100th birthday, and to honor one of the Victorian Society’s founders, the district would be an appropriate birthday gift. himself as a resident of Crosby Street interrupted the Metropolitan Chapter is throwing her The proposed expansion, Baldock pointed out, to support designation. “We need protection,” he a birthday party! The event will be held at would correct a mistake made in 1973 when the emphasized. “I didn’t arrange that,” said Gottlieb 6:00 p.m. on her birthday at the Century SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District was designated. before describing architectural details of some Association, 7 West 43rd Street. The district lines were drawn down the middle of buildings dating from the 1860s to the 1880s. As many of you know, it was around boundary streets, leaving many similar buildings Continued on back page Margot’s kitchen table that the Victorian Society in America was founded. At the urging of Sir Nicholas Pevsner, who recognized that Americans were rapidly losing scores of nineteenth-century structures, Margot, J. Stewart Johnson and Carolyn Karpinski began to gather volunteers and in the summer of 1966 officially founded the Victorian Society in America. Today, that organization boasts 16 chapters and over 1,300 members. Margot’s commitment to reaches far beyond her work with our organization. Since the 1960s, when she successfully campaigned to save the Jefferson Market Courthouse, she has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness as to the importance and significance of Victorian architecture. Invitations for this Centennial Celebration will be mailed in early April, but mark your calendars now. We hope you will join us on May 14 at the Century Association to wish Margot a happy birthday and honor a woman who has devoted her life to preserving the rich architectural legacy of City and the Victorian heritage of our country. Two buildings of identical design: 34 Howard St. (left) is in the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District

while 29 Howard St. is undesignated. Photos by Stephen Gottlieb Margot Gayle at ceremony, November 27, 2007 Photo by Simeon Bankoff

HAVE YOU MET THESE CHAPTER MEMBERS? Melissa Baldock, the Chapter’s recording vice president of the Metropolitan Chapter. secretary since 2004, energetically performs a In 2002, he received the Chapter’s Lifetime number of other duties as well. She maintains its Achievement Award. web site and does the PowerPoint presentation This past fall, the Newark Public Library for the annual awards ceremonies. As a member honored Dane at a gala celebrating his 60 years of the Preservation Committee, she worked on on its staff. Also honoring him was an exhibition, developing the proposal to expand the SoHo- The World in Prints, reflecting his acumen in Cast Iron Historic District that has become a shaping the library’s collection of fine prints. major effort of the Chapter. She also writes the While his official title is special collections testimony that the Chapter presents at hearings librarian, he prefers “keeper of the prints,” a of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. As designation he spotted on a door at the Victoria a member of the Lecture Committee she arranges and Albert Museum in London. for two speakers each year. In the upcoming series, Under his care, the collection has grown to more she has engaged Barbara Cohen-Stratyner to than 23,000 prints, ranging from a 1545 engraving lecture on vaudeville. to etchings and woodcuts by contemporary artists. A native of Cincinnati where her mother was He has expanded the holdings with posters, artists’ her high school principal, Baldock came to New books, autograph collections, shopping bags and York to study at NYU. After graduating, she pop-up books. In 1997 the library’s Board of worked for a year for the American Institute of Directors named the assemblage the William

Architects and then for two years for Landmark J. Dane Fine Print Collection. In 2004, Dane West! before enrolling in ’s established the Gertrude Fine Prints Endowment historic preservation program. She received her Fund, honoring his late sister, to maintain and M.S. degree in 2003 and subsequently served on expand the collection. the board of the Preservation Alumni. Fresh out Dane joined the library staff in 1947 as a clerk of Columbia, she joined the Historic Districts Baldock maintains a keen interest in Coney Island, in the art and music department after graduating Council as a preservation associate and reviewed from the University of New Hampshire in his the subject of her master’s thesis. In it, she looked for applications from all five boroughs for alterations ways to keep the area affordable while adding new native state. His undergraduate education there to landmarked structures. features to bring back fun for people who cannot was interrupted by military service during World In 2004, Baldock moved into her current afford to travel far for recreation. One of her own War II. In the Army, his high mathematics position as director of preservation and research favorite forms of recreation is swimming. scores led to his being sent to Newark College of for the Society for Historic Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Preservation. In a recent major project, she oversaw William J. Dane became a member preparation of a proposal to designate a South of the Victorian Society in America within Village Historic District that has been forwarded months of its founding in 1966. Introduced to to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The the fledgling organization by one of its founders, research uncovered a tantalizing social history as J. Stewart Johnson, he helped formulate and well as surveying the architecture. carry out programs to foster appreciation of the Once a week Baldock teaches a class on culture of the Victorian era as well as conserving preservation at Fashion Institute of Technology. its architecture. During many years as a Board Her students are seniors studying interior design. member, he was at various times treasurer and

EMBELLISHMENTS

Upon completion of the building, the The embellishments for this issue were provided by Kristen Reoch, project Regiment hired the most prominent design firms in New York to create stunning director of the Seventh Regiment interiors in 1879-81. One of the more well Armory Conservancy. On October 5, known firms was Associated Artists, which 2007, she gave members of included , the Victorian Society a stellar and Candace tour of the national landmark Wheeler. The regimental rooms, and provided a glimpse at the particularly the Veterans Room and the Library, have been incredible restoration work taking place. called the most spectacular Technology) to study bridge building, but before his spaces anywhere in New York Located on course was completed he was shipped to Europe in City. The an infantry unit that crossed Belgium and Germany. between 66th and 67th Streets, Landmarks Commission has the Armory contains some of the He was in the force that met the Red Army at the described the reception and finest example of the American company rooms as “a nationally Elbe River in 1945, dividing the Third Reich.

Aesthetic Movement interiors important collection of high- After the war, Dane studied at the Universite style interiors, designed to de Nancy in France before returning to the in the country. Designed by Charles Clinton, the armory reflect the late-Victorian taste of University of New Hampshire. In 1950, the the late 1870s and early 1880s, exterior was completed in 1879 Newark Public Library allowed him to study and is the only building of its with decorative sensibilities for a year at the Sorbonne. During that time, of the Aesthetic Movement, type to be constructed and and woodwork mostly in the he spent every afternoon at the Louvre. He furnished with private funds. Renaissance Revival style.” continued his art education with courses at Harvard and and earned The building originally served as The embellishments in this the headquarters for the Army’s Seventh issue showcase a few of the Armory’s a master of library sciences degree at Drexel

Regiment, known as the Silk Stocking decorative elements. University in Philadelphia. Travel has been part

Regiment due to the large number of social For more information about the of his self-education through the years. In the past year he toured Barcelona with the Victorian elites counted among its membership. Armory restoration, visit the website www.armoryonpark.org. Society Summer School Alumni and took a summer vacation in Iceland.

All lectures are at the Donnell Library Auditorium, 20 W. 53rd St., New York City LECTURE SERIES Admission is FREE; no reservations required TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 6 PM in Bird in a Gilded Cage, to independent young translate the beauty and subtleties of the natural The Proper Decoration of Book Covers: women in control of their free time, as was Katie world into glass. This lecture will explore sources The Life and Work of Alice C. Morse Casey who demanded that her beau take her out of Tiffany’s inspiration and the materials and MINDELL DUBANSKY, preservation librarian, to the ball game. In addition, young immigrant methods used to masterfully replicate naturalistic Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum working women became popular characters. effects of color, texture and pattern in his leaded- of Art and curator of an exhibition on Morse and her glass windows and lampshades. book covers at the , on view January 24- March 7. Virtually unknown today, Alice C. Morse TUESDAY, MAY 13, 6 PM achieved fame in the late 1880s as a designer of The Great War of the Architects: intricate book covers and case bindings. She Religious Architecture in New York trained in stained glass production with John during the Victorian Period La Farge and was a designer for Louis Comfort DR. RONALD J. BROWN, assistant professor of Tiffany before her career as a designer of book history, ethnic studies and political science at Touro covers, literary posters and ephemeral materials. College and adjunct professor of world religions at Unification Theological Seminary In the Victorian TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 6 PM era, Jews, Catholics and Orthodox Christians Women in the (Vaudeville) House from the Russian, German and Austro- TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 6 PM Hungarian empires, Christians and Jews from BARBARA COHEN-STRATYNER, curator Transmitting Beauties of Nature to Elements of of exhibitions, The for the Lebanon, Armenia and Syria and Catholics Decoration: The Glass Gardens of Louis C. Tiffany from Italy and Ireland transformed New York Performing Arts. Recognizing women’s increasing LINDSY PARROTT, manager and curator of into the world’s most religiously, ethnically and discretionary income, vaudeville circuit managers, The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass Louis C. linguistically diverse city. Construction of houses led by B.F. Keith, targeted them to attend afternoon Tiffany devoted significant time and money to of worship reflecting their countries of origins performances. As a result, the image of women developing new glass formulas and innovative was central to the immigrants’ retaining their in vaudeville shifted from victim of marriage, as fabrication techniques that enabled him to religions and cultures.

Members receive detailed flyers/invitations before events. Advance prepaid reservations are required. Contact us for flyers or invitations. TOURS & SPECIAL EVENTS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 11 AM Austen Abbey and tile floors by Henry Mercer. SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 10 AM Eying the Look of Books Lunch included. Hiking Around Hamilton Heights The exhibition Detecting Alice: The Life and Work Tour requires a minimum of 30 participants Historian John Reddick will lead a walking tour of Alice C. Morse will be seen in a two-hour tour $110/Chapter members; $125/nonmembers of the area where Alexander Hamilton built a

guided by its curator, Mindell Dubansky. (She Reserve by April 2. country house in 1802. Construction of row will lecture on Morse on February 12.) The houses began in earnest in the 1880s, and City College began building its campus in the early exhibit in a members-only room of the Grolier TUESDAY, MAY 13, 7 PM 1900s. Among the area’s churches is Our Lady of Club includes all the known books with covers Lourdes, whose façade and some other elements designed by Morse as well as literary posters and Metropolitan Chapter’s Annual Meeting This year’s annual business meeting will follow were salvaged from downtown buildings. ephemeral materials relating to her work. Tour limited to 30 participants Tour limited to 30 participants. the lecture at the Donnell Library Auditorium, $25/Chapter members; $35/nonmembers $20/Chapter members; $30/nonmembers 20 W. 53rd St. On the agenda are the treasurer’s Reserve by May 30

Reserve by February 18. report and election of directors and officers. SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 8 AM

SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 10:30 AM WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 6 PM The Goulds and the Guggenheims: “Robber Baronial” Splendor on the North Shore Bushwick: Old and New Honoring Margot Gayle: All-day bus tour will explore one of Long Island’s Walking tour of Brooklyn neighborhood led by greatest estates containing three spectacular Joseph Svehlak, a professional tour guide, will A Centennial Celebration mansions and myriad outbuildings. To be visited reveal its architectural history from the second The 100th birthday of Margot Gayle, a founder of are Hempstead House, designed by Hunt & Hunt

half of the nineteenth century to more recent the Victorian Society in America, will be celebrated for Howard Gould; Falaise, created by Frederick

times. Arion Hall, Ulmer Brewery, a Carnegie along with the Annual Awards Ceremony at: Sterner for Harry Guggenheim, and Mille Fleur, crafted by Polhemus and Coffin for Mrs. Daniel library and mansions of beer barons are among Century Association, 7 W. 43rd St. the Victorian buildings on our route. We will Guggenheim. August Allen drew inspiration for

enter St. Barbara’s Church, built in 1910. the massive stone stables from Ireland’s Kilkenny

Tour limited to 30 participants SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1:30 PM Castle; he also designed barns, kennels, gatehouses, greenhouses, servants’ quarters and a pheasant $25/Chapter members; $35/nonmembers Hoboken: The Mile Square City Jeff Sholeen will lead a walking tour of a city house. Lunch and afternoon reception included. Reserve by April 4. he surveyed for New Jersey’s State Historic $100/Chapter members; $110/nonmembers Reserve by June 14. FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 8 AM Preservation Office. Site of a pleasure garden in the early nineteenth century, Hoboken was built Pennsylvania’s Pinnacle of Power: A Tour of the State Capitol in Harrisburg primarily from 1860 to 1910. Much of it remains

All-day bus tour will focus on the recently intact, including a fine rail terminal, Richard

restored Pennsylvania Capitol and other historic Upjohn church, chapel by Edward T. Potter and Henry Vaughn, block-long rows of brownstones government buildings. The Capitol is considered

and mansions near Stephens Institute. by many to be the pinnacle of state architecture. Tour limited to 30 participants The rotunda and legislative chambers are exquisite $25/Chapter members; $35/nonmembers spaces with murals by Violet Oakley and Edwin Reserve by May 23 METROPOLITAN CHAPTER OF THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY IN AMERICA 232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003 Telephone 212·886·3742 www.metrovsa.org

SoHo continued from f irst page Two buildings of urging the SoHo Historic District expansion were Lectures Move to identical design by Renwick and Sands, he noted, signed and collected at the meeting. More have since illustrate the commonality of buildings in the current been received, and several residents have written more New Location in Fall district and those in the proposed expansion. In fact, the detailed letters. Beginning in September, the Metropolitan undesignated building at 29 Howard has more original The proposal was mentioned in The Villager, a Chapter’s lectures will be in The New Church details than 34 Howard, which is in the district. Other weekly newspaper with wide circulation in downtown (Swedenborgian) at 112 East 35th Street in prominent architects whose works are in the proposed neighborhoods. In a follow-up letter, Jeff Sholeen, , between Park and Lexington Avenues. expansion include Detlef Lienau and D. & J. Jardine. president of the Metropolitan Chapter, emphasized the The Donnell Library, long site of the lectures, will be Simeon Bankoff concluded the presentation with effort to broaden community support. “We hope that closed for several years due to construction. The new site was obtained after an extensive a rousing call for action by audience members. “We the residents of SoHo and surrounding neighborhoods need support from you,” he declared. Most pressing, will join us in asking the Landmarks Preservation search by Karen Zukowski, Lecture Committee chair, aided by other Board members. Guiding he stressed, is the need to get the expansion proposal Commission to landmark the many outstanding onto the agenda of the Landmarks Preservation buildings on the edge of the SoHo historic district as a the search was the Board’s desire that the lectures

Commission. 100th birthday gift to Margot Gayle,” he wrote. “SoHo, continue to be free to the public. The church is fully “You’re speaking to the converted,” said Bo Riccobono, the Village and New York City as a whole owe so much accessible to the handicapped and space is available vice president of the SoHo Alliance, at the conclusion to Margot’s advocacy throughout the years, and the for receptions after the lectures. The Renaissance of the presentation. More than 60 postcards to Robert time has come to see her vision through.” Revival structure, built in 1858-59 and expanded in Tierney, Landmarks Preservation Commission chair, 1932, recently underwent a sensitive restoration.

TheBene Metropolitan Chapterficent thanks the following M membersem for theirb generousers support-

Jeffery Sholeen Lifetime Member John Graham Richard Salerni Clark S. Marlor Jack Taylor Maria Irizarry-Lopez Herbert J. Schwarz, Jr. Rose Tibaldi Barbara E. Johnson Howard B. Siegel Patrons Bartholomew Voorsanger Robert C. Kaufmann Robert Starr Helen Anderson Anne Walker R. Christopher Kidd Gregory & Charlene Eileen R. Wessel William Ayres and Mary V. Knackstedt Komar Storey Fedrico Suro Celia & Robert Kornfeld Peter Trippi Mary M. Cope Sponsors Gregory A. Kuharic Aukse Trojanas William J. Dane Mary and Tom Adams Sidney I. Landau Stephen H. Van Dyk Elizabeth J. De Rosa Simeon Bankoff Catharine Lynch Ila Weiss

Linda S. Ferber Denise B. Bethel Jefferson Mansell Gertrude Wilmers Christopher Forbes Annette Blaugrund Walter B. Melvin Karen Zukowski & Lewis I. Haber Christopher Broadwell Architects, LLC David Diamond Sarah B. Landau Virginia Brody Edward Mohylowski Deborah McManus Antonia Bryson Mud Lane Society for the Levels of Membership: Richard J. Moylan Alexandra R. Couture Renaissance of Stapleton Lifetime $1,000; Peter Pennoyer Mr. & Mrs. Robert Esik Don Mullins Patron $150 annually; Hilda Regier Rebecca Even-Zohar Phyllis Rifield Sponsor $75 annually Sheri Cyd Sandler Mimi Findlay Mary M. Rowan