The four-family townhouse at 177 West 126th Street has been waiting for the warm weather to apply the simulated brownstone layer on the existing scratch coat, and we noticed that the stoop was coming along recently. The gut renovation brownstone that is just east of ACP/7th Avenue has had the first layer of grey textured surfacing on it since the beginning of the year and the smoother coat has now finished off the stairs. The cheap nondescript handrails (lower photo) have been replaced with carved balustrades, handrails and urns. Considering this section of Harlem is not a historic district, it seems that the new owners have a bit of design integrity and really want to make the proper restoration happen. The unusual thing is that the stoop is most often done last so that it doesn't get damaged since it sees the most construction traffic during a building restoration. There are a handfuls of brownstones left on 126th Street that need to be restored and it's good to see that this one is coming along smoothly. Current facade photo by Ulysses
The four-family townhouse at 177 West 126th Street has been waiting for the warm weather to apply the simulated brownstone layer on the existing scratch coat, and we noticed that the stoop was coming along recently. The gut renovation brownstone that is just east of ACP/7th Avenue has had the first layer of grey textured surfacing on it since the beginning of the year and the smoother coat has now finished off the stairs. The cheap nondescript handrails (lower photo) have been replaced with carved balustrades, handrails and urns. Considering this section of Harlem is not a historic district, it seems that the new owners have a bit of design integrity and really want to make the proper restoration happen. The unusual thing is that the stoop is most often done last so that it doesn't get damaged since it sees the most construction traffic during a building restoration. There are a handfuls of brownstones left on 126th Street that need to be restored and it's good to see that this one is coming along smoothly. Current facade photo by Ulysses
Nice!
ReplyDeleteNot wanting to nit pick but here goes, these balusters and newel posts look like they are off the shelf precast components, a similar match to the original but too tall, traditional brownstone handrails are more squat, these make more practical handrails though. Kudos to the owner for their effort and ingenuity and a big improvement over the metal balusters although not quite historically correct. Also this renovation shows pride of ownership and being the first house on the block it sets the tone for the whole block.
ReplyDeleteI live on this block and am delighted! Looks great. (In addition, another townhouse on this block, south of the Mamma Foundation, just had the facade redone!) Now, let's hope that the cleanup of the ACP plaza continues, and some of the bad behavior in the plaza goes away.
ReplyDeleteJust drove by this today and it's really coming along nicely. The contractors had starting applying the brown facade and the handrails were painted black. Also it looks as though the interior is coming along as well.
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