☞ REVIVE: Harlem Brownstone Encaustic Tiles

Encaustic tiles are very rare in Harlem, and we guess most folks do not know their value or how to maintain them. We wrote about these popular 19th century tiles in the past and mentioned that we mostly have seen encaustic tiles in the more well-preserved homes of Brooklyn. To refresh the memory, encaustic tiles do not have the colors just glazed on top of the tile; instead, the color permeates through the front and back. The tiles come in many shapes and sizes that create geometric patterns such as diamonds, stars or squares. The above floor is from a brownstone near the Mount Morris Historic District. Commonly used in high traffic areas such as foyer and kitchens, encaustic tiles usually feature colors in earth tones, but bright accents are often added in the mix as can be seen in the above photo. You can't get these at the Home Depot. Read more about encaustic tiles and see how they look polished up in our past post: LINK. Photo by Ulysses