In place of the many typical cast iron stoops that are found on most turn of the century brownstones, it seems that many homes in the Mount Morris Park Historic District have the sculpted kinds The stoop at 11 Mount Morris Park West is probably one of the most intricate ones in all of Manhattan. Check out the lattice work on the sides in addition to the typical carvings. These must have been hand made by artisans over a century ago. Today, most folks have more simple stoops that are typically made by poured concrete mixtures so these hand crafted originals are priceless pieces of history. Mount Morris Park West is the West side of the former Mount Morris Park which is today's Marcus Garvey Park. Take the 2,3 train to 125th Street and walk a couple of blocks south on Lenox and one block east to get to the park. Photo by Ulysses.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
☞ BESPOKE: Mount Morris Park West Stoops
In place of the many typical cast iron stoops that are found on most turn of the century brownstones, it seems that many homes in the Mount Morris Park Historic District have the sculpted kinds The stoop at 11 Mount Morris Park West is probably one of the most intricate ones in all of Manhattan. Check out the lattice work on the sides in addition to the typical carvings. These must have been hand made by artisans over a century ago. Today, most folks have more simple stoops that are typically made by poured concrete mixtures so these hand crafted originals are priceless pieces of history. Mount Morris Park West is the West side of the former Mount Morris Park which is today's Marcus Garvey Park. Take the 2,3 train to 125th Street and walk a couple of blocks south on Lenox and one block east to get to the park. Photo by Ulysses.
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I am a self confessed stoop admirer and maintain the stoop serves as the face of a brownstone, mostly because it is at eye level. Sadly, most stoop handrails are constructed of cast iron and eventually corrode and need replacing (not the case above). In my travels I have observed the stoops of Park Slope are generally superior to the stoops of Harlem. This is mainly because the stoops of Harlem frequently have the balusters and hand rails replaced with cheaper metal work while the stoops of Park Slope more often have balusters and hand rails replaced with exact replicas of the original, at considerable expense. There are however exceptions to this rule being some examples of great stoop restoration work in Harlem, but not many. This rule also speaks to the fact that Park Slope brownstone restoration has many years head start over the brownstones of Harlem. Thanks for a great post.
ReplyDeleteWestsider, your comments brought to mind some cast iron contractors that do replica work. We will post on restoration contractors in the future. Part of the problem might be that folks don't know where to go to get their cast iron hand rails fixed and they just buy whatever is available. Thanks once for your insight.
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