Renovations

☞ BESPOKE: SEE.PAINTING INC. GILDING

Those who are renovating their brownstones or opening a classic shop uptown should check out the decorative painting and gilding company based in Harlem called see.PAINTING Inc.  Besides plaster, painting and gilding finishes, the Sugar Hill based company specializes in hand painting & gilding Signage on glass. Gilding on glass is also known as "verre eglomise" and is standard to private brownstone entrance number signs, and this local company does it in the way it has been done for centuries.  Some examples of the company's works include a Harlem brownstone entrance with gold lettering (at top),  the ACE hotel entrance on 29th Street (middle photo) and signage from the  Lower East Side "TOMMY's GUNS SALON" (last photo).

Goldleaf or gilding is both elegant and durable and uses paper thin sheets of gold metal as the base. These properties made it among the most popular sign materials in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. More photos of the company's work (which includes other restoration services) can be seen on their Facebook site: LINK.  For contact information and other details, check out the following website:  www.see-painting.com

....................................................................................

☞ BESPOKE: WESTSIDE MARBLE AND STONE
Manhattanville's West Side Stone & Marble can be found under the railroad tracks at 12th Avenue and 125th Street. We were not sure if Columbia's new campus plans would move this business out of the area but luckily they seem to be staying. The no-frills showroom sits at the front end of the avenue (photo) and there is a garage space with slab marble and granite in the back. Orders are cut on premise so the wait time is minimal. We had an irregular, custom job done within 24 hours and the cost is at least half of what one would get elsewhere. Westside Stone & Marble is at 712 West 125th Street and 12th Avenue. The closest subway is the 1 train at 125th Street or take the 125th Street crosstown BX15 bus. Tel.212.222.4999 or go to their website: LINK.

....................................................................................

☞ BESPOKE: Standard Cast Iron Brownstone Posts

Since many of the brownstone blocks of Harlem were built during the time the trains were being planned uptown over 100 years ago, one may notice that some of the architectural elements to various houses look a little similar. When the stone townhouses were going up in the city at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, homebuilders would basically have been able to choose from an array of available mass-manufactured cast iron components from a catalogue.  Assuming that many of these manufacturers were available on the market at the time, these intricate details were probably a little more affordable to the average developer.

The top photo shows the block of west 122nd Street by Morningside Park and one can see a perfectly preserved row of substantial cast iron posts with an urn-like finial topping them off.  Complete rows of preserved staircase posts are harder to find in Central Harlem but West 131st Street has a couple of similar cast iron posts in various conditions on the block between Lenox and ACP/7th Avenue. The difference between the two blocks can be seen at the cap of the posts since the South Harlem set has a pyramidal variation while the Central Harlem set has a stacked step look to them.

Today's home catalogues have more anemic (but affordable) versions of stoop handrails which may be found on the moderate renovations around uptown.  Those seeking more historically accurate architectural elements usually have to have the parts cast again and one ornate post can run up to $5,000 to have replaced.  The Architectural Iron Company has a few examples of replicated posts and cost specs for those who are interested: LINK

....................................................................................

☞ BESPOKE: THE LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION MANUAL
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has recently released their official Rowhouse Manual so that owners of landmark properties (or any brownstone homeowner) can figure out what type of townhouse they own and how to restore it correctly. The document is quite extensive in explaining the different type of houses, windows, doors, cornices and stairwells that are period appropriate. It's also a good mix of line drawings and color photos to keep the interest up for the readers. Another helpful section can be found in the tutorial on the application process to get renovations approved by LPC. Get the excellent, free PDF download here for more details: LINK

....................................................................................

☞ BESPOKE: CARREAUX D'OCTAGONES TILES

In the design world, history plays a big part in what is considered classic so Harlem Bespoke will start reviewing some motifs and patterns that might be useful for those working on a townhouse renovation.  We are constantly looking for bold original patterns when we do get to travel and the above photos are some example of the classic Carreaux d'Octagones (diamond and octagon motif).  Encaustic tile variations of this pattern would have been found in a good majority of Harlem brownstones but since they are expensive and hard to find, many renovations in the past decades just replaced them with less expensive materials.

The top photo is of a foyer in Buenos Aires (where we found many historically accurate floors) which shows the original black and white marble pattern that was standard throughout the 18th and early 19th century (Georgian and Federal). At center is a photo of the foyer of the recently sold brownstone at 260 West 121st Street which shows the colorful 19th century update laid out with encaustic tiles.  Finally, the  lower image is another example of colorful encaustic tiles that were in a Victorian kitchen discovered on a past excursion to San Francisco.

These floor patterns in general are designed like a classic rug with "fill" repetition at the center and a solid or contrasting pattern border around the perimeter. Darker colors probably made more sense for high traffic areas but white and black was the ultimate cleanliness test since dirt was more visible on the lighter floors.  Carreaux d'Octagones marble is easy to find at most marble floor showrooms but encaustics are less common.  Those looking for encaustic tile patterns and replications should check out Tile Source Inc. which is the major supplier in the U.S. for this traditional look: LINK