GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE IN NEW YORK
Strange as it may seem, the territory comprised in the present state of
New York is not nearly so rich in Georgian remains as are the other
parts of our country contained within the boundaries of the original
Colonies. At first it may astonish the student of architectural history
to find one of the oldest, wealthiest and most important communities,
rich not only in material resources but in history, so devoid of the
Georgian landmarks that characterise the adjacent sections of the
country. New England is filled with well preserved memorials of the
eighteenth century. So likewise are New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware
and the South. How is it, then, that New York is, by comparison, so
deficient in this respect?
Several reasons may be assigned in answer to this question. In the first
place, the representative Georgian houses in all parts of the Colonies
were the homes of that part of the population that enjoyed affluent
circumstances; they were not the homes of the plainer folk nor of those
in humble circumstances. The majority of well-to-do citizens were to be
found in New York City and there, naturally, were most of the Georgian
houses. Even those that counted themselves as residents of other parts
of the Province, as a rule, had their town houses there. What befel the
Georgian country houses we shall shortly learn.
Unfortunately for the student of our architectural history, the
relentless tide of mercantile progress in New York City has ruthlessly
swept aside nearly all the landmarks of former generations and replaced
them with high office buildings, factories, flats or warehouses. Only in
the fabric of a few of the older churches or in some of the backwaters
left by the eddying currents of urban life have a few scattered remnants
of the city of the eighteenth century been preserved for us and even
these are rapidly disappearing.
In the second place, a large proportion of the Georgian country houses,
outside the territory now covered by the spread of New York City, have
suffered so sadly at the hands of nineteenth century “improvers”, whose
unintelligent alterations and additions have wrought architectural
havoc, that oftentimes nearly all traces of Georgian characteristics
have either been seriously marred or altogether destroyed. Instead of
stately Georgian dwellings of august mien and compelling interest, as
they once were, they have become mere commonplace and often repulsive
agglomerations of masonry like other structures erected during the
uninspired Victorian era. This is their plight outwardly and within they
have often been subjected to indignities quite as revolting. Such
systematic and calculating vandalism on the part of former owners cannot
be too severely condemned but condemnation will not undo the mischief,
and only the most conscientious process of restoration can in some
measure remedy the misdeeds of the “enlightened” nineteenth century
spoiler.
Another important reason for the paucity of Georgian domestic structures
within the territory of New York is that, in the Hudson region and in
the valleys abutting upon it, the majority of houses built during the
eighteenth century, houses belonging to those in moderate and
comfortable circumstances and also some belonging to people of great
wealth and social prominence, remained Dutch in type and in their later
architecture borrowed freely from Georgian and Classic Revival sources
and adapted such details as they saw fit to new uses with a considerable
degree of success. The Dutch colonial tradition was exceptionally
strong, virile and intensely characteristic and persisted in spite of
the introduction of the Georgian mode. Curiously enough, notwithstanding
the potent individuality of the Dutch style, none of its significant
peculiarities seems to have been grafted upon the Georgian stock in like
manner with the blending processes and modifications that took place in
New England or in the South.
Finally, a great many houses built about the beginning of the nineteenth
century or at the very end of the eighteenth in the western part of New
York showed a strong Classic Revival influence rather than any
essentially Georgian affinities.
Several of the finest examples of eighteenth century work, which for
lack of further special subdivision of our subject must be included in
the Georgian period, belong to the Queen Anne category under the
strictest classification. These are Fraunce’s Tavern and the Philipse
House in Yonkers. The former was erected during the reign of Queen Anne
and was originally the home of the Van Cortlandts and DeLanceys. It was
not until the middle part of the eighteenth century that it became a
hostelry. So many important events have been closely associated with the
venerable building, among them Washington’s affecting leave-taking of
his officers and troops, that it was both the privilege and duty of
patriotism and a proper national pride to rescue the fabric from neglect
and the
[Illustration: PHILIPSE MANOR HOUSE, YONKERS, N. Y. 1683.]
[Illustration:
Copyright, by International News Service.
FRAUNCE’S TAVERN, BROAD STREET, NEW YORK CITY.]
base uses to which it had fallen and restore it, so far as possible, to
its former appearance and condition after all the vicissitudes which
several generations of nineteenth century neglect and lack of
appreciation had imposed upon it. In its general proportions, in the
lines of its hipped roof and in many interior details, such as the
panelling, it is distinctly reminiscent of some of the best English work
of Queen Anne’s day although in several respects may also be traced the
architectural influences of a later era. The other building, even
earlier in date than Fraunce’s Tavern, has not suffered from the same
damaging chances of fortune and debasement and far fewer of its details
are conjectural. One might say that the carcase and contour of the
Philipse Manor House are of Queen Anne character but that beyond that it
is conglomerate since it embodies so many peculiarities and additions of
later times that it can scarcely be considered truly typical of any one
epoch. While much of the fabric is in its original condition, as erected
in the latter part of the seventeenth century, the addition of Georgian
details and adornments made by the lords of the manor during the
eighteenth century may readily be traced, and while they are all
interesting and admirable and not in any sense to be regarded as pieces
of vandalism, they prevent the structure from presenting an appearance
in strict chronological keeping with the date of its erection.
The Schuyler and Van Rensselaer houses have also undergone some
unfortunate modifications from time to time which have impaired their
typal value to the architectural student so that we are forced to
content ourselves, when considering the Georgian houses of New York that
are still really characteristic, with the Van Cortlandt house in Van
Cortlandt Park and the Jumel Mansion. These are, both of them,
interesting and worthy specimens belonging to the middle Georgian phase
or the phase that corresponds chronologically with the middle Georgian
phase elsewhere, but even here the hand of the “restorer” has recently
taken some liberties which one cannot help feeling were unnecessary. The
Van Cortlandt house--it is not to be confounded with the Van Cortlandt
Manor House which is of much earlier date and is situated at the mouth
of the Croton River many miles distant--was erected slightly before the
middle of the eighteenth century and is an admirable specimen of the
Georgian feeling of that particular day. One of the most striking
features of exterior detail is to be found in the procession of
grotesque heads or masques carved in high relief on the keystones of the
lintels above the windows. They are typical of the decorative trend of
the epoch, and although
[Illustration: WINDOW DETAIL, VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE.]
[Illustration: PHILIPSE HOUSE, NEAR TARRYTOWN, N. Y.]
[Illustration:
Copyright, J. B. Lippincott Co.
WAYNESBOROUGH, PAOLI, PA. 1724.
Transition from Colonial to First Georgian phase.]
[Illustration:
Copyright, J. B. Lippincott Co.
GRAEME PARK, HORSHAM, PA. 1721.
Middle Colonies Georgian, first phase.]
their employment is not common in American Georgian architecture, other
examples are to be found on the tower of the State House in
Philadelphia, the tower of Christ Church, in the same city, and in the
trims of some of the small circular windows in the gable ends of the Old
State House in Boston. The panelling and interior adornments of the Van
Cortlandt house display the disciplined proportion and judicious placing
usually observable in other representative houses of the middle of the
eighteenth century before the delicacy and decorative profusion of Adam
influence had replaced the simpler and more robust conceptions of the
school of Gibbs and his contemporaries. The Jumel Mansion with its
hipped roof terminating in a balustraded deck, its substantial
foursquare dimensions, its heavy quoins and its well proportioned
columns is also eminently characteristic of the same school of
architectural design.