WROUGHT IRON ORNAMENT: 112-114 West 11TH
STREET
FEBRUARY 3, 1937. ABBOTT FILE 198
THREE-DECKER HOUSES: WEST 11TH STREET,
BETWEEN SIXTH AND SEVENTH AVENUES
FEBRUARY 3, 1937. ABBOTT FILE 200
On the day she photographed Bread
Store, Abbott took two views of Rhinelander Gardens, a row of
balconied houses on West 112-114 11th Street. Set back on their lots to
allow for ample front yards and adorned with neo-Gothic balconies, these
houses were designed in 1855 by James Renwick, architect of Grace Church
(1845) and St. Patrick's Cathedral (1878-1888). They were built as rental
properties for William C. Rhinelander, a powerful Greenwich Village
landowner.
In Plate 21, Abbott focused on the
decorative ironwork of the balconies at the expense of showing the entire
row. In Plate 22, she showed the row, juxtaposed with the Unadilla
Apartments (1899). A Sheffield Farms milkwagon, similar to the one she
photographed on nearby Grove
Street, had stopped mid block, followed by an ice delivery wagon
(left).
Although Abbott had a keen eye for
unnoticed but distinctive ironwork, the fanciful balconies of Rhinelander
Gardens were well known. The Gardens were near other Village landmarks on
Abbott's itinerary: Rhinelander
Row and Patchin
Place. The West 11th Street row survived until 1958, when it was torn
down for a much-needed new public school. The Unadilla Apartments still
stand.
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