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
WINDOW DETAIL, VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE.
PHILIPSE HOUSE, NEAR TARRYTOWN, N. Y.