Harlem Open Houses

(tt)    Sheldon booked me into a guided tour of interesting houses in the Mount Morris Park area of Harlem.  A very speedy gentrification is happening. Lots of boarding houses and tenements are being turned into family homes and condos.
This little girl was having a ball selling water and goodies at the start of the excursion.

Our guide, John Reddick, is an architect and historian.

This is a Presbyterian church on Mount Morris Park

The warehouse looking building was a womens' correctional facility. Now its ritzo.

A piece of Paris

The building in the background holds Bill Clinton's offices.

 These brownstones were part of a Beaux Arts movement and were created for wealthy households. They went into decline..many became slums..and now they are being reclaimd

 
A view of St John's across the West Side

We walked onto Lenox Ave which one day will be a Champs Elysees...really!
At the moment it is in flux. So many churches which inhabit older churches from other faiths and even old store fronts

  This pentecostal was once a synagogue

  Abandoned beauty

Now we are on 119th

   This is the former home of the great lyricist, Lorenz Hart, who wrote with Richard Rodgers for many Broadway shows including the one for which John is holding the sheet music.

 This was designed by Stanford White for a rabbi. His company also designed the great and lost Penn Station. He was shot by the jealous husband of Evelyn Nesbitt, the Girl on the Swing.

  Two more churches..only paces away from each other.A very fervent sermon was going on inside this one.

  Gertrude Berg, famous for her role as Molly Goldberg on radio and televison, lived here

  This was the first home we went inside. It was once owned by the NBL player, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The owners did not have to do any changes to the immaculate decor.

  Tiffany panels

  Lalique sconces

 This is the back garden.

His toot.

This is the second house we entered. It was built in the 1800's and became a boarding house. The current owners are spending thousands to restore it down to minute detail.

 City officials ordered the demolition of this beauty. An appeal to a state senator saved it.

 Back on Lenox

And on the marquee of another funeral parlour

This is the third house. Its block was designed by those who did Carnegie Hall.  Once owned by a Mrs Dolly, an active crusader for urban preservation, it is now residence to documentary film maker, Albert Maysles and his wife. This is the least changed and most authentic 19th century home. Mrs Maysles, an artist. has totally sold me on the colours for our new cottage. Here are some shots of her choices. In this home more is more.

Final flavours of Lenox

 The ladies of the churches wore dazzlingly colourful ensembles

 An apartment in this block was open for inspection. It was ok

 The foyer was the star

 Pressed tin ceiling carefully restored

Hope you enjoyed that.