Brownstones

Yes, you were promised more faces this week, but hey - look at these brownstones! My sister and I spent 3 days in Park Slope Brooklyn.

This info is edited down from https://www.brownstoner.com/sponsored/how-to-restore-a-brownstone-facade/

In the 19th century, a growing urban middle class was looking for something more distinguished than the usual brick facades. Marble, granite, and limestone were too expensive . Brownstone, a type of sandstone, was easy to transport and more affordable

The brownstone was cut into blocks less than a foot thick, which were added to the front of brick buildings. Masons could then carve intricate ornamental designs into the stone.

Carved into the stone? My sister and I debated this https://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/walkabout-terra/ says: Terra-cotta started to show up on Manhattan facades in the late 1840’s, and was widely used for ornament starting in the 1880s….. Decorative elements first came from The Perth Amboy Terra-Cotta Company, in N J; later …. The New York Architectural Terra Cotta Company, located on the river’s edge of Long Island City, Queens, opened in 1889, and was soon the largest terra-cotta plant in the country,.

So, maybe some carved, some cast?

.According to https://streeteasy.com/blog/nyc-brownstone-history/ “the reason brownstones were built with stoops ……was to avoid the sea of animal waste that was the 18th century New York City street. Those elegant stairs were just a way to rise above the muck.”

New York City’s brownstone came from the Portland Brownstone Quarry, in Connecticut.

Again, from https://www.brownstoner.com/sponsored/how-to-restore-a-brownstone-facade/The relative softness that makes brownstone easy to work with, however, leaves it prone to erosion and decay, and the facades of these buildings are often in need of restoration.

This site https://herzogarch.com/brownstone-restoration-how-it-started/ relates the full process of restoring a brownstone façade. Reading it, I could just picture floods of money pouring out the door. These photos are from that site.

(Above) Before and After look very alike…but

(Above) After some falling stone revealed the weakness, the top layer of weathered stone was removed (Below). On the steps, all the loose material has been chiseled off.

(Below) a layer of cement-like material is troweled on.

(Below) Then a finish coat. The result looks very much like the original stone, but is stronger.

(Below) Although, seeing this layer peeling away from the wall, I wonder…

In conclusion….next time you happen to be walking past a lovely row of brownstone, you’ll know that most (if not all) of them have been refinished. The gorgeous decorative elements are probably terra cotta, but might be stone.

Next week - before we finish the faces - we’ll look at the art, history & beauty of Greenwood Cemetery.

Stay safe. Stay sane.

Diane