Two Townhouses

Across from my apartment window I see two five-story townhouses. At a casual glance they are a contrasting apri, one of plain buff-colored wall and the other of red brick.  It does not require much scrcutiny, however, to see that they are twins built together at the same time, most likely around 1870 (or else a couple of decades later in a retardataire style); but the unit on the left was subjected to modernization in 1950s by stripping the beautifully decorated cornice (together with the chimney stacks) and painting over the brickwork as well as the prominent limestone keystones and lintels. The windows of the upper three stories were slightly shortened in the process, and the ornamental relief panels between the third and the fourth stories were filled in to accommodate window air conditioners.  More drastic changes wwere effected on the ground level.  The entrance stoop and the arched portico were removed and entrance doorway was lowered to the street level.  This was a typical facelifting popularly adopted to make the facade plainer and more in tune with the taste of the time.



Fortunately, the landlord of the right unit evidently liked the Victorian look well enough to keep it intact.  If you look closely the second level of the fire escape on the left, you will find a honey tabby cat comfortably napping.