Learning from Past Mistakes

Mistake

One morning a couple of weeks ago you might have heard me tell you about a fire on "Harold Avenue" in Bridgeport. Photographer Lori Golias heard it too and corrected me. "Heather, it's Harral Avenue. Not Harold. I shot that video last night. Don't you know Harral was a Bridgeport leader?" 

No, I replied, what did he do?

"I don't know."

Lesson Learned

After correcting the writer's mistake in the copy, I googled Henry Harral and found he was Bridgeport's 8th, 10th and 12th mayor. There wasn't much else about the successful saddle maker. No biography. No Wikipedia entry. No campaign website. But I did find an old Time magazine article and a mention in Antiques and the Arts.

Harral commissioned the great American architect Alexander Jackson Davis to build him a grand Gothic-style home fit for a mayor. Davis was also the man behind  Lyndhurst, in Tarrytown, New York. Work began on Harral's home in 1846 and was complete about a year after  P.T. Barnum's mansion, Iranistan, modeled after the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Executive Director and Curator of the The Barnum Museum, Kathy Maher, points out how magnificent it must have been in Bridgeport at that time with two architecturally important structures. Iranistan was destroyed by fire in 1857.

Click to enlarge. Replica of Iranistan courtesy of The Barnum Museum.

Harral died of Tuberculosis in 1854. His family lived in the Gothic villa in Bridgeport until 1866 when it was sold to Nathaniel Wheeler. The mansion on Golden Hill Street came to be known as "Walnut Wood." Wheeler's son Archer lived in the home until his death in 1956. He willed the house to the city of Bridgeport, allegedly for preservation.

Mistake?

However, within a year, the longtime socialist mayor of Bridgeport, Jasper McLevy ordered the mansion torn down to make room for a new city hall. Running on an "urban renewal" yet "save the mansion" platform, democrat Samuel Tedesco beat out McLevy in the mayoral election of 1957. But within less than a year, Tedesco went back on his election promise, and the mansion was torn down in 1958.

There were protests, but at least the city of Bridgeport, the Smithsonian and the Barnum Museum were able to save some of the molding, mirrors, art work, furniture, doors - and doorknobs- of the home. A room is recreated at the Barnum Museum. Be sure to look for the Tiffany clock from the 1860s and the famous semi-nude Pandora sculpture by Chauncey Ives.

Lesson Learned

If the Harral-Wheeler house still stood today, it was be of great importance to the city and the country because of the rarity of Gothic architecture in America. But according to Mayer of the Barnum Museum, the country actually benefited from the loss of the home. She says the destruction of such buildings led to the preservation movement in this country. Less than ten years after the Harral-Wheeler home was destroyed, in 1966, the Historic Preservation Act  was instated.  Just this year the city of Bridgeport was designated a Preserve America Community by the the White House for its role in recognizing the cultural heritage and realigning it with redevelopment and growth.

Live in the "Urban" Glass House

Live in the "Urban" Glass House

Take a close look at these two pictures to see if you notice anything similar about the basic design.

Of course the one on the left is architect Philip Johnson's famous Glass House in New Canaan. The one on the right is considered Philip Johnson's very last design before he died, 330 Spring Street in New York City. 

Click here for a look back at my tour of the Glass House, as well as some of Philip Johnson's architecture around the country.

Several units are available at 330 Spring Street. You can contact Core Group NYC for more information. In my last blog posting, I wrote about Trump Parc Stamford. From unit 11A at 330 Spring, you can see Trump Soho, which is also under construction. I was lucky enough to get a tour of 330 Spring this past weekend. Below are more views from that unit. As usual, click to enlarge.

  

From another unit at 330 Spring, can see the Statue of Liberty.

On a historical note, 330 Spring sits on the line that marks the old shore line of the Hudson River and New York City.

The area was filled in with rocks so boats could unload.  The Urban Glass House is next door to Ear Inn, what New York Magazine says is "arguably the oldest bar in Manhattan."

Comments (0)

Adopt a Dog Month

When people see the pictures I take of my dog Willamena, they often say, "You must have a lot of time on your hands."