Lamb & Rich, Architects, and Related Firms
Buildings and Projects 1877-1932
The Preservation League of Staten Island writes that the Rich-designed Butler Manor has been demolished.
Secret Staten Island has photos.
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[Update 11.10.2012: Broken link to Secret Staten Island fixed.]
[Update 10.24.2010: Preservation magazine has an online story.]
The SI Treasure Blog warns that Butler Manor, the 1908-1909 country house designed by Charles A. Rich, Architect for Elmer T. Butler on Staten Island, is scheduled for demolition in the extremely near future.
The only chance of even a temporary reprieve lies with the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The house seems especially notable because it was a direct replacement for an 1890 frame building — same site, same client, same architects — that had been consumed by fire. The new building was built of tile, stucco, and probably other modern materials in an effort to make it fireproof.
Google’s aerial shows the L-shaped house, its remaining outbuildings, and encroaching development:
[Update 09.06.2010: Butler Manor has been demolished.]
Christopher Gray has been documenting the sad slow-motion destruction of the Mount Morris Bank at Park and 125th in his New York Times column. In 1987, the endangered building was still seven stories (“The Mount Morris Bank: A Derelict Is Freshened Up, But Its Fate Is Still Uncertain” (30 August 1987)), but today just two stories remain (“A Once Proud Bank, Brought Low” (17 March 2010)).