Out Of Place

Part of investigating buildings is simply recognizing when something is wrong. If something looks wrong, it may mean that there’s a problem, or it may mean that there was an old renovation. Case in point, a random building I walked by in the South Slope: First thing that’s wrong: what is that weird drum on top of the corner turret? A lot of victorian-era buildings with turrets have pointy hats over them, and this could be the base of one of such a hat. Second thing that’s wrong: the vertically-striped or corrugated siding on the turret. That’s just not a thing with a building from the 1890s/1890s/1900s. Sheet metal was absolutely used in facades: look at the sheet-metal cornice and the fascia below the cornice for what it looked like. Third thing that’s maybe wrong, that is a weird store entrance at the base of the turret. As is so often true, the mystery disappears when you look at an old photo. Here’s the 1940 tax photo, when the building was 60 years old or a bit less, some 85…