Reverse Sequence

Above, the nearly complete “Residence for Mr. & Mrs. J. S. Rogers, 53-57 East 79th Street. Trowbridge & Livingston, Architects. Marc Eidlitz & Son, Builders, NYC” as photographed in 1917 by Irving Underhill. It’s a very large house – calling it a mansion is not out of line – with an architect and builder who also constructed skyscrapers, so I assume that the Rogerses were quite wealthy. As one would expect with that architect, we have a formal facade, hidden behind another example of an old-fashioned sidewalk bridge. Note the derrick on top of the bridge, apparently unloading construction debris down to the street. There’s also a large pile of hollow terra cotta blocks (with the tarp) and a pile of unknown stuff.

To get a better sense of the building, it helps to look at the earlier photos in the sequence. Here’s a shot with the front facade about two-thirds complete:

We’ve got a bigger derrick on the roof for hauling structural materials (and maybe stone for the front facade). Note the visible structure: steel columns at each side and at the pier between the left and center windows; steel beams encase in concrete, and concrete-slab floors. This may look like a wider version of the house to its right, but it’s constructed similarly to a commercial building…which helps explain the presence of the Eidlitz Company. Here’s an earlier photo:

We’ve got four separate derricks, and the building structure is revealed: a more or less complete skeleton frame in steel. Note the blocks of gleaming white stone up on the bridge, waiting for work on the front facade to begin. As is often the case with skeleton-frame buildings there’s not much relationship between the structural layout and the front facade.

In case you’re wondering: the house is still there and, since 1937, has been the New York Society Library.