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Sunday, August 5, 2012

A Favorite Va-Hi Apartment - 1928 with Petty Porticos and a Whatchamacallit

It's a beautiful little apartment building on Frederica near the library, one of many such in the neighborhood. They didn't do this level of detail after the Depression, not in small apartments.


You have walk or stop your car in the right place to see these little porticos.

Frederica-apartment-site-plan
It's narrow and deep. The lot is only 60' wide. The facade only 31 feet. The entrances are on one side, an alley on the other.

P2061947-Frederica-Side-Porches-Entrance-Detail-Less-Oblique
I look for excuses to go this way.

P2061947-Frederica-Side-Porches
Folks build these forms, shapes, and proportions today. But they "abstract out" the detailing and the related expense. Let's hope this one has modern fire protection.

So what about that Whatchamacallit?

P1100831-2012-08-03-Frederica-Apartment-Roof-Detail
I know you should put your decorative money where it shows. You have to go down the alley side to see this.

P1100830-2012-08-03-Frederica-Apartment-Roof-Detail
What do you call it?
at

10 comments:

  1. Travis Swann TaylorAugust 5, 2012 at 1:20 PM

    Love the title....and now I want to know how it's called!

    ReplyDelete
  2. judithAugust 6, 2012 at 7:32 AM

    I do not know, but await a comment from someone who does.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Doug DavisAugust 6, 2012 at 9:08 AM

    My first answer was a "pent roof" but those occur between the first and second floor, and this one is at the top of the building. I'm between a "rooflet" and a "canopy" but I don't think either of those are quite it either. This is going to drive me crazy...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TerryAugust 6, 2012 at 9:37 AM

      Don't teach this in architecture school any more? Historic preservation school?

      Delete
  4. Linda StarrAugust 6, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    no idea but an interesting building, been so long since I heard that word whatchamacallit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Devoted ClassicistAugust 6, 2012 at 2:39 PM

    I saw this coming in the fourth image because it is so unexpected. I would have thought there would have originally been a low pitched roof, not visible from the street. This is only a guess, but I suspect the strange roof element was added to conceal something, perhaps cooling units or a roof access hatch. I am not sure that this element has a name, but I would describe it as a 'raked parapet', meaning a sloped low wall roof feature.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TerryAugust 6, 2012 at 3:39 PM

    thanks to Greg Shue @SHUEDA ( https://twitter.com/SHUEDA ) "looks like a parapet with a pent eave, to me..."

    thanks to Robert Tretsch ( www.harrisondesignassociates.com/ ) "A very badly done mansard"

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  7. Doug DavisAugust 6, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    Had to come back to see the answer! Parapet with a pent eave is a great solution...and I agree it looks added on. No OSB in the 1920's, as evidenced in the side shot where you can see the dreadful material deteriorating...badly...

    ReplyDelete
  8. TerryAugust 6, 2012 at 10:54 PM

    I think, it's original, they saved money by stopping the whatchamacallit where it can't be seen from the street. They've since torn down the building/house next door to build a mid-modern branch bank. You can see the whatchamacallit transition from the instant banker.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bl@zrAugust 7, 2012 at 11:18 AM

    I believe it's called a mansard roof.

    ReplyDelete