Demolition Alert: Hapeville's Old Stone Church may be gone on Monday

Perhaps my fellow architecture tourists can visit Hapeville this Sunday before it's too late. If you can help, I want to hear from you.

The 1923 granite church building was all but abandoned. But it didn't cause much trouble until the roof collapsed last winter. It's Hapeville First Baptist's old stone church and it may be a goner, gone even before you read this.

A group has gathered to save it. I hope they can delay demolition long enough to find a solution. But these are difficult problems.

I stumbled on to it in the spring of 2011. It was like discovering a ruin in the forest. You can see the airport from here but it's not on the way to anywhere even for most Hapevillians.

Even in ruin it's an impressive sight. And I'm a sentimental man: Imagine the christenings, the baptisms, the music, the weddings, the funerals here.


This is from 1954. The portico was still there, and the stained glass. Image purchased from the Atlanta History Center.


The neighbors saw it like this in the spring.


Maybe not love at first sight but certainly fascination at first sight.


Yesterday I saw the shadows of the trusses. How much of the roof is still up there?

 
First Baptist built beautiful new buildings in 1964.





The designers / architects did  fine job of blending old and new..

It's a an amazingly quiet and human scaled property and it's right on the street. This 28 second video shows what it's like from the sidewalk.



I hope there will be much more to this story. Thanks.

Rick Anderson said I should see the Prickett Chapel

Last Wednesday I found myself following the security guard's truck. I was looking for the open air chapel and I was lost.

The day before I'd asked landscape architect Richard Anderson what I should see. He said, "The chapel at Westminster." So There I was.

It's the Barbara Johnson Prickett Chapel at Westminster-School Atlanta. If you aren't from Atlanta, Westminster is among the most pretentious private schools in Atlanta. The campus is wooded, hilly, and beautiful.

The security gaurd led me to the driveway of the president's house and there was the chapel, modest and picturesque.


It's new, dedicated April 19, 2010, but the building technology is ancient.


Just 4 rows of pews.


It's open air.


It doesn't impress with size or decorative details. It's the stones.




It's the stones.


You can see it all in a few minutes. But the longer you look, the more you see.


Slow down and linger.


Look up to see the scissor beams. The ceiling reveals its age, needs another 100 years of patina.


Look up to see the inscriptions.


The roof slate is all shadow grids and diagonals.


Smooth, variegated, rough beveled edges, craftsmanship galore.


They built it in New York, and shipped it to Atlanta for reassembly.
"The chapel consists of eight arches made from Adirondack granite and a twenty-seven foot granite tower located at the rear of the building. Originally commissioned to Terry Lamphere, the Westminster Chapel was primarily carved by Alan M. Webster Jr and Curt vonSchilgen. All stone is granite from the Adirondack region in upstate New York."


The tower door is in shadows. Make sure to give it a good look.


Look closely.


Thanks to Rick for the suggestion. Thanks to the kind Westminster guard for showing me the way.

Nota bene:  Rick Anderson did the landscape design pro bono. He didn't ask me to blog it. My impression:  I didn't "notice" the landscape. Chapel and landscape seemed like one integrated thing.