Saint Christopher's House
Church of The Holy Trinity
East 88th Street
New York, September 2007
“St. Christopher's House looks like an elegant French Renaissance chateau. It both complements the French Gothic church and is an effective terminal feature on the west end of the complex. Three large arches grace a recessed ground-floor porch. The porch is repeated on the second story, while steep roofs intersected by pinnacled dormers rise above the third-floor facade. An interesting decoration on St. Christopher’s House is the sculptured figure of the saint for whom it is named, placed high up on the outside of the circular stairwell. He is represented in the traditional way, carrying the child Christ on his shoulder and leaning upon his palm-tree staff. The cockleshell ornamentation on the facade symbolizes St. James in honor of the original connection with St. James Church. In 1958 an addition was built extending St. Christopher’s House northward to provide 3 new floors of offices and a modern kitchen in the basement. The alteration was designed by Frank and Walter Eberhart and is a remarkable contextual work, with carefully chosen brick laid in criss-cross patterns, custom-molded terra cotta and a soaring chimney stack.” (St. Christopher's Mission House, The Church of The Holy Trinity)
For a second I thought I was in Maintenon. Patron saint of travellers?
ReplyDeleteI'm always a bit shocked to see something like this in our country - it's so rare. This is a beautiful find and a lovely photo of it.
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