Does anyone know the style of these delightful windows?They can be seen on the Duane Avenue and 14th Street sides of the Astor Hotel in Astoria, Oregon. The building was constructed after the 1922 fire burned down its predecessor. I wouldn't know what to call the style. I called the building Art Deco based on various features and the look of its Commercial Street side opposite (shown here). If anyone can help me out with the style, I'd be very interested in what you have to say. I love architecture and styles, but this one isn't 100% in my vocabulary. One author called it "Gothic," and I didn't see that at all on the other side of the building, but these windows bear a hint of Gothic, if only a hint. As to the old hotel itself, several comments from the last post are worth printing here. Some were made on Blogger, and some on the Facebook page for this blog. By the way, I left two small heads at the bottom of the photo for scale and reference. I tried cropping, but I kinda like them there.
Branden Wilson: Don't forget that the top few floors are not even original. They were an afterthought built on years later . . .
Julie Winlund Evans: The bus depot was on the ground floor and I can remember watching the wooden 'dock' rot away over the years as the blackberry briars took over.
Kurt Hanson: I remember the ballroom, it was totally awesome and the little cafe on the corner where the toy store is/was? I also remember the bus depot - I can,t remember what year that was late 60's?
Lee Spangler: What is also cool is what is left of the interior of the main floor. We'll sneak in next weekend.
So, perhaps we'll have additional photos coming up. There's also a comic and game store on the corner of Commercial and 14th with a sign worthy of a photo. I'll see what I can do with that one some time!
There's a bit of sky here, and I like taking part in Skywatch Friday, but I have to admit that the photo was taken last Sunday when the sky was blue and the weather was glorious. That was just before the heatwave. Now the heat has been followed by the marine layer's inevitable clouds, and today so far it's completely overcast. It rained last night, it's cool today, and I'm not complaining!
9 comments:
Hello, I was looking at these windows and I had to think about some Arabic influences... but I cannot help you about the name of this style. Anyhow, I think it wonderful. Greetings from the Netherlands.
It looks more like art déco to me than gothic. It's lovely!
My first inclination was that it's a hybrid of moroccan and gothic style. What would you call that - gothican, morothic?
Beautiful photo of the hotel.
Please visit me: Picture This . . .
I agree with ciel, it's art déco. It reminds me of two buildings of about the same period: the General Electric Building and the American Standard Building in New York City.
Try: Art Deco in NYC
I think they're called "An architect's delight." ;-)
I do like 'em, though!
I'm wondering when you go inside if there will be some historic info. Often they will post the history of old buildings somewhere in the entry.
It actually looks very institutional--well from long ago. and then maybe it's just the gray color or is that white? Interesting anyway. MB
I'm wracking my brain and if I remember right, the John Jacob Astor Hotel was originally pink..not that long ago (80's?) it was remodeled for senior living! I think that's when they changed the color. My sister actually spent her wedding night there in the early 50's! It was THE place to go and quite fancy. Later in the 60's we used to have lunch there quite often after riding the ferry from across the river to go shopping in Astoria! Sue@Seaside
Most of the buildings in downtown Astoria (Commercial street) are dated 1922 or later. There were 2 massive fires, the second of which leveled the downtown in 1922 (for the second time). The downtown was originally built on a dock with pilings. After the second fire they did landfill and rebuilt the downtown with cement and brick.
The original building was supposed to be 5 stories, but after the fire (which happened during its construction) they built 8 stories to deal with the housing issue of fire victims.
Likely style during this period would be Art Deco - if these are the original windows.
In 1968, the hotel was condemned as a fire and safety hazard and closed. The "pink elephant" stood vacant for 10 years with ragged curtains flapping out of broken windows.So it is possible that these were not the original windows.
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