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Steve Gross and Susan Daley, photographers who keep an atelier in Manhattan, took these photos in well-preserved brownstones.
From West Virginia to Boston and Chicago-but nowhere as prevalent as in Brooklyn and Manhattan-row houses clad in sandstone present dark, imposing façades. Their flat fronts, bays, or bows form a rhythmic wall in the streetscape.
A touch of whimsy might be seen in a transom fitted with curlicue stained glass, or a storybook head carved into the stone. Inside, though, these Victorian-period houses dazzle with materials now considered rare and fine, rendered-often by immigrant labor-with finesse and expertise: three-coat plaster with a hard finish and crown mouldings run in place; encaustic tile; nine-foot-tall pocket doors of walnut or oak; etched glass panels; grand staircases; and hardwood parquet flooring.
See inside an 1890 Brownstone home.
