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Page 20
"A near approach develops something very peculiar in the character of
this edifice. It bears throughout unmistakable marks of age, but none of
decay. It is gray with the weather-wearing of centuries, but it displays
none of the mouldering vestiges of Time's decaying fingers; nor yet has
it that prim air of good keeping which shows, in treasured antiquities,
that careful hands have sedulously restored each feature that age may
have injured. It is clear that the completeness of detail--the clean
outlines, the hard, unworn surfaces--are characteristics of innate
strength, and connect themselves with the causes of a certain northern
sternness and rigidity in the general architectural designs.
"The secret of all these peculiarities is to be found in the nature of
the material, which is granite--the same that has handed down to us,
through thousands of years, the cold, stony eyes of the sphynx,
precisely as the chisel last touched them--and retains, to the wonder
of the Londoners, the glittering lustre of the polished cheeks of
Rameses. The stern nature of the primitive rock--obdurate alike to the
chisel and to time--has entirely governed the character of the
architecture; and, while it has precluded lightness and decoration, has
given opportunities for a certain gloomy dignity. About the porch, one
or two niches and other small details, have been decorated; but as if
the artist had abandoned the task of chiselling his obdurate materials
as a vain one, ornament goes no farther, and all the architectural
effects are the fruit of bold design. Such, for instance, is the great
west window--not mullioned, but divided by long massive stone shafts
into seven arched compartments; such, too, is the low-browed doorway
beneath, with its heavy semicircular arch. The upper tier of
windows--here called _storm_ windows, perhaps as a corruption of
_dormer_--are the plain, unmoulded arch, such as one sometimes sees it
in unadorned buildings of the earlier Norman period. Indeed, though the
building dates from the second age of the Pointed style, it associates
itself in some of its features, very closely with the relics of the
Norman age, especially in the short, massive round pillars which support
the clerestory. The roof, with its carving, gilding, and bright heraldic
colors, is in thorough contrast with the rest of the architecture, and
the eye gratefully relieves itself from the gloom below, by wandering
over its quaint devices and gaudy hues. It is divided into three
longitudinal departments, panelled with richly-carved oak; and at each
intersection of the divisions of the compartments with the cross-beams,
there is emblazoned a shield armorial, with an inscription.
"It is an uncommon thing to find, as in this instance we do, the nave
only of a church remaining, for the chancel was generally the part first
erected, and sometimes the only part. The remains of the central and
eastern portions of St. Machar's tell how the western compartment braved
the causes of destruction which to them had been fatal: they were built
of freestone. Incrusted, as it were, in the eastern wall, are the
clustered freestone pillars, with richly-flowered capitals, which of old
supported the central square tower; and on either side are the vestiges
of the transept, with the remains of the richly-sculptured tombs,
represented in the accompanying plate, embedded in the wall. In
Slezer's, and some other representations of this building in the
seventeenth century, the tower--a simple square mass, with a
roof--appears to have been still standing, but the choir had
disappeared."
MONUMENT IN THE SOUTH TRANSEPT OF THE CATHEDRAL, ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND.
THE HOTEL DE SOTO, SAVANNAH, GA. MR. WM. GIBBONS PRESTON, ARCHITECT,
BOSTON, MASS.
This hotel, which has just been completed, occupies a whole square in
the heart of the city, and has a frontage of 300 feet on Liberty Street
and 200 feet on Bull Street. It forms two sides of the square, the
two-story kitchen and servants' wing forming the third side. The climate
renders it desirable to have it freely open and exposed to the cool
southeast winds which blow refreshingly up from the bay, and, as a
winter resort, a southeast exposure of nearly half the rooms makes them
sunny and dry. The building is four, five and six stories in height, and
a flat roof, 50 x 70 on the highest portion, gives a fine view down the
bay. A "solarium" is erected on this roof, to contain a tropical garden
or to be used for dancing. The "parade" or garden, upon which all the
southeast windows look, has been beautifully laid out, and there is not
a dark room or a "back room" in the building.
A "rotunda" with glass roof at the rear of hall, first story, is
intended as a lounging-room for ladies and gentlemen, and a veranda 35
feet in width in front opens upon Bull Street. Many of the rooms open
upon covered verandas on the second, third and fourth stories. The
dining-room is 50 x 120 feet, open to the air on three sides. The
materials are local brick for the lower portions, and buff Perth Amboy
brick and terra-cotta above. It contains about 300 rooms, and will cost,
completed, about half a million. It is, except the Ponce de Leon, the
largest hotel in the South. Special arrangements have been made for
introducing large volumes of warmed or cooled air into the halls and
corridors. The contractors are Mr. T. Lewman & Co. The Whittier Machine
Co. did the elevator, heating and laundry work. The Brush system of
electric lighting has been introduced throughout. L. Haberstroh & Son
have decorated the walls and ceilings, making a special feature of the
dining-room. Ground was broken just a year ago, and the house was opened
for guests on New Year's day.
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