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-April 28, 1906
RTICORD AJSD GUIDE
765
Title Company's New Home.
TYPICAL OF NEW-CENTURT METHODS IN DESIGN AND
, CONSTRUCTION—POR THE SOLE OCCUPANCT OF
THE OWNER.
SOME TIME- during the month of May the Title Guarantee
& Trust Company expects to move to the new white
granite edifice at 170 Broadway. The company's first
oflice was in tbe Potter Building, from which the business was
TITLE GUARANTEE AND TRUST CO.'S BUILDING.
176 Broadway.
Thompson-Starrett Co., General Contractors.
removed to 55 Liberty st. and about ten years ago the
quarters there were outgrown and the company removed
to its present location, 146 Broadway. These quarters
have been very much cramped for three or four years and the
erection of the new building at 17G Broadway was the result.
It is one of the few large buildings downtown erected for the
exclusive use of the owner, as it has been decided by the com¬
pany to rent none of its extra space. The building was con¬
structed by the Thompson-Starrett Co. from plans of the archi¬
tects, Messrs. Howells & Stokes. The front occupies 75 ft. on
Broadway, and is of white granite
quarried in Bethel, Vt. There
is only one other sample of
this granite in New Tork,
namely, the Payne Whitney house
on fith av. The granite is as soft
and while as marble and will prob¬
ably be much used in New Tork
ill the future. The architecture of
the fagade is an adaption of the
Palladian style with an order of
pilasters rising 02 j;t, above the
first story, which forms their base.
The capitals of these pilasters are
the largest that we know of in
New York, of Ibis type, being 9 ft.
across the top of the Corinthian
abacus. Owing to the very large
scale of the building it has been
possible "to successfully introduce a
story in the height of the frieze,
and the composition ends above this
with a 1-sty attic and balustrade.
Between the first and second
s lories runs a heavy ornamental
band carrying the title of the
building. The carving on the front
has necessarily been simple, to suit
granite, but for granite carving it
is extremely rich. It is only after
is extremely rich. It is only after Ibis
carving has been uncovered that
tbe public will appreciate the ex¬
treme beauty and artistic merit of
this facade. The main feature of
the building, however, is its
suitability to the purposes for
which it has been built. Evei-y
inch of space in the building has
been made a matter of careful
study between tbe architects and
tbe head of the department that is
to occupy it. Before a stroke of
work was done, the desk of every
employee was located on the plans,
due consideration being given to
the space needed, including the
question of accessibility of the
pubiic or necessary privacy from
the public.
Entering the center of the Broad¬
way front, the public finds itself
in a domed rotunda distributing in
three directions, into the large
banking and business room. The
customers for the banking de¬
partment enter on the right, for the
mortgage department on tbe left,
and for the title insurance in the
center. The central entrance is
through a 20-ft. archway, afford¬
ing the best view of tbe great room,
the ceiling of which ig supported
by two rows of columns. Around
the rear of this room runs a
mezzanine gallery of horseshoe
f o r m, surrounded by a rich
wrought-iron railing with a motif
in the centre, which consists of a
sculptured clock surmounting the
door leading into the officers'
private rooms. The ground fioor,
vestibule and rotunda are lined
above with marble of different
types; the floor of the vestibule and
the main room is tesselated marble,
and a marble wainscoting runs
along the walls.
The banking: screen of marble
and bronze has been built by the
Tiffany Studios, and is a rare
Howells & Stokes, Architects. ^^"^P^^ «* ^^"stic work. For the