Starrett & van Vleck
The architectural firm of Starrett & van Vleck, often spelled Starrett & Van Vleck, specialized in the design of early 20th century department stores primarily in New York City. The partner Goldwin Starrett had worked for four years in the Chicago office of Daniel Burnham. Included in their designs were the New York City flagship stores of Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Abraham & Straus, and Alexander's. The Lord and Taylor store, located on Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th streets, was completed in 1914 and was Starrett & van Vleck’s first major department store. In December 2007, the store was named a New York City landmark.[1]
Starrett & van Vleck was also responsible for the design of the New York City landmarks 21 West Street (1929), Everett Building (1908), American Stock Exchange (1921), and Downtown Athletic Club (1930).[2] Between 1937 and 1948, they designed the downtown flagship store of the J. N. Adam & Co. in Buffalo, New York, which is currently threatened with demolition.[3] It is located in the J.N. Adam-AM&A Historic District. Starrett & van Vleck, credits also include the flagship store of Washington, D.C.'s Garfinckel's, and the Miller & Rhoads department store in Richmond, VA as well as the former Mosby Dry Goods Store in Richmond, VA, which is now undergoing restoration and renovation as a hotel. Garfinkel's was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
In Pittsburgh, Starrett & van Vleck was responsible for the design of the downtown flagship of the Gimbels Department Store which was built in 1914 at 339 Sixth Avenue. After Gimbels went out of business in the late 1980s, the building was renamed the Heinz 57 Center. It was added to the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation as a Historic Landmark in 1987. Near Pittsburgh, in 1912, they designed the house that later became the clubhouse of the Foxburg Country Club.[4]
A number of its works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[5]
Works
Works include (with attribution):
- American Stock Exchange, 86 Trinity Pl. New York, New York (Starrett & Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Building at 21 West Street, 21 West St. New York, New York (Starrett & Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Building at 304 Park Avenue South, 304 Park Ave. S New York, New York (Starrett & Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Garfinckel's Department Store, 1401 F St., NW. Washington, D.C. (Starrett and Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Lasalle, Koch and Company Department Store, 513 Adams St., at jct. with Huron St. Toledo, Ohio (Starrett & Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Charles D. McIver School, 617 W. Lee St. Greensboro, North Carolina (Starrett & Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Strouss-Hirschberg Company, 14-28 Federal Plaza W Youngstown, Ohio (Starrett & Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- One or more works in Summit Avenue Historic District, roughly bounded by Chestnut, E. Bessemer, Cypress, Dewey, Park, and Percy Sts. Greensboro, North Carolina (Starrett and Van Vleck), NRHP-listed[5]
- Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course, 369 Harvey Rd., Foxburg, Pennsylvania (Starrett, Goldwin), NRHP-listed[5]
- Hahne and Company, 609 Broad St., Newark, New Jersey (Starrett, Goldwin), NRHP-listed[5]
- 820 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York (Starrett & Van Vleck) - 1916
- JB Mosby Department Store, Richmond, Virginia (Starrett & Van Vleck) - 1916
Gallery
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J.N. Adam Department Store, Buffalo, New York, June 2009 -
See also
- Houses at 1026-1028 Fifth Ave., 1026-1028 Fifth Ave., New York, New York (Van Vleck & Goldsmith), NRHP-listed,[5] designed by a Goldwin Goldsmith and a Van Vleck,[6] very similar in name to Goldwin Starrett and Van Vleck
- First Methodist Episcopal Church, 24 N. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, New Jersey (Van Vleck & Goldsmith), NRHP-listed,[5] designed by a Goldwin Goldsmith and a Van Vleck, very similar in name to Goldwin Starrett and Van Vleck
- Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course, 369 Harvey Rd., Foxburg, Pennsylvania (Vleck, Van), NRHP-listed[5]
- [1] Biography of Francis Howse Cruess, architect for Starrett and Van Vleck.
References
- ^ "A Landmark Department Store," by Francis Morrone, The Sun, December 27, 2007.
- ^ "Manhattan House, Lord & Taylor Flagship Landmarked," by Tom Acitelli, The New York Observer, October 30, 2007.
- ^ "J.N. Adam (AM&As) Threatened by Vampiric Policies of Development Agencies," Greater Buffalo Blog, March 3, 2005, (accessed Aug 16, 2008).
- ^ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes David L. Taylor (October 2006). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Melissa Canoni; Peter Gray; Peter Shaver (October 1, 1998). "Fifth Avenue, Houses at 1026-1028 / The Marymount School".
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- Guide to New York City Landmarks, By Andrew Dolkart, Matthew A. Postal, New York (N.Y.). Landmarks Preservation Commission, Published by John Wiley and Sons, 2003.