238 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia PA 1886; removed, ca. 1963
Pullman purchased this 1824 townhouse in March 1886, and decided to make it an office with a transformed front. Sculptor Edward Maene collaborated with Eyre in creating the rich, decorative details of this facade, giving it a plastic mobility and integration alien to its more laconic neighbors. Here the ornamental linkages of the Queen Anne were thinned and freed, as Eyre stepped away from any plausible historical guise toward a language of flow and integration.
In adopting the Colonial/Federal palette and leaving the original forms visible amid the ornamental strips and small paned sash, Eyre's demonstration of new possibilities may have seemed mocking; the older forms had their revenge in 1964, when Eyre's fantasy was stripped away.
Perspective of entrance [Building, 30 July 1887]
Front [photo: E. Teitelman, ca. 1960]
Detail of lower facade [photo: E. Teitelman, ca. 1960]
Detail of doorway [photo: E. Teitelman, ca. 1960]
Detail of upper facade [photo: E. Teitelman, ca. 1960]