Benjamin A. Gorman
Roland T. Warner Hardware Stroe
One Grand Avenue
Location:.
On Grand Avenue, it fronts the street facing south. Front Street is on the west side and a parking lot is at the rear. The east foundation borders the Quinnipiac River.
Color:
Grey except for white trim, windows, panels, detail, etc.
Dimensions:
Front 61 1/2 feet, side 56 feet, height 32 feet.
Construction:
Wooden clapboard exterior; post and beam construction.
Analysis.:
It is a three story building with a low, hip roof. Gable roof peaks accent sections that extend from the sides at the second floor level. Beneath the roof line which creates a large soffit is a fascia. The fascia is interrupted by eyebrow windows and a pattern of bars and rosettes; the later detail is on the extended second floor.
Original 7’2’ windows have been replaced with smaller double hung ones but the space has been maintained with the use of panels under the new windows on the second floor. Light is emitted through a series of smaller windows under the second floor fascia; these lightly repeat the effect of the smaller windows under the eaves.
A larger fascia bank circles the building repeating the effect of the roof’s overhang. This fascia visually separates the floors on the exterior yet balances the vertical lines of the windows and trim, helping to maintain the solid, spacious nature of the building. In practice, the fascia allows space for wooden letters which label the building in name and purpose.
The entrance is recessed, it uses glass doors and side panels. A canvas canopy also identifies the entrance as it extends over the street. Original windows, long since covered over, are now covered with decorative, framed wooded panels. They repeat the height of the upper windows and give more street security as well as interior wall space. The raised panels also extend along the base at the street level on the front and tend to repeat the fascia above in line and color.
On the right side of the front are wooden doors that provide access to the second floor. They do make the main entrance off center but it’s closer to the foot traffic from the street intersection and away from the nearby bridge.
The entrance leads directly into an interior which is bounded by exterior walls, displays and supplies. Within, “place” is everyplace. Without reading the store’s sign, the unknowing visitor might be reluctant to enter this large structure, afraid that it might overwhelm or trap him. The store doesn’t invite the casual visitor; it is not its purpose. Shoppers enter usually knowing that the item will be available here and no where else. The walls create a definite inside. Once one steps under the canopy, you have crossed from the outside.
The facade of the building moves the viewer to the entrance of the interior place. Yet it also can move the viewer along a path by it because there is no way to see inside unless you choose to enter under the canopy. Thus, the place exists for its intended market and the architecturally minded but not for the browser.
The impressive structure, perched upon the river’s edge, dominates the intersection, sharing it only with King’s Block. It looks out at the river over the open space along the west bank and could serve as a giant gatehouse for the bridge on its right. preserved and renewed, they are a logical center to Fair Haven Village.
(figure available in print form)
Bibliography
Belmont Jeff. “East Farmes. . . Fair Haven,”
New Haven Register
, June 6, 1975.
Brown, Elizabeth Mill
s. New Haven: A Guide to Architecture and
Urban Design
. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976. Excellent reference to Fair Haven pp. 167-207.
Drummond, Harold D.
The Western Hemisphere
. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1978. photo reference pages: 42, 112, 118, 173, 269, 313, 377, 390, 398, 401, 434, etc.
Greenbie, Barrie B.
Spaces
. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981. Note discussion of neutral ground, transitional space and haptic senses.
Dubar, Walter. “In ‘old’ New Haven Along Frand Avenue. . .,
New Haven
Register, Fedruary 8, 1981.
Hornstein, Harold. “When Captains Came Home to Fair Haven,”
New Haven
Register, February 24, 1974.
King, Dennis and Potter.
United States and The Other Americas
. New York:. Macmillan Publishing Company, 1980. Photo reference pages: 142, 173, 250, 290, 306, 320, 337, 366, 469, 457, 508, 509, etc.
Osterweis, Rollin G
. Three Centuries of New Haven, 1638-1938.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953. Information on oystering, shipping, immigrants and politics.
Townshend, Doris B.
Fair Haven: A Journey Through Time
. New Haven: The New Haven Colony Historical Society, 1976. The narrative of this unit is based on this rich and easily read story of Fair Haven.
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)