Twin Peaks: the bizarre «Swiss-chalet» to dullness

Twin Peaks: the bizarre «Swiss-chalet» to dullness

Few buildings keep eccentric, florid and Bohemian spirit of the early 20-ies in Greenwich Village, as known as Twin Peaks at 102 Bedford Street. The architectural critic Paul Goldberg called it «surprisingly awkward and fake rustic castle.» In this form, as we know it today, the building appeared in 1925 and was a radical restructuring of a residential building in an art Studio. He became famous when it was painted in brown and cream tones in the middle of the twentieth century . But the recent renovations have caused damage to the image of «the Chalet» and caused serious disputes.

At the time the construction of the Twin Peaks was celebrated with great pomp, inviting stars. Mabel Dormand christened the building by smashing a bottle of champagne «pre-Napoleon» on one of the towers in Chalet style. Princess Amelia Trubetskaya acorns burned in the bronze brazier. In addition to the pagan ritual, Archbishop William Henry Francis of the Chicago sprinkled the building with Holy water, and Actresses Helen Hayes and Minnie Madern Fisk threw flowers to the audience on the street.

Originally for home design similar to Swiss-Chalet, chose not the usual color combination: a large part of the façade was painted black and the Windows and formwork contrast combined orange, blue and green.

In the mid-20th century, the building was repainted in the color scheme, which was loved by the majority of the people of new York: easy cream base with dark brown accents on the formwork and Windows to more accurately simulate Alpine cottages which inspired the designer of the building.

Twin Peaks: the bizarre «Swiss-chalet» to dullnessflickr/CC/Tony Hisgett

Twin Peaks has remained an icon of outrageousness in Greenwich Village nearly a century. But in 2014, the new owner decided to re-fix it. He’s on his own, painted it in a boring, dull gray color with a small cream-colored accents under the Windows. And the glory of Twin Peaks faded.

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