DEAR CAST IRON FRIEND.

DEAR CAST IRON FRIEND. I linked yesterday to an excerpt from CAST IRON ARCHITECTURE IN AMERICA by Margot Gayle and Carol Gayle. While I lived in New York, I was a member of the Friends of Cast-Iron Architecture, which Margot Gayle founded. The association was devoted to the preservation of cast iron buildings, especially in New York. I received their newsletter, which was always addressed “Dear Cast Iron Friend.” I found out about the group when I met Margot Gayle in Florence, where I lent her for the day my book on architecture in Florence. With my friend Bob Cole, I attended a lecture on the restoration of the Gilsey Hotel, a very beautiful building, as shown in this picture. The restoration was able to make use of a new material–not cast iron, some kind of plastic– to repair ornamentation. When we got married, I suggested that we move to a historic cast-iron building which was, I think, the first to be converted into apartments. The building was the McCreery Dry Goods Store, pictured here. We didn’t move there because it was not going to be available until six months after our wedding. And as Mary Jane pointed out, the apartments had 16 foot windows. She didn’t want to worry about coming up with 16 foot drapes.