An Opportunity to Acquire a XVI Century Facade 
AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE 
A SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
FACADE. 
HROUGH the courtesy of Mr. J. Ran¬ 
dolph Coolidge, Jr., of Boston, we are 
enabled to publish on the following three 
pages a house facade which may be acquired 
bv those wishing to save an interesting speci¬ 
men of medieval architecture. The struc¬ 
ture is in a town of Central France, and 
is surmounted by a cornice of so-called 
Genovese design, of tilework supported by 
three caryatides. The latter part of the 
sixteenth century has been given as the 
probable date of the work. Even in those 
ancient streets where monuments of the past 
would remain, it would seem, undisturbed 
forever, changes and improvements must be 
made, and this little building is now doomed 
to be torn down. 
Hearing this, two late fellow-students of 
Mr. Coolidge’s at the Ecole des Beaux Arts 
made a personal investigation of the circum¬ 
stances in order to save the monument, if 
possible, from destruction. They learned 
that the whole facade could be carefully 
taken down and packed at a very reasonable 
cost, and that the stone was quite firm 
enough to bear transportation. Hoping to 
interest an American individual or institu¬ 
tion in the cause, they further learned that 
for the sum of $ 10,000 the facade could be 
bought and transported to a port in France 
ready for shipment to this country. 
We are told that no part of the building 
but the facade is of any value or interest, 
and that the width of the latter is about 22 
feet 2 inches. From this it may be judged 
that the entire height would be fully 75 feet, 
or considerably more than the average height 
of a four-story city house of such a width in 
this country. There is considerable latitude, 
however, for adapting the front to a new 
location. The ashlar of an interior court, 
provided with mullioned windows similar to 
those of the facade, would afford an easy 
means of widening the front, while the height 
could be modified by a restoration of the first 
story, now somewhat damaged by age. Two 
marble columns should here be replaced in 
order to reproduce the original design. 
One of our American museums might well 
acid this subject to its architectural collection 
and rebuild it in a public park or use it to 
house one of its departments. As for a 
private purchaser, no one could be accused 
of retarding modern design by turning this 
exotic to his needs. His importation would 
be an avowed one, and it would aid the 
study of architectural history. 
VIEW FROM THE STREET 
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