Sarah's Favorite Buildings: Learning To Speak Positively About Architecture

I think, perhaps, I've focused too much on sucky new designs in this blog thus far. Time to write something positive, no? From now on, I will try to maintain a "Sarah's Favorite Buildings" entry at least once a month to limit my bad-architecture venting.

Astoria. If you know me at all, you probably know about my affection for this little Greek enclave of Queens. After two walking tours of the area in the summer of 2006, I was hooked. I think this crush, if you will, officially started when our class stood in front of a little, rundown 3-storey building situated on a thin, triangular block and our professor pointed to it and called it "the Flatiron of Astoria." Those with any sense of humor laughed for a good two minutes afterwards, despite the professor being completely serious. And while that building isn't the pick for this month (it really should be), it still maintains a place in my heart as an introduction to the endearing-ness/charm of Astoria.

Removed from the Astoria nightlife and the restaurants and the - well, everything but factories - is this house:

The Steinway House
Images from The New York Times

Oh hey there, enormous 1858 granite building that overlooks the East River and has its own lawn. You don't exactly look like you belong in Astoria, do you?

Why I Like This Building: It's enormous and grandiose and intimidating and beautiful, all at the same time. Sure, I would prefer it without the white paint in the front (oh wait, I'm supposed to be positive - white paint is great!), but it's really gorgeous overall. Secondly, William Steinway used to live in it (this is why people refer to it as the "Steinway House"). Thirdly, it is a really scary place to visit. This house is literally in the middle of nowhere, and the only sound is the quiet humming of a ConEd plant that's a few blocks away. Fourthly - and this one kind of ties into my third reason - it is quite the trek to get there. The 30-40 minute walk from the subway will make you appreciate being so close to history even more once you reach the top of the hill.

This post has managed to reveal more about my quirks than information on the building, but I hope your interest has been piqued enough to go on an adventure to Astoria.