Stockton B. Colt
Stockton Beekman Colt (March 20, 1863 – June 22, 1937) was an American architect noted for using the Renaissance style.
The latter is considered the first New York City skyscraper with a residence and is also notable for its experimental ornamentation where Colt tested the limits of terracotta.
The Emmett Building is a New York City Landmark and is also located in the Madison Square North Historic District.
[8] A graduate of Princeton University, Boudinot Colt ran Passaic Manufacturing Company and its Duck Mill until the industry declined when clipper ships were replaced; he became the director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York City around 1885 and moved the family to Newark in 1890, but continued as president of S.U.M.
[10][1] However, Colt quit the partnership three years later in 1897, opening his independent practice at 287 4th Avenue in New York City.
and Mrs. McCready...are the possessors of one of the most beautiful homes in New York, and so thoroughly French that it looks as if it might have been brought over from Paris and set down in Seventy-fifth St.”[14] Today, this house is part of the Upper East Side Historic District.
[12] In 1899, Colt designed a neo-Georgian façade for the preexisting home of newlyweds Anna Jackson and William Walton Rutherfurd.
[12] Colt removed its original brownstone exterior, giving the house a mansard roof, second-story balcony with ornate ironwork, and stone work for the base and window lintels.
[16] In addition to the benefits of the steel framing, he ensured fire safety by using hollow–tiles, cement floors, and Mississippi Wire Glass for windows and skylights.
[23] The $15,000 (equivalent to $490,500 in today's money) project included adding a brick Colonial Revival façade with marble trim, a deck house, and an elevator.
[23] In 1908, Colt designed a rear extension for Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet's house at 89 Madison Avenue.
[24] Located at 156–158 Greenwich Street, the four-story Second Precinct Police Station was in Italian Renaissance style and cost $182,979, nearly $6,205,021 in today's money.
[28] The goal was to provide privacy for the muster room, the lieutenant's desk, and the area where prisoners exited the patrol wagon.
[27] Other main-level features include a separate entrance for reporters, reading and recreation rooms for police officers, and living quarters for a matron.
[27] The upper levels consisted of sleeping quarters for the policemen, including twelve private rooms with toilets for the officers and nine dormitories that housed 160 men.
[5] Colt designed this skyscraper in partnership with John Stewart Barney for Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, a prominent gynecological surgeon.
[4][5] The building included commercial spaces and wholesale showrooms, as well as the penthouse residence and roof gardens of Emmet and his family.
[5][30][31] The upper stories are finished in grey and olive green terracotta, and the middle ten-stories have projecting vertical pilasters with cast iron spandrels decorated with scroll and shield motifs.
[5][30][31] The Emmet Building's ornamentation was notable because Barney & Colt tested the limits of terracotta and the skills of the sculptors by calling for "larger-than standard pieces",[5] The crown of the building consists of five-stories "liberally encrusted with Renaissance motifs including baluster columns, elaborate cornices, foliate friezes, grotesques, console brackets, herms, and a mansard roof with stepped dormers.
[31] They wrote, "The use of the terra cotta in this building requires particular and favorable comment, in that no attempt has been made to disguise the nature of the material, which is frankly a fireproofing for the steel work within.
"[31] The marketing materials for the Emmet Building promoted its fireproofing, higher-than-usual ceilings, wide-set columns, and modern HVAC and electrical systems.
[5] Designing a skyscraper to meet the exacting demands of Dr. Emmet's residence was an interesting challenge for Barney & Colt, as they had to mix commercial practically with the distinctive architectural style a wealthy client desires for their home.
[32] The library was significant in size as Emmet collected books; it featured oak cabinets framed in blue and white Holland tiles, as well as a traditional iron grate.
[30] As one period writer noted, the penthouse was "perfect to detail, intended for the discerning owner of this magnificent property.
[30][32] They even designed the roof to hide the water tanks, boiler flues, ventilation, and other "such unsightly things".
[30] [5][32] The American Institute of Architects called the Emmet building "a terra cotta neo-Renaissance confection".
[5] In 1913, Arthur Curtiss James hired Barney & Colt to redesign his carriage house and stables at 147 East 69th Street.
[36] In 1911, Colt was chairman of the committee that organized an annual exhibition at the Newark Free Public Library which featured New Jersey's best architecture of the past two years.
[39][40] In 1919, Colt was appointed to an Architects Committee to assist the State of New Jersey and its cities with memorials for soldiers.
