Thursday, August 27, 2015

The Savoy (1940), Holloway Road, Islington, London


Opened in 1940 as the Savoy, this was a popular cinema in Holloway Road until eventually being turned into a pub. It has a nice tiled frontage, but for me, the highlights of the exterior are the exquisite doors:


A nice little history of the building is provided here:

http://hollowayexpress.co.uk/the-coronet-and-the-cinemas-that-once-decorated-holloway-road/


These photos taken in July 2006.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The Drapery (1938), Seven Sisters Road, Islington, London N7


Known as 'The Drapery' and built in 1938, this large art deco department store, situated between the junctions of Axminster Road and Sussex Way on Seven Sisters Road in Islington, London, is a hot property. These two photos were taken in July 2006, but since then the building has been refurbished and converted into 118 swanky apartments, with retail on the ground floor. Near to the Emirates Stadium, those apartments are not going to be cheap! The restoration included repairs to the faience façade of decorative glazed tiles.


The photo above is of what appears to have originally been the main entrance, on Axminster Road.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

The Holloway Odeon (1938), Islington, London N7


This wonderful building was where I first went to see a movie in the very early 1960s. It's just a few hundred yards from where I was born and was a familiar landmark to me until I moved away from London in the early 1970s. Built in the 1930s, it opened in 1938 and was struck by a V1 rocket during World War II (1944). The back part of the building was later rebuilt, and it reopened in the late 1950s.


The Odeon site on the corner of Holloway Road and Tufnell Park Road. All of these pictures were taken in July 2006, and although the building was, and still is, in use as a cinema, the exterior could do with a bit of a clean and some restoration. It is a beautiful building nevertheless.







Originally called the Gaumont, there is quite a bit of information on this building already available on the Web, starting here:

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4300

Full history here:

http://www.mawgrim.co.uk/cavalcade/holloway.htm

Excellent collection of photos of the building, including vintage interiors, here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcinemaphotos/sets/72157621211450783/


Monday, August 10, 2015

Waterbury Dam, Vermont, 1938


This is certainly the most remote location in which I have found some Art Deco architecture, and what a nice example it is! The Waterbury Dam in Vermont was completed in 1938, as the beautiful wording on this small building atop the dam attests. More details about the dam can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbury_Dam






The angled recess in the doorway is a gem. Unfortunately, and not visible in the photo above, some antisocial person/vandal has broken the glass on the light to the left of the front door. Here's a picture of what it looked like from the front with both lights intact, on a Vermont photography website: http://www.capturemyvermont.com/photos/798902


Even this plaque has nice little Art Deco flourishes in the corners.

It's a beautiful building, quietly aging in this tranquil retreat.