SUFFOLK
Bay Shore
Recently nominated by SPLIA, the family residence of
Rafael Guastavino y Esposito (1872–1950), son
of Rafael Guastavino y Moreno (1842–1908), is
listed on the Preservation League's 2005 “Seven
to Save” list. Known as the Guastavino "Tile
House," the residence is located at the end of
Awixa Avenue on Great South Bay. It is for sale with
its 1.2 acre parcel, and there is enormous concern for
its future.
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| Rafael Guastavino House, constructed
about 1913. ERIC RAMSEY ASSOCIATES, BAY SHORE |
The elder Guastavino was an architect working in Barcelona,
who emigrated to America in 1881 and, after failing
to find work as an architect, became a builder of fireproof
structural vaults and domes. His vaulting technique
was an adaptation of a Medieval type of Mediterranean
construction known as timbrel vaulting. His first major
project in the States was the Boston Public Library.
This project launched his career, and he proceeded to
work with the greatest architects of his age, including
McKim Mead and White, Cass Gilbert, Warren and Wetmore,
Carrere and Hastings, Palmer and Hornbostel, Bertram
Goodhue and Richard Morris Hunt. Buildings that contain
his vaults and domes can be found in every major city
in America.
Rafael Guastavino, the son, worked for his father
until his death in 1908, when he took over the firm.
He is responsible for some of the firms most daring
and beautiful structures, including the dome over the
crossing of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and
the Registry Room ceiling at Ellis Island. The firm
worked on over 1,000 commissions in its lifetime, including
Carnegie Hall, Grant's Tomb, the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the
Supreme Court Building, Washington D.C., Biltmore, Asheville,
North Carolina and the National Shrine, Washington,
D. C. Local commissions include the J.J. Jermain Memorial
Library, Sag Harbor (Augustus N. Allen, 1909) and the
Sacred Heart Chapel, Brentwood (Frederick Vernon Murphy,
1930).
Rafael Guastavino II's house was a "laboratory"
for the firm's innovative tile work. Due to a growing
national and international interest in the work of the
Guastavinos, the house has assumed enormous importance,
and has been found eligible for the National Register
of Historic Places, and is a potential National Historic
Landmark.
Sources: Daniel Lane, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates;
Priscilla Hancock, Bay Shore Historical Society; Marilyn
Fenollosa, National Trust for Historic Preservation
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