After a busy Caturday, we woke up and were all still tired this morning.
Elektra stared into space.
Stephen’s new orchid looked beautiful in the morning light, though.
This is a cattleya ‘trick or treat’ orchid, a tropical variety that’s obviously quite happy with a western exposure in Washington Heights.
After Stephen finished his weekly watering of the orchids, we ate breakfast at the diner and then went for a walk down 158th Street, where we admired The Grinnell, which is perhaps the grandest apartment palace in upper Manhattan.
Predictably, we walked around it with a mix of envy and exhilaration as we considered the triangular form of the building against the late winter sky.
This is the western facade of the building, which is somewhat reminiscent of the Flatiron Building downtown.
I often tell people that the pre-war architecture of Washington Heights, when combined with the curving streets and hills, makes it the most ‘European’ of any neighborhood in the city. This is a view looking north on the Upper Riverside Drive from 158th Street. (158th Street, btw, which extends down to the Hudson, was originally an Indian path, so has an even longer history than that of the surrounding buildings.)
The Grinnell is not the only architecturally significant building in the vicinity, as this one — right across the street — demonstrates. Someday I’d like to take a tour of the upper floor, which faces south and west, and thus offers views of the river and the downtown skyline.
On the other corner is a smaller brick house from the same era (circa 1900-10) that offers a different kind of charm; the front portion is for sale if you’re in the market for something!
We walked through the melting snow, dreaming of distant times but not unhappy to be here in our own.
