Guatemalan Consulate & UN Mission (New York City, New York)

 residence, consulate / consular section / consul residence, diplomatic / foreign mission / representation

6-story Beaux-Arts diplomatic mission completed in 1911 as a mansion for Mrs. Adelaide Townsend Douglas. Designed by Horace Trumbauer, the house was later converted to offices and accommodated a variety of tenants in the early 1950s including the New York offices of the American branch of Associated British Oil Engine Company, the Welfare League for Retarded Children, and advertising agencies headed by Louis deGarmo and Regina Ovesey. In 1959, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) purchased 57 Park Avenue to serve as its headquarters, which it called Olympic House. It was then purchased by the Republic of Guatemala in 1979, and now serves as the permanent mission of Guatemala to the United Nations.

The facade is clad in granite and limestone, and rests on a rusticated base which forms the ground floor. It is pierced by segmental-arched openings with bracketed keystones. The grooves of the brackets are adorned with bell-flowers. Unfortunately the original doorway has been replaced but an original molding may be seen in the vestibule. A graceful wrought-iron fence encloses the areaway. Above the ground floor an impressive cornice, which also serves as a balcony, sets off the main portion of the facade at the 2nd and 3rd floors. This cornice is supported on heavy, paired guttae-adorned modillions which in turn are linked by swags. The cornice is surmounted by a delicate wrought-iron railing which shields the French doors at the 2nd floor. These openings are flanked by pilasters which rise to the 3rd floor. Carved stone panels in relief are set above the transoms over the French doors. They depict
classically-inspired figures of children singing and playing musical instruments. The casement windows at the 3rd floor are flanked by ornate incense burners with swags and boukrania, also carved in relief, which rest on the tops of the pilasters. Wrought-iron railings shield the windows. The 4th story rises above a modillioned cornice with a grooved frieze decorated with bell-flowers. This story takes the form of a colonnade with arched window openings set back from the columns. Wrought-iron railings also shield these windows. A dentilled cornice and parapet set off the slate-covered mansard roof which forms the 5th story.

The roof has a decorative copper coping, and it is pierced by three copper-clad pedimented dormers. The 6th floor is set back from the building line and only the parapet is visible from the street. It is also shielded by a wrought-iron railing.

www.consulateofguatemalaindenver.org/cons_eng.asp