Encore 49 Residence | apartment building, social service department / organization, 1903_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

 apartment building, social service department / organization, 1903_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

9-story Beaux-Arts residential building completed in 1903. Designed by Rush A Plowman as a hotel, it opened as the Hotel Markwell. In 1988 it was converted to the Encore 49 Residence to welcome elderly men and women who had become homeless or had been living in transitional situations or shelters. Today, 89 formerly homeless elderly, many of whom have histories of mental illness compounded by physical, emotional and financial difficulties, call the Encore 49 Residence home, where they are provided with safe and dignified housing. One of the unique and important aspects of the Residence is the on-site social service team who provides clinical and supportive services to help residents lead independent and self-sustaining lives. In 2002, the Residence completed its last of many renovations undertaken to refurbish the exterior and interior.

The 3-bay facade is clad in grey brick above a 3-story, banded, beige-painted, limestone base. The central entrance, with glass double-doors, is at the top of a short set of grey stone steps, and is flanked by a pair of round columns with Corinthian capitals supporting triangular pediment. A peaked, grey canvas canopy extends out to the edge of the steps. There is a double-window with stone surround on either side. Below the eastern window is a gated entrance to the basement restaurant, reached by a set of descending steps; a yellow canvas canopy rises up from the doorway and then extends out over the sidewalk. Below the west window was originally a smaller basement window, now partially filled-in, with a vent at the top. The 2nd floor has a double-window in the middle bay and tripartite windows in the end bays, all with stone surrounds. A painted stone cornice caps the base.

The upper floors have double-windows in the middle bay, with stone sills and lintels. There are shallow stone balconies at the 4th & 7th floors. The end bays have projecting tripartite bay windows, with the angled side panes separated by brick pilasters. Every window bay in the facade has a protruding air-conditioning unit. The edges of the upper floors are line with brick quoins. The top floor is set off by a projecting metal cornice that extends out and around the projecting bay windows at the end bays. The top floor consists of a steep-sloped metal mansard roof pierced by three dormers; the middle dormer has a rounded copper pediment, and the outer two have peaked copper pediments.

There is a shallow light court along the east facade. The basement level is occupied by Da Marino restaurant.

www.encorecommunityservices.org/housing.html