232-234 Front Street

 apartment building, 1810s construction

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4-story residential building completed in 1816 as a warehouse for grocer Gershom Smith, who had previously occupied another building on the site as a tavern keeper. The cast-iron ground floor, composed of square columns supporting a narrow lintel with rosettes, is protected by a corrugated metal canopy. Three three upper floors, six windows wide and clad in beige brick, are characteristically utilitarian and plain in design. Stone lintels and sills are the only ornamental features. Short attic windows, now filled in, enliven the fenestration pattern of the facade. They were probably filled in when the original peaked roof of the building was lowered In 1897. A new grey metal cornice caps the roof line. In 1891 the building functioned as a stable. Carriages were stored on the ground floor; the horses were carried by hoist to the 2nd floor and the fodder was kept on the 3rd floor. In the 2005 Front Street restoration project, the building was converted to apartments.