Parish Building (New York City, New York) | store / shop, office building, Petco, 1883_construction

 store / shop, office building, Petco, 1883_construction

6-story Neo-Grec office building completed in 1883. Designed by Detlef Lienau for Daniel Parish as a store-and-lofts building, it has a chamfered corner at the intersection of Broadway and 17th Street. Clad in buff-colored brick with stone and terra-cotta trim, the irregularly shaped Parish Building has lost most of its original neo-Grec ornamental detail through refacing, although it still is a commanding presence at the northwest corner of Union Square.

The Broadway facade is articulated by one vertical bay flanked by broad piers, with three square-headed window openings at each floor separated by narrower intermediate piers. The 1-story painted stone base has banded end pilasters with molded capitals flanking three rectangular openings. The northern opening has a modern surround containing plate glass doors, while the other openings have spiraled iron enframements with concrete infill topped by transoms that have iron grilles; the northern transom is glazed while the other has metal louvers. The base is capped by a molded cornice surmounted by arcaded balustrades spanning the 2nd-floor windows.

The 2nd-6th floors are clad in buff-colored brick, and intersected by a molded terra-cotta cornice above the 3rd floor and a string course above the 4th floor. Each floor has three openings with stone sills containing paired windows separated by brown iron mullions. A terra-cotta rosette frieze caps the 6th floor, surmounted by a dentiled iron cornice with a scalloped parapet.

The chamfered corner of the building, which once featured a bow-fronted 2-story entrance vestibule, is slightly recessed behind the planes of the Broadway and East 17th Street facades. One bay wide, it has the same overall design and articulation of detail as the facades with which it intersects, joining the continuous horizontal design elements. The ground floor has an iron entrance surround (now painted to match the rest of the ground floor) with spiraled moldings capped by a frieze of rosettes, scallop shells and ribbons with a shallow cornice above.

The East 17th Street facade has the same overall design and articulation of detail as the Broadway facade, although it has two vertical bays of three openings at each floor. On the opposite side, the facade at 32-34 East 18th Street is clad in buff-colored brick. Although the original design of this facade remains intact, it does not reflect the original appearance of the other facades, as East 8th Street functioned as the rear of the building and was therefore given a simpler architectural treatment. The facade is articulated by three broad brick piers separating two vertical bays with three openings at each floor. The recessed openings at the ground floor are separated by slender iron colonnettes on raised pedestals; these openings have concrete infill except for the easternmost and two westernmost openings which contain modern metal doors and metal panels. The ground floor is capped by a molded cornice. Above, each bay has three segmental-arched window openings with chamfered sides and brick voussoirs which share a common sill course ornamented by an inset billet molding. A frieze of inset rosettes surmounted by a simple dentiled iron cornice caps the facade.

From the 1880s through the early 20th century, the Parish Building housed a number of significant tenants characteristic of those in the district, including several jewelers and silversmiths. The building also housed a number of furniture and home furnishings merchants. The building was later known as the Butler Building; this may refer to a successor of Butler, Melvin & Company, a dry goods firm in which Daniel Parish was once a partner. The ground floor is now occupied by PetCo pet supplies.

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