say goodbye

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Fifth Avenue just below 23rd Street was fashionable as young men were leaving to fight the Civil War.

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The townhouse at 180 Fifth was built in 1862, and is currently undergoing interior demolition.

Walking past is like visiting an architectural museum.

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The original tin ceiling is revealed now that the sheetrock ceiling has been taken down.

The tin crown molding is also still there.

In this picture you can see the original horsehair plaster crown, with old knob and tube electric wiring.

“Horsehair” refers to actual hair curried from the work animals and blended into the plaster mix, much like reinforcing rod in today’s concrete.

perioddecorators.co.uk

And on the front a beautiful, handmade copper cornice.

Covered in 150 years of peeling paint.

180 Fifth also has the lurid history of a prostitute’s suicide while her aristocratic lover slept. 

But that’s a story for