Cary Building, Renaissance Revival commercial building in Tribeca, Manhattan, United States.
The Cary Building is a five-story cast-iron commercial building in Tribeca, Manhattan, located on the corner of Chambers Street and Reade Street. Its two facades feature deeply recessed arched windows framed by Corinthian columns, all produced in iron rather than stone.
The building was put up in 1857 as the home of Cary, Howard & Sanger, a department store that sold imported and domestic goods ranging from jewelry to musical instruments. Over the following decades it changed hands and uses several times before being renovated in the early 2000s.
The building sits at the corner of Chambers Street and Reade Street, presenting two matching cast-iron fronts to passersby, which was unusual for the period. Walking around the corner gives a clear sense of how both facades mirror each other almost exactly.
The lower floors now hold commercial spaces while the upper floors serve as residential apartments, so access inside is limited. Both facades are fully visible from the street, and the corner itself is a good spot to take in both at once.
Daniel Badger, who fabricated the facades, also designed rolling iron shutters that could cover the entire front of the building at night without leaving any visible hardware during the day. This approach was not common among department stores of the time.
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