Historic Architecture Photography provides a visual documentation of the way things are built showing the architect's vision within the finished structure.


Featured Projects (click images for larger view):

The Roosevelt Stadium in the City of Jersey City, New Jersey was demolished in 1985 to make way for a condominium community with marina. It left a legacy of historical significance that is difficult to ignore. It is part of the physical legacy of Mayor Frank Hague, who epitomizes Democratic Party political power in New Jersey and was associated closely with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, thereby linking the stadium in name and in stature to presidential prestige. It is most closely associated with baseball and served as a minor league baseball stadium from 1937 to 1962, and, within that stretch of time, as a major league baseball stadium from 1956 to 1957. Its greatest claim to fame is double-tiered. It serves as a monument to race relations history in the United States because important strides in integration occurred in the stadium, and at the same time serves as an important sports arena icon because it was the venue where Jackie Robinson broke through the color barrier as the first African American in the Minors. It hosted so many wide-ranging civic events in Jersey City that it was referred to as "a center of the socio-economic-political fabric" of the city. And its physical presence now lives in photos and historical accounts only.

Blackwell's Island was developed by New York City in the 19th Century as a center for the institutional warehousing of the criminal, the insane, and the destitute in the city. Island Hospital on the island, presently known as Roosevelt Island and located in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, was designed by architect James Renwick, Jr. in the Second Empire style (the first public building in the style in the United States). It was opened in 1860. It has a notorious reputation and a varied past, and has seen its share of demolition and renovation. It has been used by various tenants in its many structures, and has even been used as a set for one scene in the movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with Island Hospital displayed prominently in the background), though today the island is experiencing a renaissance in upscale residential living.

Initially, the Ballast House, otherwise known as Blossom Point Farm on Blossom Point along the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland, was recorded in July of 1979. A photographer named Walter Smalling, Jr. did ten photographs of the exterior and interior but it was later decided that more documentation was needed. This c. 1800 farmhouse was built by the Jesuits to serve as an overseer's dwelling for the farm, but the property was eventually, after numerous title changes, sold to the US Department of the Army and used as a laboratory and sustained surprisingly few alterations, modifications, or demolitions during this tenure. The Potomac River had gradually eaten away at the point of property to the point where the dwelling's foundation was undercut and at risk. Since the structure was quite significant because, "its 18th Century woodwork was in remarkably good shape," and the kitchen that was originally a separate structure but was attached with an addition had an original bake oven, it was decided that more photography should be done before any demolition or removal to a new site. Rob did twenty-seven more views in two separate visits (an initial visit and another during a demo phase that prepped the structure for moving).