Before I tell you about the wonders of Demolition Depot, let me give you a little backstory for how I discovered this uptown gem.At Curio Design, we work closely with the Lower East Side Tenement Museum on the design of their communications materials. They've given us their extensive photography collection, which includes historical images of the Lower East Side from the past 200 years, documentation of the restoration efforts of a tenement building, and images of artifacts and architectural details that have been uncovered in the process. Working with the Museum has rekindled my obsession with NYC history, to say the least.
The Tenement photo files needed some organization; so we asked our intern Lea to help us with the task. As she was going through a series of restoration images, she asked us if we had ever been to Demolition Depot. My ears perked up just at the sound of the name. As a student at FIT, one of her professors happens to be the sister of the store's owner. She told us that you could find many of the artifacts and architectural details similar to those in the Tenement images at Demolition Depot. I had to check it out!
Demolition Depot is known for architectural reclamations — rescuing artifacts and architectural details from soon-to-be demolished buildings in and around the city. Their four-story building is packed to the gills with rescued artifacts. On the first and second floors, you'll find lighting fixtures, mirrors, mantels, windows, and other artifacts, such as doorknobs, hinges, grills and stained glass. (I personally loved the old elevator call buttons I found on the first floor.) The third floor is dedicated to doors, including a variety of styles ranging from French Provencal to Art Deco. If you're looking for bathroom fixtures, the fourth floor is your best bet. The backyard garden is covered with exterior architectural details and artifacts, such as gargoyles, tiles, fountains, wrought-iron gates, benches, and even old MTA subway signs.
If you are involved in a building or restoration project, they can work closely with you to buy or sell artifacts. They make it easy to navigate through their ever-changing inventory. Unlike many stores where pricing is a mystery, Demolition tags each item with a number that can then be used to check for the prices on communal computers.I love combining the old with the new, especially when it comes to decorating, so I was happy to find out that Demolition Depot owner Evan Blum, along with his sister Leslie, wrote a book about the subject called Irreplaceable Artifacts: Decorating the Home with Architectural Ornament. This beautifully photographed book showcases wonderful examples of how to integrate ornaments and architectural details rescued from 19th- and early 20th-century buildings into a more contemporary setting.
From the Amazon.com editorial review:
"...The joy of using these things, as we learn from this wonderful book, is threefold: they enhance our homes; they reduce the need to expend new resources and energy, since they recycle preexisting items; and they help to preserve our magnificent architectural heritage."
Check out their website to view the store's inventory and be the first to find out about new arrivals from their latest reclamations: www.demolitiondepot.comDemolition Depot
216 East 125th Street at 2nd Ave.
4/5/6 train to the 125th Street
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