Though of Grenadian heritage, Francis Redhead, who attended space public faculties and Metropolis School, is a proud Harlemite by and thru. An unbiased plumber, with two grown-up sons, he’s a cousin of the late nice Rolls-Royce-driving, champagne-drinking Harlem and Sag Harbor legend, dentist Chester Redhead.
For the needs of this story, what’s most vital to narrate about Francis is that, by and thru, he’s a real preservationist. Many would possibly see an previous Sugar Hill landmark that’s change into dilapidated and in want of care, whispering to themselves, “How good it will be if that previous spoil may very well be saved.” However that might be so far as it went.
Not so with Francis! Round 1990, he noticed that half of a pair of homes designed within the Eighties to look like a single construction was on the market. It had been divided into residences and wanted work. So he purchased it, figuring it was an excellent funding. His perspective was the biblical one: if one sees somebody who’s hungry, after praying for them, feed them too. In 1995, he utilized the identical method when the mate to his home got here in the marketplace. He deliberate to dwell there, and due to the hearth that made it cheap sufficient that he may afford it, it wanted way more consideration. However he purchased that home as effectively.
I’m actually joyful for him. Most of all, I’m joyful that when Harlem’s most grandiose mansion subsequent door went up on the market a short time after, Francis restrained himself. He had already shot his shot. I noticed the craving method he checked out that place because it remained unsold due to the way it regarded, its tall chimneys out of plumb, and the way it smelled after 10 years of the homeowners’ inbred pack of canine by no means being walked. Thank goodness he was one other reckless gambler, that every one the bets he’s positioned are so properly paying off!
I mentioned that Francis is a devoted preservationist, decided to undo any alteration he can and to revive issues to the best way they was. We just lately noticed that in a 1929 photograph made by metropolis employees, although the baluster-shaped fence publish with ball finials was retained, an abnormal fence with pickets was added. Thank goodness that glimpses in older photos present the primary barrier, made from stout timbers in a lattice of squares. Francis intends to place it again.
So sure, he’s a preservationist, however he’s additionally a talented designer with a delicate method to paint. On the inside, all his shade schemes appear to take their cues from some distinguished authentic focus. Blue-stained glass transoms within the parlor home windows, just like the blue-green iridescent tiles of the encompass within the mahogany fire, harmonize so fantastically with the sunny yellow partitions under a blue-gray frieze. Yellow window panes, lighting the staircase, and sange de boeuf (oxblood) coloured tiles under a mantlepiece with Japanese-inspired bubble-like circles, all improve Richard Mayhew’s tender panorama entitled “Atascadero” (the artist transitioned in 2024 at age 100).
Upstairs, the maple-ceilinged, flooring and en-framed library is the pièce de résistance of the complete home. There may be extra vibrant artwork by Black artists in such profusion that one dynamic piece obscures the excellent chimneypiece. The encompass consists of a mosaic of coloured marble depicting a sample of festooned circles. Gilded circles on the frieze preserve this motive. Whereas the wooden ceilings with incised strains displaying solar designs have misplaced nearly the entire gold leaf that when gave them higher emphasis. No worries, simply as he found the white-washed ceiling was wooden and never plaster, and changed lacking blocks of the parquetry flooring, quickly, my good friend Francis will get round to this too. I can’t wait!
