Bill Cwiklo's blog

In 1903 Frank A. and Carrie J. Davis purchased the house at 475 E. Town Street and around 1914-1915 they extensively remodeled it.  They stuccoed over the brick and installed new dormers.  They also purchased limestone stone work from a castle in Scotland, had it disassembled, shipped and then reassembled on the front of the house giving their home a chateauesque appearance. 

A view of the porch with the limestone detailing (above) and a view of Topiary Park from the porch (below).



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The back side entrance.



The two story carriage house behind.

The interior of the solarium contain 5,500 Roockwood tiles on its walls and floor.

 

Jeff Geppert caught peeking out of the front door.

The mantle in the front parlor or music room is of yellow Sienna marble (two above) while the wood is butternut.  The fireplace in the living room/library (above) is of white Carrara marble while the wood is cherry.

The mantle in the dining room is also of Sienna marble.




Fortunately, one room in the house, the kitchen, has been thoroughly updated.


The carving in the woodwork in the front upstair library/bedroom is amongst the best in the house.


The paneling in another of the upstairs bedrooms is based on that of late 18th century France.

Turning this house into a comfortable home while fully respecting both the interior and exterior architecture will be a challenge that is right up Cathy and Jeff's alley.  But they did it earlier with their house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cathy even got it listed on the National Register before she was finished with it.  So I'm sure that they can do it again in Columbus, Ohio.  And in the ten year interim she has used the opportunity of furnishing their home in Sacramento, California to build up a fine collection of antique furnishings that should be very useful at 475 East Town Street.

Below are two sideview illustrations of the Queen Mary.

The first one illustrates the division of space aboard the Queen Mary by class while the Queen Mary was in service.  The white areas were either crew quarters or mechanical spaces.  (You need to double or triple click on the illustration to see it full size.)

The second version illustrates the Queen Mary today.  The orange overlay shows the vast areas of the ship that were severely impacted or obliterated by the Long Beach conversion and subsequent changes such as those on-going on Sun Deck today. 

• No second and third class cabins now exist.
• All crew cabins with the exception of a few deck officers cabin have been destroyed.
• Most of the propulsion system was destroyed..
• Many of the public rooms were also changed or obliterated. 
• The working alleys by which the ship was serviced were also essentially destroyed. 

What remains is the area highlighted in yellow that was first class.  But even here changes were and are still being made that obliterate many original amenities and features.


 


It is crucial that the destruction stop and that key landmarks be established for protection and restoration on every deck.  The damage done in the recent renovation of the "Queen's Salon" to the parquet floor illustrates the continuing problem even in a supposedly preserved first class area.  The original handsome inlaid floor was water damaged but salvageable.  Instead it was simply obliterated. 




This action underscores the seriousness of the preservation problem on the Queen Mary today.   When questioned about the destruction, those responsible tried to justify it by invoking the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.  



Suja Lowenthal, the city council person responsible for the Queen Mary gives John Thomas, Garrison's historic consultant, a citation recognizing the historic importance of the Queen Mary.

So while those responsible are breaking their arms patting themselves on the back, admirers of the historic Queen Mary are shaking their heads and watching with chagrin.  Where will it end?  The public has a right to see the real Queen Mary, not just some tired old exhibits about the Queen Mary, shown amidst childish ghost tours and low rent motorcycle and tattoo festivals.

Over time, I will review the report against the findings documented in the Alternative Visions web site that Mr. Hill and I, Jeffrey Taylor and Sean Hankins and others here have compiled over time.

http://www.sterling.rmplc.co.uk/visions/

Recently I had dinner at Sir Winston's.  Before dinner I took a photograph of the letter from Lady Churchill giving her permission to use his name on the restaurant.  It is dated the 1st April 1972.


          

The restaurant opened shortly thereafter that very year.  So that makes 2012 the 40th anniversary of its founding.  But is anyone noting this?   On leaving I came upon the sign for the restaurant posted by the stairs.  It gives the date of founding as 1980.



         

Apparently even local history in Long Beach must bow to the whims of the former City Hall insider/operator.

Recently Mr. Everette Hoard, the retail manager of Stacks took the lead in renovating the exhibits on display in the cabinet in the former first class entry on R deck.  The results show how attractive the Queen Mary can be when cared for properly.  Mr. Hoard cleaned and polished the wood and installed new exhibits with the able assistance of sometimes actor and longtime tour guide, Mr. Will Caine, who also functions as the acting "exhibits manager".  

Despite being the only world class historic venue in the city and the property of the City of Long Beach, the operation is forced to rely on the efforts of volunteers such as Mr. Hoard and amateurs such as Mr. Caine because the City refuses to take responsibility for the preservation and interpretation program of the ship.  The high level of professional staff and effort seen in both of the city owned ranchos and at the Aquarium of the Pacific is nowhere to be seen aboard the illustrious RMS Queen Mary.




The leftmost portion as you face the cabinet highlights the annual  Art Deco Festival.  (See below.)

The central sections highlights the annual Scottish Festival. (See below.)



And the rightmost section highlights the annual New Years program on the Queen Mary.  (See below.)



The area that is symetrically parallel to the case on the starboard side is still awaiting attention.  (See the odd tape shadow in the upper portion of the photo below.)



Also awaiting attention is the original signage above the entrance to the swimming pool.  The metal letters are incomplete and the metal banding has been loose for many years.  (See below.)



The fine results in the renovation of the portside display cabinet shows how well the paneling cleans up.  This offers hope for a future restoration of the woodwork in this very public space and throughout the ship.  With proper training and supervision the housekeeping staff can become part of the solution rather than part of the problem.  See the results of over cleaning of the metal work by untrained and possibly unsupervised staff on the paneling in this  area and throughout the ship below.  This over cleaning affects not only the valuable wood paneling but the fine art thoughout the ship.

• The central kitchens were located in-between the first and second class restaurants.  While the kitchens for the third class restaurant were located one deck below.
• The entrance to the grand first class swimming pool and spa was located on this deck and absorbed space two decks down including its basin  just forward of the first class (called cabin class prewar) restaurant.

This very discreet opening served as the entrance to the Second Class Lobby on Promenade Deck.


Undoubtedlty this entrance was covered with heavy teak doors on the exterior promenade, both portside and starboard side when the Queen Mary was at sea - similarly to the first class main hall.  The door stop can still be seen in the wall on the left.

            
     

Inside the entrance from the enclosed promenade is the vestibule to the lobby.  Here are two niches where statues by Norman J. Forrest once stood.  A second set of doors, perhaps metal and glass, probably hung just past the niches.




The niche on the right (above) and the door open to the storage space (below).


A cupboard to the left of the aft niche. 

               
               Spring and Autumn by Norman J. Forrest. 

Sculptures that once stood in the niches in the Second Class Vestibule on Promenade Deck.  Two others, Winter and Summer, also stood in now empty niches.  Of the four, two are now missing from the Queen Mary Collection.  Were they sold or were they stolen?  Who has them now?  Notice that the base for Autumn was once cut down, allegedly to better suit the office of a manager in Long Beach.  Where is the collective outrage at this ridiculous mistreatment of a world-class cultural venue? 

                          
This photo montage of Autumn as it looked displayed in its niche was created by Michael Davisson.

In the spring of 2004 a carved wall plaque by Forest sold at Christie's for approximately $7,500.  See:  http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4365430  Other works by Forrest that were not part of the Queen Mary collection periodically show up at auction.  If the City were serious about the Queen Mary they might enrich the Queen Mary collection with the selective purchase other works by the original artists rather than to simply allow the collection to be diminished by embarassing, unexplained losses and attrition.

                     
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=catalogue&iSaleNo=13970&iSaleLotNo=382

The central portion of the lobby looking forward.  The main second class staircase with glass panels designed by Sigmund Pollitzer descends on the left.

 
The same view circa 1936.  Colorization by Michael Davisson. 

The portside entrance to the former smoking room on the aft wall.


The entrance to the current men's room is where a service entrance to the bar in the smoking room was located.

The walls are treated withtwo contrasting veneers of Pacific maple and Nigerian mahogany combined with silver bronze mouldings.

The starboard side entrance to the former smoking room, currently used as the "Royal Wedding Chapel". 

The "frame 70" elevators on the forward wall.  Notice the missing clock. The portside elevator was never converted for use in Long Beach, while the starboard side elevator still works. However it is "keyed" and used as a crew/service only elevator, thus depriving the ship of an important handicapped access elevator in the aft end of the ship.  This decision is astonishing in a publically owned facility.  The elevator serves 9 decks.

The elevators served 9 decks.  There are eleven buttons on the control panel. 

The niches on the starboard side.

Looking from the starboard side towards the portside.  The wooden doors here were added in Long Beach to replace those removed in the conversion.  

The richness of the wood paneling is apparent even after years of neglect.





The second class main staircase of the RMS Queen Mary was a wonderous creation.  Starting on Promenade deck just forward of the smoking room, it wrapped around a pair of beautifully veneered elevators and descended eight decks. (The twin elevators served nine decks.)  The inner walls of the staircase were the casings for the elevators. They were covered with shimmering silvered wire art glass depicting the history of transportation. The most recent advances were at the top level, while the earliest were at the lowest level.  Recently Michael Davisson identified the signature of artist Sigmund Pollitzer on the 2nd Class Main Staircase glass panels.

                           


Sigmund Pollitzer's work is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. 

See: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O2363/sculpture-still-waters/   

According to their website: "Sigmund Pollitzer was chief designer at Pilkingtons from 1933 to 1938 and was responsible for decorative glass features in a number of prestigious interiors from international exhibitions to the 'Queen Mary'. He was also interested in individual art works as in this sculpture. 'Cullet' is the waste from the molten glass process."

The top four levels of this staircase remain insitu while the three lower levels were removed in the Long Beach conversion of the Queen Mary.  Let's visit what remains and then ponder what happened to the rest.

    
Here the uppermost level of the staircase meets Promenade Deck.

                    
      The second class smoking room, now used as a wedding chapel.



Here we see the panels as we descend the staircase.

   
... then curves around the elevators


... and here the staircase meets Main Deck.  

                   
The second class main lounge as it looked in the 1930's .... and then descends again to A Deck.

            
            
            
             
                                         
                      

                       
           
           
The crosswalk space on B Deck.  The postwar linoleum is exposed here.
       
           
The same space while the Queen Mary was in service.  The linoleum is the prewar pattern.

As the staircase descends to R Deck, a "crew only area", the condition of the glass rapidly deteriorates -- and then disappears altogether.

                    
         
          
One of the two panels that was removed in 2008 and moved up to the Chelsea Rstaurant Lobby has now been returned.

         
The second panel is also back in situ.

           
Where the staircase once met R Deck the glass panels have been removed -- along with a portion of the handrail.

The staircase now disappears at R Deck, (formerly C Deck), where the second class dining room was once located.   The R Deck cross space now  serves as an employee entrance lobby.  

           
 


It once served as the entrance to the elegant lobby to second class dining room.

                
The second class dining room as it once looked.  It has been virtually destroyed through ill use as a storage space in Long Beach. (Colorization courtesy of Michael Davisson.)  

What happened to the rest of the art glass from the three missing levels?  There were 18 art glass panels on the three levels removed.  Apparently one piece was reused in the first class swimming pool area in place of the flying swan mosaic that was either destroyed or stolen during the conversion.  (See below.)


                 
A piece of art glass from the second class staircase "repurposed" in the first class pool area.

Another piece -- or is it two pieces? - can be seen in forward storage casually leaning against a bulkhead.  That leaves another  15 or 16 panels to account for.  Also missing are all the art glass panels from the second class dining room pictured above.  As far as I'm concerned there should be no statute of limitation on concern for missing art and artifacts from the Queen Mary Collection. 




Here is how the work of Sigmund Pollitzer, an artist whose work is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, is treated on Long Beach's Queen Mary.