The Stevens High School building, also known as Girls High School, on West Chestnut Street, was designed circa 1904. It has a closed-stair design with worn marble treads, a decorative balustrade and a cast-iron newel post.
The West Chestnut Street mansion built for Jonas Martin, circa 1886, features a closed stair with a stained-wood stringer on the side and a decorative newel post.
The Wilson Drive residence built for John Swanger, circa 1937, has an open stair with a decorative scroll-cut applique on the stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Stevens High School building, also known as Girls High School, on West Chestnut Street, was designed circa 1904. It has a closed-stair design with worn marble treads, a decorative balustrade and a cast-iron newel post.
THE ARCHITECT'S ALPHABET, PART 15: 'O' IS FOR OPEN-STAIR DESIGN
The Architects’ Alphabet is a 26-part series describing design elements featured in Gregory J. Scott’s new book, “Urban Legend, The Life & Legacy of C. Emlen Urban,” Lancaster’s most renowned architect. Photos for the book, which is available at egganddartbooks.com, are by Matthew Tennison.
C. Emlen Urban’s father, Amos Sylvester Urban, was a carpenter by trade. In 1873, he relocated his family of seven from Conestoga Square to 544 S. Queen St. to open a planing mill a few blocks away on South Prince Street to fabricate doors, windows, shutters, wood trim, moldings and stairs. His vocation provided young C. Emlen with an opportunity to observe and appreciate the art and beauty of millwork fabrication.
The Stevens High School building, also known as Girls High School, on West Chestnut Street, was designed circa 1904. It has a closed-stair design with worn marble treads, a decorative balustrade and a cast-iron newel post.
The Stevens High School building, also known as Girls High School, on West Chestnut Street, was designed circa 1904. It has a closed-stair design with worn marble treads, a decorative balustrade and a cast-iron newel post.
The West Chestnut Street mansion built for Jonas Martin, circa 1886, features a closed stair with a stained-wood stringer on the side and a decorative newel post.
This staircase is located in the Stevens High School building on West Chestnut Street, also known as Girls High School, was built circa 1904. It illustrates a closed stair with worn marble treads and a decorative balustrade.
The West Chestnut Street mansion built for Jonas Martin, circa 1886, features a closed stair with a stained-wood stringer on the side and a decorative newel post.
Examples of open- and closed-stair design in Lancaster, from architect C. Emlen Urban [photos]
Lancaster architect C. Emlen Urban mastered both open- and closed-stair design in the residences and public buildings he designed all over Lancaster in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here are some examples of his staircases.
The Stevens High School building, also known as Girls High School, on West Chestnut Street, was designed circa 1904. It has a closed-stair design with worn marble treads, a decorative balustrade and a cast-iron newel post.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Stevens High School building, also known as Girls High School, on West Chestnut Street, was designed circa 1904. It has a closed-stair design with worn marble treads, a decorative balustrade and a cast-iron newel post.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The West Chestnut Street mansion built for Jonas Martin, circa 1886, features a closed stair with a stained-wood stringer on the side and a decorative newel post.
MATTHEW TENNISON
This staircase at the Grace Lutheran Church, on North Queen Street, built circa 1906, has a closed-stair design with a paneled wood stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
This staircase is located in the Stevens High School building on West Chestnut Street, also known as Girls High School, was built circa 1904. It illustrates a closed stair with worn marble treads and a decorative balustrade.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The West Chestnut Street mansion built for Jonas Martin, circa 1886, features a closed stair with a stained-wood stringer on the side and a decorative newel post.
MATTHEW TENNISON
A circa-1906 residence on Marietta Avenue, built for J. Calvin Schutte, has has an open stair and framed box riser applique.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Buchanan Avenue home designed for Herman A. Wohlsen, circa 1922, has an open stair with a simple box design on the stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Roslyn Mansion on Marietta Avenue, built circa 1894 for Peter T. Watt, has a closed stair with a paneled stringer and a curvilinear railing.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Wilson Drive residence built for John Swanger, circa 1937, has an open stair with a decorative scroll-cut applique on the stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Buchanan Avenue home designed for Herman A. Wohlsen, circa 1922, has an open stair with a simple box design on the stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Buchanan Avenue home designed for Herman A. Wohlsen, circa 1922, has an open stair with a simple box design on the stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The interior of the Lancaster Municipal Building/City Hall, circa 1932, which features an open stair with granite treads and stringer blocks.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Wilson Drive residence built for John Swanger, circa 1937, has an open stair with a decorative scroll-cut applique on the stringer.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The interior of the Lancaster Municipal Building/City Hall, circa 1932, features an open stair with granite treads and stringer blocks.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Roslyn Mansion on Marietta Avenue, built circa 1894 for Peter T. Watt, has a closed stair with a paneled stringer and a curvilinear railing.
MATTHEW TENNISON
The Roslyn Mansion on Marietta Avenue, built circa 1894 for Peter T. Watt, has a closed stair with a paneled stringer and a curvilinear railing.
MATTHEW TENNISON
In addition to designing building exteriors, Urban would go on to design the interiors of his commissions with exquisite and exacting detail, including staircases with balusters, handrails and complex compound curves.
An open-stair design is one that extends the tread beyond the wall below and provides an opportunity to apply architectural ornament below each tread. With a closed stair, the tread is contained within the “stringer” and does not project beyond the wall below. Urban employed both styles and applied them with equal attention to design creativity and detail. Urban’s examples of open stairs include his residential designs for J. Calvin Schutte, a 1906 Edwardian Eclectic; Herman A. Wohlsen, a 1922 Tudor Revival; the Lancaster Municipal Building, a 1932 Neoclassical interior; and John H. Swanger, a 1937 Colonial Revival.
Urban employed different decorative stringer appliques on each example: a picture-frame box, a raised block and a traditional scroll.
Urban’s examples of closed-stair design include his work for Jonas B. Martin, a 1886 Queen Anne; Peter T. Watt, a 1897 Chateauesque; Stevens Girls School, a 1903 French Renaissance; and Grace Lutheran Church, a 1906 Gothic Revival. Urban’s ability to understand and master the nuisances of these eight different and diverse design styles and apply them to the complexities of stair construction is quite extraordinary.
The West Chestnut Street mansion built for Jonas Martin, circa 1886, features a closed stair with a stained-wood stringer on the side and a decorative newel post.
MATTHEW TENNISON
How did Urban master so many different stair designs?
We suspect as a young boy, he spent time in his father’s planning mill studying the many reference books made available to him. His personal signature is found in an 1874 technical manual on stair design.
Are open stairs more common in residential design?
Yes, residential designs offer the architect more freedom to experiment with design appliques as evidenced in the Schutte and Swanger homes.
Hardwoods such as oak and maple are most common for residential stairs. Marble, terrazzo and granite are most common for civic and other public-use buildings as seen in the Stevens School and the Municipal Building.
This column is contributed by Gregory J. Scott, FAIA, a local architect with 50 years of national experience in innovation and design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Email GScott@rlps.com.
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