Tag: europe

Asbury Park…architecture named for the Queen


Queen Anne style architecture in Asbury Park, New Jersey can be spoken of as late-19th Century Victorian-styled homes. Victorian homes boasting of seaside-inspired asymmetrical designs.

The building of Queen Anne-styled homes in Asbury Park enjoyed a 30-year run in popularity. Beginning in 1880.

Originally, home for a Queen Anne-style home, was England.

Americans speak English. The British speak English. Yet, in taking a Shakespeare course in college, I discovered that while Shakespeare did indeed write in English, Shakespeare’s English required a translation.

So, in order to translate Early Modern English, Professor Carey read Shakespeare while translating the Early Modern English to a context that I could follow.

Historically, sometimes that of old English origin isn’t exactly the same as it is upon arrival in the United States. Even when it is “the same.”

This can be said of architecture.

In one such case, English architecture which ended up coming to the United States – architecture known by the same name in Great Britain as it was in the States – followed that storyline.

Shakespearean English. American English. Queen Anne-style architecture in England. Queen Anne-style architecture in the United States. English-inspired Queen Anne architecture in Asbury Park. In each case, the labels match. Yet, the products…not exact matches.

Ocean Grove, Avon-by-the-Sea, Long Branch and Asbury Park. Each, a Jersey Shore seaside gem established long, long ago along the coast of Monmouth County.

Asbury Park…

In Asbury Park, a segment of the city’s architecture tastes of a Victorian flavor. These being homes built in Asbury Park near Deal Lake.

Following the pattern of Victorian homes which were then being built on the East Coast during the latter stages of the 18th Century, three floors were the standard in a Queen Anne home. Following that trend, three-floor Queen Anne homes would be built in Asbury Park.


Whereas Queen Anne homes being built on the West Coast at this time tended to have two floors.

In Asbury Park, the Queen had her say…

Beginning late in the 1800’s, and extending on through the early part of the 20th Century, a New World Queen Anne Revival in architecture was becoming quite popular on the Jersey Shore. And Asbury Park was incorporated, right around this time.

First developed as a residential resort in 1871, Asbury Park was incorporated three years later. Asbury Park’s beginning, occurring just as this architectural trend from England – a style, named for a Queen – took hold.

Queen Anne-style architecture was a popular choice in the United States from 1880 through 1910.

Queen Anne, an 18th Century English Queen. She, a Queen holding the throne from 1702 through 1714. Asbury Park adopted their own version of this trend in architecture which had been named for the queen.


Homes built in Asbury Park utilized a style found within the Queen Anne architectural movement. These designs, which found their way onto 19th Century Asbury Park blue prints, not being mirror images of those used for Queen Anne homes built in Great Britain.

Queen Anne homes of Great Britain were more closely aligned with the Arts and Crafts movement than were their Asbury Park sister homes.

Distinct brickwork. Corner towers. Wide porches. Asymmetrical fronts. Red-brick walls which were commonly offset by pale stone. White-painted woodwork. Bay windows. Characteristics found in a Queen Anne home built in Great Britain late in the 19th Century. And early in the 20th century.

In the midst of Great Britain’s Industrial Age, one British architect’s Queen Anne imprint was famously being cast upon the English landscape. He, an English architect whom many an American has heard of – Norman Shaw.


Born in Scotland, Norman Shaw is widely considered to be one of the very finest architects Great Britain has ever produced. Or, the world has produced, for that matter. 

Norman Shaw is responsible for a consortium of Queen Anne structures which, to this day, still proudly stand in Great Britain. Among Shaw’s 19th Century Queen Anne Revival contributions to Great Britain? Albert Hall Mansions.


Shaw’s Albert Hall Mansions was built in 1878. Four years after Asbury Park was established.

Queen Anne masterpieces designed by Shaw were famous for blending characteristics taken from Arts and Crafts homes. As well as from Tudor homes.

With regard to Asbury Park’s version of Queen Anne architecture, when one looks, one will see an inspiration drawn from this style. Inspired by, yet not an exact match.

Asbury Park’s Queen Anne-styled influence can best be seen when walking near Deal Lake. Seen in the turrets. Seen in the towers. Towers and turrets of a Queen Anne design. First thought up in England.

Several of the towers affixed to Asbury Park homes prominently stand three stories tall. Just as a comparable tower which had been added to a Queen Anne blue print in England by Shaw, so too, still stands.

Named for the Queen, made popular in England by one of the world’s most renowned architects, Asbury Park’s version of a Queen Anne home adopted distinct Asbury Park features.

For example…

In Asbury Park, the stateliness of a Queen Anne home often included a wrap-around porch. Also, we’ll see the bay windows in an Asbury Park Queen Anne home. Norman Shaw also liked bay windows. Yet in Asbury Park, the bay windows we’d see would have been below a cedar shingled-roof. Wood shingled-roofs were quite popular in Asbury Park Queen Anne homes.


Not so for a Queen Anne home designed by Norman Shaw in England.

Norman Shaw favored roofs owning a very steep pitch. A favorite of Shaw, his roofs were often finished with red tile. Not wood shingles. With Shaw roofs often married to handsome gables. And to decorative chimneys.

Whereas Shaw went with a deep pitch for his roofs, Queen Anne roofs in Asbury Park had uniquely irregular shapes. Less-reliant upon a steep pitch.

While cedar shingle roofs were commonly found in Asbury Park, such a roof might also have had terracotta tiles. Or metal cornices. Neither of which, Shaw would have used.

The facades…

Norman Shaw’s facades felt fortress-like. Stone-clad. Classic. Old English. Shaw’s facades, inspired by medieval times.

While in Asbury Park, the facade of a Queen Anne home took a different direction.

Asbury Park Queen Anne architecture is known for asymmetrical fronts. And in comparison to Shaw’s homes, for lighter color schemes.

An Asbury Park Queen Anne home would also have had more windows than a Queen Anne home built by Shaw. With lighter color schemes – as well as higher window counts – reflective of Asbury Park being an oceanside community.

Old English – much like Queen Anne architecture – was translated. And in so for each, exactness accompanied not, the translations.

Rottweil, Germany


The history of today’s Rottweil, Germany goes back to Roman times. Its origin, finding itself in the year 73 AD. To the days of the Roman Empire. To days when Romans governed the region we know today to be Rottweil, Germany. In Roman times, Rottweil had been known as Arae Flaviae. 


In German, Rott means, a settlement located on a steep bank. In German, Rott means, a clearing. In knowing the meaning of Rott, Rottweil – nestled between the Alps and the Black Forest…containing our prefix, Rott – is aptly named.

What today we know to be Rottweil possesses a history which goes back to Roman times. Our prefix of Rott, derived from Old High German.

Old High German was the earliest stage of the German language. The common language in the region from 500 AD to 750 AD.

Today, Rottweil is a German town with a population of 25,000. Rottweil is part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

The very beginning for Rottweil dates back to 75 AD. In 75 AD, this settlement which later would go on the become Rottweil took hold long, long before Germany became a country. This settlement began long, long before 26 then-independent Prussian states joined together to form Germany. The very beginning for Rottweil goes back to long, long before there even was a Kingdom of Germany.


Rottweil, Germany.

In 1871, the town of Rottweil officially became part of the German Empire. Rottweil is one of Germany’s original towns.

Rottweil became a German town when Wurttemberg joined a newly-forming German nation. This happened in 1871.

Up through 1871, Rottweil had been part of the independent Prussian state, Wurttemberg. Wurttemberg was among the Prussian states that united to create Germany.

Eighty one years after Wurttemberg joined the German Empire – bringing Rottweil along with it – Rottweil became a Baden-Wurtemberg town. A status Rottweil holds to this day.

Rottweil is a German town. Rottweil is also a German district. 

While 25,000 Germans live in the town of Rottweil, 150,000 Germans live in the district of Rottweil.

A town and a district. Rottweil too is the source for which one of the world’s favored dog breeds is named. The Rottweiler.

In Germany, the Rottweiler was originally known as Rottweiler Metzgerhund. In German, Rottweiler Metzgerhund means, Rottweil butcher’s dog.


During the 19th Century, Rottweilers were used by butchers in Germany in the transportation of a butchers’ meat. Rottweiler, “the Butcher’s Dog.”

Aside from being a butcher’s helper, the Rottweiler’s job during Roman times – a job the Rottweiler held throughout the 19th Century in Germany – was to herd and protect livestock.

Cattle-herding extraordinaire. Pulling butchers’ carts to market. The Rottweiler.

Accompanying a butcher when the butcher went to market, on their way back home from the market, a butcher would tie a belt – with his money in the belt – around the neck of his Rottweiler. For safe keeping. 

Rottweil’s most famous contribution -“the Butcher’s Dog” – has a long and storied history.


And Rottweiler history goes way, way, way back. To long before there ever was a Germany. Rottweiler history goes all the way back to the Roman Empire. To a time when Rottweilers traveled alongside Roman soldiers. 

In those early days of Rottweiler history, in days when Romans – not Germans – lived in what one day would go on to become Rottweil, Rottweilers trekked the Alps with Romans.

As Rottweilers later did in Germany, during Roman times, Rottweilers herded and drove cattle. For Roman armies.


Roman armies were mobile. Traveling from region to region within the Roman Empire. As roaming armies, cattle was a primary food source for Roman soldiers. Driving and protecting cattle was the job of the Rottweiler. 

Rottweilers led and protected this vital food source for Romans. Protecting Roman cattle from countryside predators. Predators who would, should they be left unintimidated, thin a herd. A thinned-out herd would lead to a reduced food supply for Roman legions.

The Rottweiler. Roman ally. Butcher’s helper. Protector. Herder. Companion.

Rottweilers protected cattle in Roman times. Rottweilers protected cattle during the days of the Kingdom of Germany. Rottweilers protected cattle during the days of the German Empire. Rottweilers protected cattle in Germany, after Germany became a country in 1871. 

Rottweiler. “The Butcher’s Dog.” Family companion in so many American homes. Including, in my own home. 

Redevelopment in “New Jersey’s Greenwich Village”…Red Bank


Nestled cozily in the heart of Red Bank, New Jersey, today, one will find The Galleria. The Galleria Red Bank. A quaint collection of offices, restaurants and boutiques. Found in “New Jersey’s Greenwich Village.” It took 10 years to build that Galleria…early in the Twentieth Century. And it wasn’t called The Galleria, at that time.


Between 1907 and 1917, The Galleria – originally known as The Eisner Building – was constructed with a specific endgame in mind. And that early Twentieth Century endgame for The Eisner Building was not thought up with similar planning to how The Galleria is utilized today.

The Galleria today? It’s a repurposed Red Bank centerpiece. Located where Bridge Avenue meets West Front Street. The original plan for The Galleria? For The Eisner Building? That original plan didn’t include any restaurants. Nor did that original plan include any retail outlets. Rather, that original plan for The Eisner Building was…textiles. A textile factory.

During World War I and World War II, The Eisner Building was a Red Bank stalwart…though not one which espoused trendy retail “DNA.” Rather, during both World Wars, The Eisner Building possessed quite a different industrial “DNA.” It functioned as a supply chain for American military equipment. Flight suits, military uniforms, gas masks. Wartime supplies. This was the original “DNA” for what is today The Galleria. The wartime purpose for The Eisner Building extended on through both World Wars. Manufacturing. Supplies for American soldiers. This was The Galleria – I.e.: then, The Eisner Building – in the early-to-mid Twentieth Century.


Today, there are eight retail outlets located in the once-a-textile-hub Galleria. Today, there are four restaurants located in the once-a-textile-hub Galleria. Buffalo wings, pizza, Thai food, Mexican food. All can be had today at The Galleria. No, you won’t find gas masks there…

Going back thirty years ago to when this transformation in Red Bank first took hold – in the early 1990’s – circumstances for The Galleria were quite different. At that time, The Galleria had not yet been redeveloped.

Today, there are five offices located in the once-a-textile-hub Galleria. That early Twentieth Century factory which long ago produced military uniforms, which once “majored” in textiles? That “DNA” has long since been repurposed. Redeveloped. Now “majoring” in office space. In restaurants. In retail.


In 2024, The Galleria is a 100,000 a square foot rustic multi-purpose retail center. One which owns a classic design. Situated on just about three acres. Complete with its own Farmers Market. A Farmer’s Market which begins each year on Mother’s Day…extending on through November.

While in 2024 The Galleria is most certainly a Monmouth County favorite among shoppers – not soldiers who are in need of supplies – The Galleria also serves as a Monmouth County example for what real estate redevelopment efforts can (and do) look like.