Excepted to the base, made of ashlar with rustic bossage, the
front shows a decor of a none-to-equal richness, if we compare it to the complete works of Lutke & Backes. The
grid, adorned with tulips, preceeds a wooden
portal put at left, which one is surmounted by a cartouche wearing the initials of the owner: Georg Cromer
(1). The outer bays end with a dormer
window-gable fitted with arches, the latter ones beeing also used as consoles for the
side-oriels. Thes arches are so placed that they work like flying buttresses. Rose trees climb to those bow-windows. The ground floor balcony is limited by columns from which
chestnut branches and leaves are growing, sustaining an overhang adorned with tulips. The central openings at the second floor are asymetric and topped by an arch scupted with lotus. Finally, the central bays, at the two last floors, form a convex wall covered with polychromic tiles. Here and there
(2), we can also discover some mascarons.
(1) Baker, and also owner of number 54 in the the same street.
(2) Keystone from the basement windows, and the consoles of the balcony at the third floor.
Bibliography
- GROTRIAN S. Art Nouveau architecture in Strasbourg in The Connoisseur, octobre 1978, pp. 88-97
- HENRY J. et al. in Strasbourg Magazine, nº112 (Juillet-Août 2000), pp. 34-35
- PERILLON M.-C. Clins d'-il 1900 à Strasbourg in La Maison d'Alsace, nº8 (Mai-Juin 1977), pp.47-58