Chase Bank gets something right for a change

 

The new Chase Bank building, corner of Dearfield and West Putnam. Notice how it sort of mirrors the Greenwich Library, kinda sorta? I like it.

I don’t like Chase Bank, can’t remember exactly why…Seems to me when I borrowed a paltry sum from them back around 1998, $33,000 or so, they were rotten to deal with. I was putting down less than 20% on a house and I needed that small amount from Chase in order to avoid some vile thing called “Private Mortgage Insurance”. I paid them off very quickly and was glad to be rid of them.

But that was years ago, I’m sure they’re much better now, right? And besides, today I come to praise Chase, not to bury it *. They’ve gone and done something smart here in Greenwich and I want to give them credit!

In case you haven’t noticed, Chase has erected a new building next door to Greenwich Library that comes damn close to being…attractive! Someone, maybe the architect, maybe Planning & Zoning? came up with the idea of drawing inspiration from the library’s handsome limestone exterior. The Chase building is not a direct copy, by any means, but it complements the library building nicely.

And there’s another great thing about this building, it was apparently built to replace a lot of those ugly, crappy little Chase branches that have sprouted up all over town like mushrooms after a rain storm. Now that they have this new “headquarters” apparently they can eliminate a few of the smaller branches nearby, hooray! Let’s hope other banking companies do the same thing and we can go back to being a town with only 30 banks instead of 78!

* a smidgen of Shakespeare for you literate types.

Why Your Ten Year Old House Already Looks Dated

The kitchen at 20 West End Avenue, Old Greenwich ($4.189M).

19 Meadow Place, Old Greenwich ($14.6M), partial view of master bath. Click on listing for 24 more photos.

Take a look at the two examples linked to above (and also below) and you will get a good idea of what’s coming in interior architecture. You may like them or not but this style is quickly becoming normal, which means everything else looks tired and in need of updating.

In particular, note the interior colors used in these examples:  whites, creams, pale pastels tan, natural woods (in some cases, no paint is used at all).  Everything streamlined, with a lack of fussy finishes and moldings.  You like? I have to admit, I do, but it’s amusing to realize that some day, “fresh” ideas like these, including sliding barn-wall doors, will look hopelessly out-dated to the next generation.

20 West End Avenue

19 Meadow Place