• Olde Good Things

  124 W. 24th Street, 212-989-8401
  

  New Yorkers aren’t a sentimental bunch, but as any real-estate agent can tell you, it takes only a few magic words—quartersawn oak or leaded-glass transom, for instance—to trigger a rush of longing for all things prewar. The owners of Olde Good Things have carved out a business trading on the mythic grandeur of bygone days. They call themselves “architecturologists,” and their three New York stores are filled with materials rescued from doomed buildings around the country. You’ll find thousands of doorknobs (from $35 for basic glass to $225 for one with mercury drops), hinges, pulls, plates, and so on—not to mention big-ticket items like marble and wood mantels ($2,500 and up), andirons, French doors, claw-foot tubs ($375 and up), lintels, columns, corbels, and just about any other replacement part your old brownstone or apartment might need. Just try to keep your emotions in check.

From the 2003 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine