So I went looking for pictures of the tiny porte cochere at Cohen House that caught my eye in yesterday’s aerial shot.
Well, I found some fabulous ones by the merest accident. Trust me, these pictures were not in any file that would seem to have anything to do with Cohen House–the label was “William F. Buckley Visit.” What’s more, I was completely confused when I first looked at the photos. Again, these are on contact sheets and so very hard to make out until they’re scanned and blown up. Anyway, I believe I now have things more or less cleared up–the pictures were taken at two events separated by a decade and a half and so brilliantly show us the evolution of the entryway.
First, we see William F. Buckley entering Cohen House by the porte cochere in 1969. You can’t see much of it but you can definitely see how short it is.
Next, we see William F. Buckley entering Cohen House by the porte cochere in 1985. Much bigger now!
Bonus: There are quite a few good photos of these events and I’ll share some more later. For now, here’s one that’s strange to me. That’s Frank Vandiver, of course but what’s going on with the window?
Extra Bonus: It’s different now.
But some things are the same. The little circle that you can see in yesterday’s aerial is still there.
The second picture with WFB is at the RMC.
The lights of the Biology building are in the background.
It didn’t take long for a picture to turn up with the porte cochere and the circular drive.
Is that a Mercedes SEL?
Very well could be. I can’t tell for sure if it’s the long wheelbase version or not. The big SEL carried on basically unchanged for about fifteen years. Looks like a chauffeur wearing a cap in the background.
I thought you’d be asleep by now.
I see that you’re right, which blows my whole thesis to hell. Back to the drawing board! Also, I’ve got lots of pics of the RMC circle drive that I’ll break out maybe next week. So many photos, so little time.
Is the Vandiver picture at RMC too? The windows don’t look like any that I remember at CoHo. Although Vandiver looks young enough in that picture that it might have been taken before I was ever allow inside CoHo!