Even today, it retains an extraordinary amount of original detail, including lattice work above the doorways, a floral plaster pattern on the ceiling and the original Lincrusta wallpaper in the foyer.
He met his wife at a party in the front room of the Ortners' parlor floor, which still has the mahogany woodwork, floral plaster moldings and linseed-oil wallpaper from when it was built in 1886 to attract the middle-class families who first bought the neighborhood's row houses.
It houses a glorious room covered, floor to ceiling, in tiny little pieces of mirror laid into the plaster in floral shapes.
But all around there are tattered fragments of the 1897 building: delicate plaster friezes of floral ornament, wooden trim and gilt decoration.
Mrs. Pressler was quick to add that the house "has gorgeous plaster moldings and floral medallions, as well as a state-of-the-art kitchen, with cherry cabinets and granite counters.
The sculptors were thrilled, they said, but had no idea what they would do in the space, a former ballroom in a 1920's building, elaborately embellished with ornamental plaster arches and floral garlands.
A trip upward shows an ornate perforated plaster cornice of floral design and, at the top floor, a skylight framed by a recessed chamber decorated with a robust riot of egg-and-dart, bead-and-reel, floral and other decoration, all so crisp it could have been executed yesterday.
Sullivan's influence can also be seen in the floral pattern of the Richard Bock plaster frieze on the home's third floor, although during the 1970s, restoration work which utilized sandblasting destroyed much of the detail on the frieze.
I follow the avenue up to the Plaza Menéndez y Pelayo and "La Reconquista". The extension carried out by Nieto in 1915 features intricate iron- and plaster-work depicting floral motifs and female faces.
Next door, the giant reception room, about 17 by 27 feet, remains a spectacular space, a wood-paneled room dominated by a giant fireplace and covered by a low arched white plaster ceiling filled with floral decoration.
Decide whether the pot will be filled with Plaster of Paris, or floral foam.
