Katz and Leavitt Apartment House

Built in 1926 at 53 Elm Street in Worcester, this five-story apartment house was commissioned by Isador Katz and Eli Leavitt and designed by architect Lucius Briggs. Most of the building is faced in buff brick, but the central section of the south facade is covered in ornate glazed tile. That section rises from a pointed-arch entry and draws heavily on Venetian Gothic precedent. Above the windows of the third, fourth and fifth stories are tile panels with quatrefoils, pointed arches, crockets and finials in several colors. At the roofline, pointed-arch balustrades sit between brick parapet sections. The building has not been altered and retains its original cast-stone stoop and retaining wall. Local tradition holds that the tiles were imported from Europe, though no evidence confirms or disproves this. Briggs was Worcester's leading architect from about 1900 to 1930, and this is described as his most flamboyant design. It illustrates the strong taste for revivalist styles in the 1920s, and the building is still used as housing.