The White Brownstone

Funeral parlor design has always mystified me. Do morticians assume that when one of our loved ones die, our sense of taste dies along with them? Every funeral home I've ever seen has been a vulgar assault on the senses: slick surfaces, lacquered this and faux that and layers upon layers of gaudy, sanctimonious crap. And let's not even talk about the coffins, so embarrassingly tacky that Jesus would avert his eyes.

But perhaps having them all beat is the Frank R. Bell Funeral Home in Crown Heights. This guy took a beautiful old brownstone building and covered it with glossy, off-white panels! The whole building! It's more dignified that way, you see. More solemn and classy. And it kinda looks like it might be found in Heaven.