HANDBOUND AT THE
An Architetural Monodmpli
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JOSEPH EVEETT CHANDLER Prepared for publication by Duffel I TWhiteheadformertyEdftor cfTheJZrchitectural 'Record and The &ricKb uilder. J)2 -MadtfonXte. MewYorK N. Y
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Photograph by Julian Buckly
THE CAPEN HOUSE AT TOPSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Gable
Built during the second half of the 1 7th century ; an example of the framed overhang type. The central bracket supporting the gable overhang is the original; the "drops" are restored.
ffie WHITE PINE SERIES
o/ARCHlTECTVRAL MONOGRA.P
** A BI-MONTHLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING THE
ARCHITECTURAL USES OF WHITE PINE AND ITS AVAILABILITY TO-DAY AS A STRUCTURAL WOOD
Vol. I
COLONIAL COTTAGES
SALUTATION
IN the early part of the nineteenth xentury there flourished in Boston a very eccentric character by the name of Timothy Dexter; no matter how unsound Mr. Dexter's business ventures seemed at their inception, they in- variably turned out successfully. None was more characteristic than the incident wherein Mr. Dexter chartered a sailingvessel and shipped a cargo of old-fashioned warming pans to the West Indies!
In place of this being a complete loss, the natives discovered in these warming pans- minus the charcoal inside — exactly the imple- ment they long had needed, not only as a ladle but also as a strainer for their sugar-cane. By this venture Mr. Dexter, it is reported, estab- lished a profitable trade in warming pans to the tropical islands.
This incident does not lack pertinence in introducing a series of Monographs for the architectural profession, for it oftentimes seems that when literature issued by a manufacturer has the good fortune to reach its goal, it is only by some such stroke of good luck as befell Mr. Dexter.
In issuing this Monograph Series the White Pine Bureau does not intend to rely entirely on Timothy Dexter's good luck. To edit this series we have obtained the co-operation of Mr. Rus- sell F. Whitehead, formerly Editor of "The Architectural Record" and of "The Brick- builder, "now a practising architect, whose abil- ity has, we feel, been demonstrated. In addi- tion to Mr. Whitehead's experience and our own resources, we hope that we may be favored with the good fortune that befell Timothy Dexter, but we are trying to take nothing for granted.
The Monograph Series will present classified illustrations of wood construction, critically described by representative American architects, of the most beautiful and suggestive examples of architecture, old and new, which this country has produced. Appreciating that most archi- tects prefer to form their own conclusions from good photographs, the pictorial side of the work will be made the dominant feature, being in
charge of Mr. Julian Buckly, architectural phojf tographer. In selecting subjects the highest standard will be maintained, and they will be chosen with special reference to their useful- ness to the architectural designer. By this discriminating choice of subject matter and the quality of its plate reproductions, the Mono- graph Series hopes to earn a place as a valuable addition to the literature on architecture, and thereby become worthy of preservation in a library of standard architectural works.
This first Monograph on Colonial Cottages inaugurates the series, and records some of the remaining examples of the last half of the seventeenth century, or that period in American architecture which evidences the dignified be- ginnings and basic strength of design of our later and more refined Colonial architecture. The text is contributed by Joseph Everett Chandler.
The second Monograph will be devoted to New England Colonial houses, which show the various refinements that were introduced in that later period ending with the Revolutionary War. For this number Frank Chouteau Brown will furnish the text.
Subsequent numbers will be issued every second month, and each will contain an ex- position of some type or style of building suit- able for construction in wood.
The Monograph Series is published by the White Pine Bureau, representing the North- ern Pine Manufacturers' Association of Minne- sota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and The Asso- ciated White Pine Manufacturers of Idaho. The object of the Monograph Series is to further acquaint the architect with "White Pine — Its Qualities— Its Availability — Its Cost," which subject is fully covered on page fourteen of this issue.
The White Pine Bureau has entrusted the de- tails of publication of the Monograph Series to Mr. Whitehead, its editor, who is one of you, and who will bring together through this publication material that will, it is hoped, help you to solve your problems involving the uses of wood.
Courtesy of Henry I. Fairbanks, Dedhatn, Mass.
THE FAIRBANKS HOUSE AT DEDHAM, MASS. Built in 1636
The oldest house in America (excepting possibly the shell and adobe houses of Florida and California), which is now standing, in practically its original condition. The central portion of the house is 279 years old. It was built of White Pine, left unpainted, and remains to- day a striking tribute to the enduring qualities of this material.
COLONIAL COTTAGES
OF MASSACHUSETTS DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
By JOSEPH EVERETT CHANDLER
The restoration of the Paul Revere House, Boston, Massachusetts, was entrusted to Mr. Chandler, as well as the restoration of" The House of the Seven Gables," Salem, Massachusetts, wade famous by Hawthorne's story of the same name. — EDITOR'S NOTE
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN BUCKLY
WE read with absorbing interest how students of Egyptian Archaeology found in the Rosetta Stone, with the aid of other inscriptions, the key to the hiero- glyphics on the tombs and the obelisks, and by it were enabled to interpret to the modern world the records of bygone centuries. Wonderfully picturesque and instructive to us have been the translations of these Egyptian records, revealing as they do the daily life of those days. Seldom do we stop to think that a large part of the history of the days of our own forefathers lies recorded in the very walls of the houses they built. The records are preserved in a somewhat different way, it is true, but without the few houses that remain, we should be at a loss to know in what manner of domicile the early colonists lived their lives, since the rare written documents of that period make slight mention of the houses. Were these buildings not preserved, we might be picturing the colonists of New England as living for many years in rough log huts, whereas actually such rude shelters were rapidly re- placed by houses of more or less finished crafts- manship, and there are indications that even during the first fifty years subsequent to the set- tlement by the Pilgrims in 1620, considerable thought was expended upon the aesthetic as well as upon the practical side of the problem.
Some of the early craftsmen who became our carpenter-builders in New England brought with them from the mother-country certain traditional methods of construction, and for a period followed the ways with which they were familiar. But the new country, with its rigorous climate, rapid temperature changes and frequent searching storms, as well as the completely new materials with which they were obliged to work, soon caused them to adapt their work to the new conditions, with results which were utterly distinct from any work of the mother-country.
Unfortunately many of these early domiciles have been destroyed, some because the small villages of which they once formed a part have now grown into cities, while others have been torn down and replaced with newer and more pretentious structures because of the persistent (and perhaps regrettable) love of change char- acteristic of the American people. Nevertheless,
in the eddies and quiet harbors of the territory inhabited by the early colonists there can still be found a few examples of the dwellings of our forefathers, which seem to express in their sturdy frames something of that strength of character which the definite purpose, the aspirations and the hopes of their original occupants quickly gathered from the new soil. Their point of view of life was peculiarly bound up in, and expressed by, their family shells — their homes.
There was not much masonry used in our early domestic architecture. The foundations were of stone, frequently laid up in clay dug from the cellars; the spaces between the tim- bers of the framework were filled with soft brick of home manufacture, often laid up in clay mor- tar; the chimneys were of stone or of brick, sometimes of the two in combination, with the hearths of the fireplaces of smooth, large stones, or of hard brick, or of large, heavy tiles brought from the mother-country.
These few portions of the house were the only ones not built of wood, for the frame- work, the floors and the walls alike bear testi- mony to the ease with which the native woods were employed to further comfort and beauty. Undoubtedly their builders gave thought to the beautiful, even in those stern days of wresting a livelihood from the new and difficult soil and the waters which isolated them from the rest of the world. Why otherwise should the summer- beams which carried the overhanging second stories have their edges chamfered, with beau- tiful moldings carved into the chamfer, and stopped at the ends with the familiar "lamb's- tongue" ornament? The amount of care lav- ished on these early buildings is surprising. At the same time, had the material been oak, as it was in the English houses, it could never have been executed with the small means at the dis- posal of the colonists. Instead of oak the colo- nists used the strong, easily worked, compara- tively light and entirely durable white pine, the best of the plentiful native woods. The mass of the house as well as the details was studied by theircraftsmen-builders ; witnessthemany cases where they were built with overhanging second stories on the front or sides and occasionally having the gable ends treated in a similar way. This overhang was probably reminiscent of the
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES-COLONIAL COTTAGES
random widths, inclining to be very broad, the edges matched and the juncture carrying a series of moldings which were flush with the faces of the boards. In some cases a type of decora- tion has been found of a curious dentil cut into these moldings, which are then run between the chimney girt and posts, on the edge of the boarding. The under flooring of the upper rooms was exposed and thereby formed a roughly paneled ceiling between the girders and joists, and this flooring was as interesting seen from above as from below, for it was made of great slabs of white pine held in place with wooden pegs. In spite of the fact that they were often two feet in width, because of the nature of the material they show little shrink- age and few cracks.
The posts, girts, summer-beams and joists were usually exposed in the interior, and were frequently of such great size that the construc- tion might almost be called massive, although they were put together in the most character- ful way, tongued and pinned and oftentimes decorated with moldings and chamfers. This construction, so direct and convincing, has a feeling quite distinct from that later work which usually comesto mind when the word "Colonial" is used, it being rather Gothic than Classic in its charm and spirit.
The inside walls were usually plastered even
DETAIL OF OLD BROWN HOUSE, HAMILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
The overhang is unusual in being a framed end showing end- girt molded and chamfered. This is a fine type of "drop" ornament depending from the posts framed into the projecting second end- girt. " The House of the Seven Gables' in Salem was found to be similar to this house.
traditional English construction, but was un- questionably carried out because it was pic- turesque, and not because of its utility or ease of construction. Very frequently the overhang was embellished with brackets, drops and chamfered beams or girts, which show con- siderable care and a decided feeling for form in their selection.
The overhang on the front, which was a more usual position for it than on the ends of the building, generally had four carved ornamental drops depending from the four girts, two at the ends and two on the extension of the central chimney girts, when the projection of the second story was of "framed" construction and suffi- cient to receive them. Possibly, at times, brackets were used at either side of the front door, and certainly when gable ends projected they were frequently carried on brackets, some- times of ornamental form, as was the case in the Capen house, in Topsfield, Massachusetts, which is in many ways one of the most inter- esting of the remaining examples.
The interiors likewise were not built as was most convenient, but show that care and thought were displayed in treating the novel conditions encountered by the early builders so as to produce an interesting and often beautiful effect. For example, many of the houses had their interiors ceiled vertically with boards of
DETAIL OF OLD BRAY HOUSE, WEST GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
The corner post — "shouldered"— is roughly carved It is a piece of ornamented construction of great interest.
COLONIAL COTTAGES
in the houses where the chimney end parti- tions were covered with wood; and as most of the early work was unpainted and left to darken with age, the flooring only being sanded or scrubbed, the combination of color was inde- scribably warm, rich and satisfying, and com- pleted most satisfactorily rooms of excellent structural design. The days have happily not gone by when many people consider this kind of an interior much more attractive than one in which the walls are covered with elaborate work and painted innumerable coats, rubbed down and glossed to a "piano finish." There is at least one recent instance where an owner has built his home in the form of this early period, leav- ing the marks of the adze and other implements on the wood, following the old methods of con- struction carefully, the result being a modern house thoroughly American in spirit and of old-time honesty and charm of feeling.
These houses were in many ways different from the later and better known Colonial type on the exterior as well as within ; the roofs were steeper, the houses thinner, and what little de- tail there was, was of forms founded on Domes- tic Gothic work rather than on those of the period of the Classic Revival ; the chimneys usu- ally were long and comparatively thin, instead of massive and square as we should have expect- ed, and were frequently embellished by project-
ing pilasters. An example of this sort of chimney may be seen in the Boardman House atSaugus, as well as in the Corbett House at Ipswich.
The green and white of the conventional Colonial was likewise a thing of later develop- ment, for many of the old houses have never had a coat of paint. Others were probably not painted until many years after their construc- tion, and the fact that so many of the older buildings have remained in good condition until this day, without any paint at all, is extra- ordinary testimony to the durability of the ma- terials used in their construction.
These houses, built in the stress of strenuous early times, do not furnish us much for study or emulation in the way of detail, except that most admirable kind which was applied to the important constructional pieces of framing. These forms are so different from those we usually employ and are of such honesty and charm that they deserve to be far more exten- sively known than is the case at present. There- fore it seems quite appropriate that this Series of Architectural Monographs should commence with the depiction of these early efforts of house-building in one of the foremost and most individual of the original States, and from which early domestic architecture gradually evolved that type which is commonly referred to to-day as the Colonial Style.
THE OLD BRAY HOUSE AT WEST GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
An example of the hewn overhang type of construction. The large size of the cornice would suggest that a plaster cove cornice had once been used here.
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THE JOHN WARD HOUSE AT SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 163/1
The exact date of the unpainted White Pine siding is not known, but there are records making certain that the siding on the main portion of the house is from 1 50 to 200 years old, and stands now as originally built with prac- tically no repair. Although the siding of the lean-to is of a much later date, one is unable to notice an appreci- able difference between it and that put on almost two hundred years ago. The Ward house, as can be plainly seen by this illustration, is in splendid condition to-day, and testifies to the lasting qualities of White Pine.
THE OLD BOARDMAN HOUSE, SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS
; WHITE PINE
ITS QUALITIES— ITS AVAILABILITY— ITS COST
THE TEST of three centuries of building in America has proved White Pine the one perfect outside structural wood. It meets every requirement for a wood covering exposed to the relentless attack of time and weather. Other woods have some of its qualities — no other wood has all of them.
// does not shrink, swell, check, crack, split, twist, warp, or rot, even after years of expo- sure under the most exacting climatic condi- tions. In siding, casings, or cornice, it does not "creep or crawl," or open at the joints; in exposed mortised doors, in fine close-fitted mi- tres, or in delicately moulded, carved and col- umned porticos, its joints hold close — not for a year or a life-time, but for centuries. The "Old Fairbanks House," the second illustration in this issue, and many other unpainted, weather- beaten White Pine houses of New England, built soon after the Pilgrims landed, are still the
well-preserved and comfortable homes of their descendants, and offer the most convincing proof of the enduring qualities of this most remarkable wood. But durability is not White Pine's only admirable quality.
It seasons quickly and thoroughly; it is light and soft — yet strong; no other wood works so easily under the carpenter's tools, and once in place it forever "stays put "; it offers only the slightest resistance to nails and screws, then closes in and holds them fast; because of its close grain and freedom from objectionable acids and oils it takes paints and stains perfectly. The pattern-maker, wood-carver, and cabinet- maker choose it for the most exacting uses to which wood can be put; the box-maker, because it is soft but strong, does not split and carries no odor; the plasterer, because White Pine lath hold their place, and therefore plaster, so well.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES— COLONIAL COTTAGES
Substitute woods may be satisfactory in pro- tected places, but none has been found to equal White Pine in successfully withstanding every exposure out-of-doors. In an effort to displace White Pine, they have all in turn been "tried," but in some respect "found wanting." As against its harder, flintier substitutes, the economy in working it is marked, though this is ordinarily overlooked and rarely reckoned with. It is the one wood that embodies every structural quality, therefore it has no superior for any of the special or specific requirements demanded in house construction, either inside or outside. But for "out-of-doors," it stands alone. These advantages are conceded to White Pine and have accorded it the one perfect wood for the outside covering of a building.
That our use of the terms "outside covering" and "exterior surfaces" may not be misunder- stood, they include siding and corner boards; window-sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door-frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, bracket ornament and mouldings; and any other outside finish lumber — not including shingles.
Against White Pine have been raised two argu- ments—and only two— SCARCITY AND COST.
Nothing is more erroneous. To-day, as always, all markets — with the possible exception of the Pacific Coast States and Southern States — can furnish it at prices that are reasonable, when its qualities are considered.
The production of White Pine for 1912, based on the last issued annual United States Govern- ment report, as published by the Census Bureau on December 30, 1913, was 3,138,227,000 feet, manufactured by 5,733 saw mills, in 31 different states, an amount fully sufficient to meet every possible demand. The disappearance of many mills from the water-ways of the Middle West has led to the belief that the White Pine forests are exhausted. Larger mills, however, have replaced them at the source of an abundant supply, and will produce White Pine and plenty of it for generations to come.
The cost of White Pine, it is true, is higher than that of its substitutes, but mahogany costs more than birch, oak than ash, and wool more than cotton or shoddy; yet no one questions the difference in their price, or in their rel- ative worth. In first-cost, White Pine is not "cheaper," but because of its ability to with- stand every trying weather condition it is in the end more economical, and therefore it is worth more. And here it should be emphasized that clear White Pine, or even White Pine of the higher grades, is not essential to ensure this wearing quality; — and also that coarse- knotted lumber of one kind may give infinitely better service than absolutely clear lumber of another kind. A White Pine board may have numerous sound knots, yet after years of ex- posure to the weather it will remain as per- fectly in place as at first fitted, with no sign of age or decay, and therefore it has surely served its purpose better than an absolutely clear sub- stitute wood, which under similar conditions is found checked, warped, opened at the joints, and perhaps decayed. Again — hardness and obstinate cross-grain in a wood mean added expense to the carpenter in working it — but White Pine is soft, its grain smooth and yield- ing, and in this alone there is a lessened ex- pense in working it which absorbs much of, if not quite all the difference in cost between it and its substitutes.
The selection of a structural wood is too fre- quently determined by its price per thousand feet, and not by its true worth for the particu- lar purpose for which it is to be used. The cost of lumber for the outer covering of a house is relatively very small in comparison with the total investment, and the difference in cost per thousand feet can be very misleading.
To determine this definitely and to insure the accuracy of our statement, we have compiled a number of comparative costs, based on actual market prices in different parts of the country, covering several different types of houses. The resulting cost figures, painstakingly computed so as not to be misleading, show that from \% to 1 24 per cent only of the total cost of the ex-
WHITE PINE — ITS QUALITIES— ITS AVAILABILITY— ITS COST
terior of a building determines between using White Pine or a substitute wood. In these figures no attempt has been made to show the reduced cost of working soft White Pine as against its harder substitutes, for while the difference in cost is surprisingly large, there can be honestly varying opinions as to the ex- act amount of this difference.
The misapprehension as to scarcity and pro- hibitive cost of White Pine has frequently led to the substitution of less satisfactory woods in the hope that they might be "just as good," but the test of time proves that they are not.
White Pine — the wood pre-eminent in building, to-day as always — is still abundantly available in all grades and in any quantities desired. If the lumber dealer supplying your needs is at any time unable to furnish it, we would appre- ciate the opportunity of being helpful to you in securing it.
WHITE PINE BUREAU,
MERCHANTS BANK BUILDING,
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.
Representing
THE NORTHERN PINE MANUFACTURERS- ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA, WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN, AND THE ASSOCIATED WHITE PINE MANUFACTURERS OF IDAHO.
Photograph by Julian Buckly
THE SALTONSTALL-WH1PPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH, MASS. Built between 1636 and 1675
Hewn end overhang type. The overhang is here entirely at the end of the house, and in both the second story and attic. The chimney is a good example of this period, with projection at back, indicating early additions to it when the "lean-to" was added. The windows have been restored according to legend with triple sash, but the panes of glass should not be divided by wood muntins, but rather with lead. The house is one of the claimants against the Fairbanks House for the distinction of being the oldest house now standing in America. It was undoubtedly, however, built at a later date.
The subject of the second Monograph of The White Pine Series will be "New England Colonial Houses of the Eighteenth Century," with descriptive text by Frank Chouteau Brown
An Architectural Monograph
New England X
FRAKK CWVTEAV Prepared for publication by T WhiteheadformerJy&fltor 'cf TheJZrchitectural T and The 'BricKbuilder 1)2 'Madjfon'ZVe.NewYorK N. Y.
THE SHUTE HOUSE AT HINGHAM, MASS. Detail of Side Entrance
A house of unusual type, built about 1 762.
PJtfltn graf>h by Julian Buckly
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AN) ITS A\NLABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL WGDD
Vol.
NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HOUSES
No. 2
IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT
IT surely has been both encouraging and gratifying to have received written assur- ances from so many members of the archi- tectural profession throughout the United States in commendation of the first number of the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, and we take this opportunity to most sincerely thank you for your kind appreciation of our efforts to interest you. Three thousand five hundred and ten architects out of a mailing list of fifty-five hundred in the White Pine consum- ing territory, or nearly 64%, have already ex- pressed their approval of and interest in the first Monograph on Colonial Cottages. A record quite without precedent!
These thoughtful expressions of appreciation have created an atmosphere of enthusiasm among those responsible for bringing to your attention, by means of this Monograph Series, the fact that White Pine is not exhausted, and that there is still an abundance of this wood obtainable in all markets, and their receipt has given added stimulus and direction to our work.
It is a further pleasure to learn from the many comments received that the architects of the country have been successfully reached through these Monographs. We are frankly trying to interest you and tell you, not that White Pine, as a building material, is good — you know that —but that it is still abundantly available for your use, and we are very glad to have dis- covered that the method we have chosen meets with your approval and commendation.
We hope that the profession will agree with the architect whose sentiments we quote:
"The Monograph Series is timely — useful — valuable and educational — preserving to us much of the best of the early domestic architec- ture built of White Pine, which has remained in an excellent state of preservation for over two hundred years. Our cities, towns and vil- lages must shortly take on an improved appear- ance through your intelligent advertising."
The first number has indicated the general character of the publication which we think will be useful to you as well as to us. In no case will we publish material valueless from the point of design just because it is constructed of wood. There is an enormous amount of beautiful domestic architecture in this country which has either not yet been published, or has been published only in a fragmentary way, and for several years we intend to continue the publi- cation of such work in the Monograph Series in a form which will be compact and definite.
These Monographs will, we hope, be more than nominally monographs: each number will be a very fully illustrated description of some phase of our architecture in which White Pine (of course it is to our interest to emphasize this material) may be used. The text for each issue will be written by an architect of wide reputa- tion who has made a special study of the se- lected subject.
The criticisms and suggestions brought forth by the first Monograph of the series have been gratefully received, and have proven of distinct value. In future issues we will profit by this good counsel, which has made it possible for us to better cover the field in which this publi- cation is unique.
Our first number described the very begin- nings of domestic architecture in this country, and the present issue illustrates its develop- ment in New England during the early portion of the 1 8th century. The third issue will dis- cuss the domestic architecture which was de- veloped by the Dutch in their colony of New Netherlands synchronous with that of New England. Mr.' Aymar Embury 11, an architect who is both familiar with and interested in this subject, will contribute the text.
We hope that the current number and the succeeding ones will convince you that we are endeavoring to be worthy of the very kind rec- ognition which you accorded the first number.
THE ISAAC ROYALL HOUSE AT MEDFORD, MASS.
Photograph by Julian Buckly
The East Front, now facing the street. Built in 1732 along the lines ol a "nobleman's house" in Antigua. An unusual feature is the horizontal emphasis obtained from the treatment of the windows.
NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HOUSES
OF THE EARLY PORTION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
<By FRANK CHOUTEAU BROWN
Since coming to Boston from the Northwest in 1895, Mr. Brown has made a special study of Colonial Architecture. He had charge of the restoration of the "Norfolk House" at Dedham and the Southborough farmhouse. He is the author of several books, his "Letters and Lettering" being recognised as the standard text-book on the subject. He is an authoritative writer on archi- tectural subjects, besides being Editor of "The Architectural T^eview" since 1907. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN BUCK1.Y
THE early architecture of New England is, for the most part, distinctive for its sim- plicity and economy, both of plan and construction. It was based, in the first in- stance, upon rooms of small size and low height, and was as easy to erect and furnish as to heat and defend from enemies, climatic and human. The construction was a sim- ple framework, whose prin- cipal supports — generally ei- ther of oak or white pine- were hewn from native tim- ber and framed in the fash- the early colonists
ion
previously had been accus- tomed to in England. These timbers were also spaced with an economy in use that per- mitted the spaces between to be spanned with small irreg- ular pieces of timber and boarding; just as the non- supporting partitions were, in turn, most frequently com- posed of roughly shaped plank. These heavy timbers once set- tled into place, the walls could be strengthened against ar- rows or cold by a further protective filling of brick or tile, so often dis- closed when old dwellings are torn down. In one place only was the scale invariably ample and generous; and this was around the central chimney, always the feature of the house.
In the early Colo- nial cottage again, little, if any, at- tempt was made for mere ornament ordecoration. Rec- ollections of Euro-
FRONT ELEVATION.
pean craftsmanship were adapted to new con- ditions with little apparent trouble, and with what we now realize to have been greatly successful common sense. When these struct- ures have remained unaltered by succeeding generations, they are rarely anything but beauti- ful in their direct outlines and sturdy propor- tions; the composition of sky-line and chimney with the ground contour, and the grouping and proportions of the wall openings being always notably successful. Occasionally these early car- penters, in an entrance door- way, a mantel, or perhaps in the staircase, would seize the chance to apply their craft- knowledge with a little more freedom from restraint, and while the results may some- times seem to us perhaps a bit naive or quaintly obvious, at other times one cannot help but acknowledge they display as superb an acquaintance with, and appreciation of, beauty in line, detail and in the placing and modeling -of ornament as any inventions of other and more sophisti- cated days.
The earliest type of plan had un- doubtedly a room on each side of an entrance, a staircase placed in front of a central chimney, and a kitchen, lo- cated perhaps part- ly in a rear shed or ell.
Such an arrange- ment is ordinarily regarded as of the "farmhouse" type, and is sufficiently THE DOAK HOUSE, MARBLEHEAD, MASS. familiar hardly to
ENTRANCE DETAIL
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
require illustration. If such is to be supplied, a typical example is found in the Gushing House at Hingham, or the old "Tyler House" at Wayland, standing on the old prehistoric Indian "Bay-Path." This latter house dates from the early part of the i8th century (sometime previous to 1 725) and is nowdeserted. At the rear the roof of this house now sweeps down, nearly to the ground, in the usual fashion, being unbroken for any purposes of light or ventilation. As originally built, the house undoubtedly con- sisted of four rooms only: two below and two above. As it now stands, the kit- chen runs the full width of the ell, and is located exactly in the center, be- hind the chimney, with a small room behind the front room on the left of the entrance; the
WINDOW DETAIL. JUDGE JOSEPH LEE HOUSE. CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
space at the right being taken up by closets and the side entrance. The original frame is of hewn oak, covered with one thickness of weather- boards beveled on the edges to overlap without lathing or plastering, but with the timber frame filled in with soft burned brick. Another indication of the age of this house is the abrupt "over-hang" or projection at the eaves line, without soffit mold- ing or any other sugges- tion of the later "cornice" treatment.
There are to be found only a very few instances of a house of interestingly different type, where the chimney and staircase oc- cur at one end instead of in the center, leaving but one room across the front. Such a type appears in the little South- borough house, where the typical projected
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF AN EARLY FARMHOUSE, NEAR BOSTON, MASS. Illustrating shingle ends combined with clapboarding on the front.
NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HOUSES
face-gable showing at the end indicates how natur- ally the early builders adapted their plan to get the outlook and sun de- sired in rear rooms.
In this house there ex- isted a curious detail of construction in the win- dow-caps, intended to protect the top of the window-case, which was projected beyond the frame of the building and applied to its face in the old-fashioned way. These molded caps were crowned by a sloping member, care- fully hewn and shaped from one heavy log of wood so as to provide a sloping "wash" across the top and front and re- turned on the two ends; while the carpenter took pains to leave a standing flange at the back over which the siding was broken, thus providing a sort of flashing, but executed entirely in wood!
OLD FRONT DOOR. HINGHAM
Later in the i8th cen- tury, the American build- ers began to secure the "Carpenter's Handbooks," first published in England about 1 756, and from these they developed new de- tailsfarmoreeasily, merely adaptingthemtothesome'- what simplified conditions and requirements of the American village or town in which they lived and worked. Later, the de- mand for these practical builders' assistants became so great that at least one volume was reprinted in this country; being com- piled and issued by a cer- tain Asher Benjamin, an architect in Greenfield, Massachusetts, in 1797.
For a number of years the plan developed few changes, except in so far as they were demanded by special or larger requirements imposed by the owner. The house on page 6 is of this
SHUTE HOUSE. MASS.
THE JOHN DOCKRAY HOUSE, WAKEFIELD, R. I. Built in the early part of the i8th century.
o graph by Frank Ct'usiiis
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE TYLER HOUSE AT WAYLAND, MASS. Built previous to 1725 A typical example of a farmhouse with a room on each side of entrance and a central chimney.
THE GUSHING HOUSE AT H1NGHAM, MASS. Built in the early part of the i8th century, probably in 1730; a good example of the simple farmhouse type.
NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HOUSES
THE OLD BEM1S HOUSE, WATERTOWN, MASS. Built about 1750
THE STEARNS HOUSE, BEDFORD, MASS. Built from a design by Reuben Duren, Architect.
10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
simple type, save that it presents the less usual composition of one window on one side the center door balanced by two upon the other; the single window being four lights wide (or twenty panes in all) where the others are of three wide, or fifteen lights.
A very ancient house in- deed was the oldDoak house at Marblehead, which un- fortunately has disappeared. Aside from the simplicity
— almost the crudity — of the execution of its archi- tectural details, the age of this building is evidenced by many other indications only to be recognized by the architect or antiquarian. Nevertheless, its definite at- titude of dignity, of aloof- ness, should be apparent to any passer-by, and it is this quality, sometimes, as much as any other, that arouses our admiration for these early Colonial masterpieces. They achieve so perfect, if unconscious, a relation of parts — the proportion of opening to
wall space and of glass divis- ion; the architraves around the opening to window area; the cornice to the roof de- sign and the wall height— that it often seems impos- sible to improve the structure as a whole. Even though single details sometimes ap- pear crudely executed by local workmen, it yet re- mains an open question whether mere improvement in execution or in refinement — if attempted — would be as well related, and harmonize as well with the complete design.
The gambrel roof type — always difficult to proportion
— was used by the early builders with the greatest freedom, and with a perfect
sense for the right relation of parts. Sometimes thegambrel is flattened and ample in proportion, at others the gable appears more restricted and the proportions made for greater dig- nity and height. It is this latter aspect that is more appropriately found on the larger houses to which this variation of the roof of Mansart was occasionally applied, although undoubt- edly it was then, as now, best adapted to enlarge the living space available on the second floor.
OLD FARMHOUSE, SOUTHBOROUGH, MASS
The Wadsworth House, sometimes called the President's House, on the grounds of Har- vard University, while of much larger size- crowding three stories and an attic under its capacious roof beams — has a gambrel of very nearly the proportion of the modest cape cottages. The walls of this house were "raised" on May 24, 1726, although the side doorway, the ell, and the two one- story additions made on each end are of later dates. In the very well known Royall House in Medford were, besides the slavequar- ters and the portion shown inthe photographs, two ells, one of which may have been the earlier farmhouse that stood upon this site. One of these ells was burned only a few years ago. It is supposed that the original farmhouse built here by Governor Winthrop, soon after the settlement of Medford in 1630, was incorporated into the dwelling later built by John Usher, after he came into possession of the place in 1 677. Despite its unaccustomed surroundings, the Shirley- Eustis Home in Roxbury stands, only slightly removed from its original site, as dig- nified today as when it was first built. An old news- paper of 1 86s proclaiming a sale of the house's contents gives the date as 1743; and adds the information that it was built of oak framed in England and of imported brick — although three dif- ferent sizes are now to be found. The house was pur- chased by Governor Eustis in 1819, and it may be that he added the two porches at either end which have now disappeared, but which were so seldom found on early houses in the New England Colonies. This house also has two fronts; and, as in the Royall House, the drive- way front again proves to be of the more interest architecturally.
Although a little later than the middle of the century, the Shute House at Hingham is so in- teresting a type as to require consideration here. The lot was bought in I7S4 and the house built by 1762, and the ell is of later date.
tSlutcJv
.of-'
•OU _
•Windows
•HoUJ'E
JbuTHBOKQUGH
NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HOUSES
ii
SIDE ELEVATION
THE WADSWORTH HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Built in 1726
The way the front clapboards extend by and beyond the clapboarding across the end gable, without corner boards or other finish of any kind, should be noted.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Entrance Detail WADSWORTH HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Built in 1726
Pilaster and Cornice Detail SHIRLEY-EUSTIS HOUSE, ROXBURY, MASS. Built about 1750
THE SHIRLEY-EUSTIS HOUSE, ROXBURY, MASS.
Built by Governor Shirley, about 1750. This house has two fronts — the principal one originally facing the water; the south-side fronts upon the driveway turn and approach.
NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HOUSES
West Doorway "THE LINDENS," DANVERS, MASS. Built in 1745
Front Doorway AN OLD HOUSE, HINGHAM, MASS. Built about 1760
THE ISAAC ROYALL HOUSE AT MEDFORD, MASS. Built in 1712 A small part of this house, built in 1631, is the oldest section of any house now stand- ing in America. The principal portion of the mansion was not, however, built until 1732. The exterior of the front and back of this house is in the original White Pine.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Photograph by Julian Buckly
THE ROYALL HOUSE, MEDFORD, MASS. Entrance detail. Built in 1732
This door opened on the carriage courtyard, facing toward the old summer-house.
THE SHUTE HOUSE, HINGHAM, MASS.
HOW PROPERLY TO SPECIFY WHITE PINE
A BOOK OF WHITE PINE GRADING RULES
A> a result of requests that have come from a number of members of the architectural profession, a Book of Specifications covering White Pine is now being prepared for publica- tion, and will soon be ready for distribution, by the White Pine Bureau, which represents the Northern Pine Manufacturers' Association of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and the Associated White Pine Manufacturers of Idaho. This book will describe the various grades of White Pine under the grading rules applying thereto, and will set out in concise form, care- fully indexed for quick reference, such practical information as will be helpful in properly speci- fying White Pine in each separate territory of the United States.
Appreciating that each locality has, to some extent, its own local manner of lumber grading, and that it would be impractical to endeavor to
include in any one book oi specifications all of these localisms, it was first learned, resulting from a wide range of inquiry, that there are three fundamental or basic sets of White Pine grading rules which apply to all sections of the United States, one at least of which is appli- cable to the entire White Pine consuming ter- ritory. These three sets of grading rules are those used by the Northern Pine Manufacturers' Association, with offices at Minneapolis, Min- nesota, which cover the product of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan ; the Western Pine Manufacturers' Association, with offices at Spokane, Washington, which cover the prod- uct of Idaho ; and the White Pine Association of the Tonawandas, with offices at North Tona- wanda, New York, which cover the product of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Idaho, and also the White Pine product of Canada.
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
By the use, therefore, of these three sets of grading rules, all local lumber dealers, though perhaps using local grades, will be familiar with one or more of these three sets of grading rules and can intelligently furnish White Pine lumber to the architect whose specifications are written under them. In their application it will only be necessary to first learn from any local lumber dealer which one of the three sets of grading rules applies to your particular territory, and then write the specifications in accordance with the grading rules applying thereto.
To further facilitate the architect's interpre- tation of these grading rules, the Book of White Pine Specifications will contain half-tone illus- trations of each separate grade, these half-tones being sufficiently large and sharp in detail as to make it really possible to choose the grade desired from the half-tone reproduction rather than having it necessary to see the lumber itself. As no grade of lumber can be definitely represented by a single board, each grade will be illustrated by using from six to eight repre- sentative boards, twelve inches wide and six- teen feet long, or their equivalent, placed side by side and cleated for ease in photographing, in this way insuring the showing of a really representative grade.
The book will further suggest the approxi- mate basic difference in price between the grades for purposes of being helpful to the architect in making the proper selection as to cost, and will recommend from a practical standpoint what each grade is best adapted for, or in other words for what purpose it should be used.
The desirability and usefulness of such a book, painstakingly compiled as it will be, we believe will be at once pertinent to all architects, and will be most appreciatively received by them.
Of late there has become prevalent an impres- sion that the supply of White Pine is practically exhausted, and that what little remains can be purchased only at exorbitant prices. Our pur- pose in bringing these Monographs and the forthcoming Book of White Pine Specifications to you is to help us dispel this illusion, and to assure the architectural profession that White Pine is still abundantly available to-day, as it always has been, and that it can be purchased in all markets, with the possible exception of the Pacific Coast States and the Southern States, at a reasonable cost, when taking into con- sideration its remarkable qualities as a struc- tural wood. Architects generally, we believe, know of White Pine's qualities, but not of its availability.
For the outside covering of a house, even after years of exposure under most exacting climatic conditions, it lasts almost forever, and does not shrink, swell, check, split, twist or warp, all of which, when analyzed, means that White Pine is the one perfect structural wood.
A copy of this Book of Specifications covering White Pine will, when published, be sent to all architects receiving this magazine, and to any others making request for it.
WHITE PINE BUREAU,
MERCHANTS BANK BUILDING,
Representing ST' PAUL> MINNESOTA.
THE NORTHERN PINE MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA, WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN, AND THE ASSOCIATED WHITE PINE MANUFACTURERS OF IDAHO.
The subject of the third monograph will be the domestic architecture developed by the Dutch in their colony of New Netherlands, with descriptive text by Aymar Embury II
Subject of Previous Number of
THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS No i. Colonial Cottages. Text by Joseph Everett Chandler
iiinnnmm
An Architectural Monograph on '
Farm Houses o/ New Netherlands
^^Uam
•JH>
Prepared for publication by TWhiteheadformerly&fitor CfTheJArchitectural 'Record and The &ricKb uilder. J)2 Madifon ^\)e, NewYorK N. Y
Photograph by J. W. Gillies
THE VREELAND HOUSE AT NORDHOFF, NEW JERSEY. Detail, front entrance
An unusually good example of carpenter carving done with a gouge
O&WHTIZ PINL
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
ABI-MONTLY PUBUCftriON SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND ITS AAILABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL WGDD
Vol.
DECEMBER, 1915
No. 3
FARM HOUSES OF NEW NETHERLANDS
<By AYMAR EMBURY II
Mr. Embury has devoted much sympathetic study to our early architectural history, and as an architect has won wide-spread recognition because of bis ability to solve successfully the country bouse problem. His contributions to the literature of Colonial Architecture include such well-known works as " Early American Churches," "The Dutch Colonial House," " One Hundred Country Houses," etc. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANK COUSINS AND JOHN WALLACE GILLIES
CMC after the Colonial work of New Eng- land and the South became well known to the architects, and had become re- garded by them as a suitable source from which to draw precedents for modern work, the re- maining examples of the work of the Dutch in their colony of New Netherlands remained un- noticed and neglected. It is not easy to dis- cover why this should have been, since much of it is in close proximity to New York City, some of it indeed within the city limits, and these examples are not inferior in charm, less in number, or of a later date than the Colonial work of Massachusetts and Virginia.
The settlement 'of New Netherlands ante- dated by some years that of New England, and its development was steady and rapid, the Colonists pushing out from New York along the river valleys and Indian trails which formed the natural means of communication in a country where roads were still to be con- structed. Many of these early Dutch houses still exist, and although the area in which they occur is comparatively small, it must have been, for a farming community, very thickly populated and extremely prosperous. The age of these houses cannot be determined with any real accuracy, and while the earliest of them appear to have been erected about the same time as the earliest remaining examples in New England or Virginia, the very natural tendency to exaggerate the age of old work has probably been not less apparent in New Netherlands than in New England. The whole question of the dates of old work is a rather delicate one, and I have found in all parts of the American colonies that the dates assigned to old buildings were those at which some por-
tions of them had been built, although the en- tire building might have been reconstructed since that time.
In selecting the subjects for the illustrations for this article, then, I have been unable to find in many cases any real historic evidence as to the dates of construction, and have been obliged to accept family traditions or the rec- ords of the local historic societies as guides, and these dates are offered with reserve. The fact is that in most cases the testimony as to the age is probably no better than that given me by a negro employee on one of the old farms, who told me that the house was built " so dog-gone long ago that there ain't nobody remembers when she was built." I have gone into this question of dates with some particu- larity, because the determination of the sources and progress of any style must rest primarily upon the comparison of houses in their chrono- logical order, assuming, of course, variances in the style arising from local conditions. Now while this evidence is very far from complete, it is convincing on one point, namely, that the Dutch early found their metier, and pursued it substantially unchanged up to, and in some cases even through, the period of the Classic Revival. The difference between the earliest of the Dutch houses and the latest is far less marked than the difference between the early and late houses of New England and the South- ern Colonies, and without previous knowledge as to the age of the remaining Dutch build- ings, it would be practically impossible to pick certain of them out as being the prototypes of the style and others as examples of the style developed.
The most curious thing about the architec-
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
ture of New Netherlands is that which strikes us in the other colonies, name- ly, the almost complete renunciation by the Colo- nists of ideals, processes and precedents of their mother-country. The Dutch houses in Long Island and New Jersey resembled nothing but themselves, and wereeven more radically different from the work of the Dutch in Holland than they were from the work of the other Colonists. This difference is not alone a question of ma- terial, which might be ex- pected in a new country, but is also a question of form and of detail. The steep-pitched roofs of Holland were here transformed into low gentle lines, and the narrow flat cornices of the mother-country were replaced by broad over- hanging eaves, from which Classic treatment in general was absent. It was an architecture altogether autochthonous, and not the less in- teresting for that reason.
The characteristics of the Dutch work are by this time fairly well known: the houses are for the most part one story in height, with low curved overhanging eaves on the front and rear, and an almost total suppression of cor- nices or rake moldings on the gable-ends. The earliest buildings apparently had single pitched roofs; the gambrel form, so common in these colonies that the term " Dutch roof" has become synony- mous with " gam- brel," was a thing of later develop- ment, although to- ward the latter part of the seventeenth century it already had become custom- ary; but aside from thisonechangeinthe roof shape, appar- ently the only va- riation from type was the gradual in- troduction of a piaz- zaor stoop under the overhanging eaves; and this, too, must
SHENKS-CROOK HOUSE, BERGEN BEACH FLATLANDS, N. Y. Built 1656
LAKE TYSEN HOUSE, NEW DORP, STATEN ISLAND, N. Y.
have occurred at a very early date.
The materials in the Dutch work were those used in the other colonies : shingles and clapboards, stone and brick for wall covering, and hewn tim- bers for the frames. These materials were, however, mingled together with much more freedom than we customarily find in the other colonies, and were perhaps treated with a little better realization of the artistic effect possible from careful selection of materialsand appropriate treatment of their sur- faces than was elsewhere the case. I do not know of any material used in Colonial times which was so beautifully handled as the red sandstone from which the bodies of many of the houses in Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey were built. The entrance sides of the houses were invariably better finished than the others, and were usually of coursed ashlar with either fine picked or four cut surfaces, small joints and neatly cut sills. The lintels were flat arches, often of wood and with wooden carved key blocks, painted and sanded to represent stone. The other sides of these buildings were of rougher stone or of wood or of brick, han- dled with a facility and playfulness which in no way detracted from the dignity and attrac- tiveness of the whole building.
We find the same motive in most of the houses still re- maining. Each con- sists of a central mass with one or two wings, invariably placed on the gable- ends, but it is prob- able that the ori- ginal houses were single rectangular blocks which now constitute the cen- tral portions or in some cases are now the wings, to which the main bodies of thehouses have been added. The materials va-
FARM HOUSES OF NEW NETHERLANDS
5
ried with the location: in Long Island the ex- teriors were of wood, generally white pine shin- §les but sometimes white pine clapboards; in taten Island and New York they were some- times of stone whitewashed or stuccoed, and sometimes of shingles, stone apparently having been used where it was not too hard to cut, and wood used elsewhere. In New Jersey, where the fields were covered with erratic gla- cial drift of red sandstone, and had to be cleared before cultivation, the bodies of the houses up to the second-story line were generally built of this stone, with the gable-ends, roofs and wings of wood. This red sandstone split readily, was easy to work, and hardened upon exposure to the air, and was therefore chosen in many in- stances; but it is a curious side-light upon the knowledge of our ancestors to find that people who could work stone so beautifully as the Dutch had no mortar which was durable when exposed to the weather, and the stone walls were therefore protected by overhanging eaves of wood, while the wooden walls needed no such shelter.
The roof shape adopted by the Dutch made dormers unpractical for light in the second story; and as metal for flashing, so essential around dormers, was scarce and difficult to ob- tain, dormers were usually, if not invariably, omitted, and evidently in those houses which
now possess them they were added at a date far later than that of the construction of the main building. The second stories of these houses were therefore lighted at the two gable- ends only, and in several of the old buildings which remain in their original condition I have found that the second-story bedrooms were formed by partitions only, no ceilings having been constructed, so that there was a through ventilation of air from one end of the house to the other over the tops of the bedrooms. The framework was in general constructed in the same manner as in the other colonies: it was of the post and lintel type. I n the earliest times the bodies of the walls were built of thick planks set edge to edge vertically; the inner sides of these planks were adzed to give a mor- tar clinch, and the shingles or clapboards for the exterior were nailed to the outside. The custom of filling in between the posts with studs was probably begun as early as 1725, and the spaces between the studs were often filled with brick or small stone laid up in clay; sheathing was then applied much as it is to- day, and the outside shingled or clapboarded, although in some instances the buildings were stuccoed directly on the studs and masonry filling between them, without sheathing or lath. The earlier houses had little interesting de- tail, and, curiously enough, much of what there
THE BERGEN HOMESTEAD, FLATLANDS, BROOKLYN, N. Y. Built about 1655
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
was was strongly reminiscent of Gothic. The doorways, for example, in the old Verplanck house at Fishkill, New York, are not dissimi- lar from the English Elizabethan type, and hexagonal and octagonal columns were used in very many cases. The later houses, probably through the influence of the New England work, had considerable attention paid to the treatment of the doorways, the cornices and the window openings, and some of the Dutch doorways and cornices are among the most interesting Colonial works still remaining. The cornice of the main part of the Board House (which dates from 1790), for example, illustrated on pages 8 and 9, has a narrow frieze decorated in the Chinese-Chippendale manner, and the cornice of the wing shows an extremely interesting combination of dentil course and fluting; both cornices are rich, vigorous and refined. Several of the other houses have doorways carved as elaborately as could be done by a carpenter with the tools then at his command; the use of the gouge to form ro- settes and other decorated forms being the marked characteristic. An excellent example of this is the doorway of the Vreeland House, which, though late in period, is much more Colonial than Neo-Grec in sentiment.
The Dutch uses of ornament were charac- terized, however, by the same freedom from traditions as were the masses of their houses; and indeed the pervading sentiment of all the Dutch work is one of spontaneity and disre- gard for precedent, rather than the adherence to formulae customary in New England.
The Dutch houses had not, as a rule, very much pretension to stylistic correctness; they were charming rather than beautiful, and quaint rather than formal. This quality makes them especially adapted for precedents for small country houses of to-day, just as the symmetrical dignity of the Colonial work of New England and the South lends itself to larger and more expensive residences which may be termed "mansions."
Certain of the Dutch forms, especially that of the roof, cannot be readily used, the flat slopes of the Dutch work admitting little light and air in the second story; but the other shapes of gambrel, which were used practically all over the United States, and of which there are ex- amples existing at such widely separated points as Castine, Maine; Annapolis, Maryland; and New Orleans, Louisiana, can be harmonized with the spirit of the Dutch work with profit to our architectural design.
ROADSIDE FARM HOUSE NEAR PEARL RIVER, NEW JERSEY Note the use of "Germantown hoods," and the fact that wings are added to the ends only
THE BOARD-ZABRISKIE HOUSE, ON THE PARAMUS ROAD, NEW JERSEY. Date, 1790, carved in lintel of a cellar window
Note the Chinese-Chippendale ornament in the cornice of main house. Dormers, wing and railing probably added later
THE BOARD-ZABRISKIE HOUSE, ON THE PARAMUS ROAD, NEW JERSEY. Detail of west wing at right angle to road
Of all houses in this section none is more charming; the interest lies both in the composition and beautiful detail
10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE ACKERMAN ( BRINCKERHOFF) HOUSE, HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY Date, 1704, carved in end of chimney. Interesting use of columns under the overhang in the center only
THE LEFFERTS HOUSE, FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Present house dates partly from before 1776 and partly from a century earlier. A portion of the house was destroyed by the British in the battle of Long Island, but was soon rebuilt on its undamaged beams
FARM HOUSES OF NEW NETHERLANDS
JOHN PETER B. WESTERVELT HOUSE AT CRESSKILL, NEW JERSEY. Date about 1800 An almost perfect example of the full development of the style
THE VREELAND HOUSE AT NORDHOFF, NEW JERSEY
The wing dates from the i8th century; the body of the house was added about 1825, and is extremely interesting in detail, as may be seen in the frontispiece illustration
12
THE WHITE PINE' MONOGRAPH iSERIES
THE ANDREW MARRING HOUSE AT NORTHVALE, NEW JERSEY. Rebuilt 1805 and 1838
JAN DITMARS HOUSE AT FLATLAND NECK, BROOKLYN, N. Y. Date about 1800 While this house is built entirely of wood, it is interesting to note that the proportions and type are exactly similar to the Harring house above
FARM HOUSES OF NEW NETHERLANDS
THE VAN NUYSE-MAGAW HOMESTEAD, FLATLANDS, BROOKLYN, N. Y. Built about 1800
A DUTCH HOUSE ON LONG ISLAND. Early igth Century
Here the gambrel roof is above two full stories; unusual near New York. All existing examples thus designed have cornices and detail resembling the work of New England rather than other Dutch houses
THE DOORWAY OF THE LEFFERTS HOUSE ON FLATBUSH AVENUE, FLATBUSH, L. I. Built in the iyth century, rebuilt about 1780
An extremely interesting doorway, showing the freedom with which the Dutch builders used Classic motives
14
HOUSE ON ESTATE OF MRS. GLENN STEWART, LOCUST Alfred Hopkins, Architect, New York, N. Y.
VLLEY, L.
A STATEMENT, BASED ON NEW YORK MARKET PRICES OF TO- DAY, APPLYING TO THE HOUSE BUILT FOR MRS. GLENN STEWART, LOCUST VALLEY, NEW YORK. ALFRED HOPKINS, ARCHITECT
S White Pine has withstood every test where a structural wood is exposed to the weather, architects naturally concede a preference for its use, and its cost therefore becomes the determining factor. For the outer covering of a house the cost is relatively very small in comparison with the total investment, and may be very misleading. To illustrate this clearly we give below a comparatiye statement of actual costs, painstakingly computed in order not to mislead, as between White Pine and substitute woods, based on New York market prices of to-day, figured for the house illustrated above.
As
Labor and Materials
General Contract:
Excavation and Masonry Rough Lumber Outside and Inside Finish Carpenter Labor Sheet Metal Work Lath and Plaster Painting and Glazing
Heating
Plumbing
Electrical Work
Hardware
Lighting Fixtures
Marble and Tile Work Total
THE cost of this house with its entire Outer Covering and Inside Finish of White Pine was only $5,150.00. Had a Substitute Wood been used for the Exterior
Using White Pine for Exterior Woodwork
iOOO.OO 785.00
950.00
850.00
1 20.00
450.00
300.00
200.00
375.00
75.00
125.00
60.00
60.00
Using Substitute Woods for Exterior Woodwork
i,I50.00
.00 785.00
836.00 850.00
120.00
45O.OO
300.00
200.00
375.00
75.00
I25.0O
6O.OO
6O.OO
i,O36.oo
Surfaces the cost would have been $5,036.00, a difference of only $114.00. This small dif- ference of $i 14.00, or but a little over 2% of the total investment, determined between the
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
use of White Pine or Substitute Woods for the Outer Covering.
The example here chosen to illustrate com- parative costs between White Pine and Sub- stitute Woods may be termed an inexpensive house, not necessitating elaborate hardware, plumbing, lighting fixtures, etc., and the total cost was therefore very small. Had the building been more elaborately finished the percentage of difference which de- termined the use of White Pine would have been reduced to about i*/3%, as has been demon- strated by many cost compilations for various types of houses.
The same com- parativecost figures apply with slight va- riations to all territories in the United States, with the possible exception of the Pacific Coast States and extreme Southern States, where the use of White Pine is perhaps not commercially practical. Later there will be published com- parative figures covering other territories to substantiate this statement further.
The selection of a structural wood is too frequently determined by its price perthousand feet, and not by its true worth for the partic- ular purpose for which it is to be used. The
HOUSE ON ESTATE OF MRS. GLENN STEWART, LOCUST VALLEY, L Alfred Hopkins, Architect
first cost of White Pine is higher in price than that of other structural woods; but when con- sidering those distinctive qualities possessed by no other wood where exposure to the weather is. to be the test, it is in the end the most eco- nomical. With mitres that will not open, and grain that will not lift, White Pine forever
"stays put," and does not shrink, swell, check, crack,, split, twist, or warp under the most ex- acting climatic con- ditions, and lasts almost forever. De- spite an impression of its scarcity, White Pine is still abun- dantly available to- day, as it always has been, in any quan- tity or quality de- sired, and can or should be pur- chasable in all mar- kets. If the lumber dealers supplying you or your clients at any time are unable to furnish it, we would appreciate the opportunity of be- ing helpful to you in securing it.
WHITE PINE BUREAU,
MERCHANTS BANK BUILDING, SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA..
Representing
THE NORTHERN PINE MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA, WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN, AND THE ASSOCIATED WHITE PINE MANUFACTURERS OF IDAHO.
The subject of the fourth monograph will be Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies, with article on the Colonial Renaissance by Frank E. Wallis
Subjects of Previous Numbers of
THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
No. i. Colonial Cottages Text by Joseph Everett Chandler
No. 2. New England Colonial Houses. Text by Frank Chouteau Brown
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<^: FRANK. E WALLIS :^> <Prepared for publication by %//"<?// TWhiteheadformertyEditor of The^Architectural l^ecord and The FtricKb uilder 1)2 "MadjfooZtte. MewYorK N. Y.
"HOMEWOOD/'NEAR BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. Front Portico. Built in 1809
Detail of
Photograph by Julian Biickly
An example of the second phase of the Southern Georgian. There is an individuality in the planning of these Maryland estates to provide for offices, servants' quarters, tool houses, etc. These were built as story-and-a-half wings, and connected with the main house by one-story corridors. This general scheme was as well adapted to town use as it was to the country house
P1NL SERIES^5
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND ITS /MMLABLITY TODAY" AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. 1 1
FEBRUARY, 1916
No. 1
THE COLONIAL RENAISSANCE
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES
By FRANK E. WALLIS
Mr. Wallis is as well known to the architectural profession for bis researches into historic American architecture as for his genial personality. His were the first books published on Colonial work, and made familiar to us Westover, Shirley, Brandon, Carter's Grove, and other important manors in the South, now so well known. The examples of the wood-built houses which illustrate this Monograph have been selected without regard to the species of wood of which they were constructed. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
SINCE the latter days of the eighteenth century, the first indication of architec- tural sanity was that rejuvenescence or regeneration of the spirit which must have been behind the earlier expressions of architecture in America. Even though we must accept the English Georgian parentage, this Georgian or Colonial happens to be the only style or method which the colonists understood or desired. That this period architecture was interwoven in our fabric of free government, that it housed the conception and completion of our Constitu- tion, and that it formed a stage background for our Fourth of July orations and the per- orations of our politicians, must prove to our ultimate satisfaction that Colonial is our na- tional style of architecture.
The renaissance of Colonial happened at the psychological moment, as all the rebirths in architecture have happened; for while the few architects — and they were few, those of the mid- dle nineteenth century — were content and com- placent in their fraternal association with the carpenter, there happened to be a small per- centage of this baker's dozen of architects who revolted at this immoral association with that "cocotte" of good taste.
Among these few objectors were the original members of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, for I have found records of sketching trips in the late seventies by Wm. B. Bigelow and by Charles F. McKim; trips made through the old towns of New England, where entire streets of fine examples of the early work had been neglected and undiscovered for more than half a century. There had been a few sporadic at- tempts tostudy theseexamples before this time,
but these attempts were confined mostly to the research work of antiquarians and to a few, a sad corporal's guard, of the small number of practising architects.
These two men of the old firm of McKim, Mead & Bigelow had the prior knowledge of the fine examples of Colonial, and, I believe, with few exceptions, were the first architects to succumb to the charms of the old traditions.
It was about this time, too, that Arthur Little of Boston printed a series of pen and ink sketches for private circulation. This book, unfortunately, has disappeared from the ken of man. I remember, however, the great pleasure which the study of this early set of drawings gave me when I began my wanderings in the pleasant land of Colonial architecture.
I was not more than fifteen years of age when the fondness for these old buildings first inspired me, and during the succeeding seven or eight years I measured and made drawings of the old New England work on holidays and after office hours, during which my time was occupied in tracing and designing those illus- trious so-called "Queen Annes" which were actually accepted by architects and laity alike as the supreme expression of good taste in architecture.
The fellows who joined in this quest are to- day scattered throughout the country; indeed, a few of them have mounted au del. I fre- quently wonder if Cormer of Seattle, or Charlie Coolidge of Boston, ever remember the rape of the staircase in the old north end of Boston, when we youngsters bribed the complacent tenant to watch for the landlord, and then, with a prepared substitute and a stair-builder.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
picked out and carried away bodily that beauti- ful twisted newel-post with the varying carved balusters and mahogany rail. " Pop" Chandler, in whose office we installed the stolen trophy, had numerous fits when we informed him that "a kind lady had given the thing to us." The draughtsmen of the office of that time have since become fat and portly architects, such men as Longfellow and Austin, Ion Lewis and dear old Billy Barry, who in himself was a most delightful Colonial expression. His sketches of ships and of old compositions of eighteenth-century buildings were mas- terpieces; he knew the intimate detail of a dentilled turn in the cornice, the habitsof clapboards and rake-moldings, and the customs and manners of gables and dormers as few other men knew them.
Inordertogather sufficient funds for a European trip, it occurred tome that possibly I might acquire such with a few carefully measured drawings of good examples of the Colonial. The plan seemed good and the lay- outs were not diffi- cult; but I smile to-day when 1 re- member the rocky path ahead of that unsophisticated youngster who expected to achieve Spain and Italy through the easy by- paths of Colonial drawings.
Ware of the American Architect would not even look at the proffered sheets; Col. Meyer of the Engineering Record wanted to cut them up, though this big-hearted man tried to sell them for me and offered them to Comstock in New York. This effort was more hopeless than the other with Ware in Boston. Then there comes on the screen that fine old soul whose memory many architects still adore — "Pop" Ware, then in Columbia. These drawings sug- gested something to him, and his students were permitted to look them over as inspirations for their own summer work. After Prof. Ware
"DOUGHOREGAN MANOR," HOWARD COUNTY, MARYLAND Home of Charles Carroll
had put his seal of approval on these sheets, they were demanded by and sold to the Ameri- can Architect. To-day they form a part of the Georgian Period.
I have wondered in my later days at the diffi- culties which 1 had encountered in disposing of these drawings, realizing, of course, that the profession at that time had little, if any, appre- ciation of the charm and fitness of that phase which has since come to be known as Old Colo- nial. I have never been able to comprehend
the "Old," though I have been told by one of the grand- fathers of the pro- fession that I, my- self,was responsible for this false ap- pellation. I wish here todisclaim the credit for the mis- nomer, and will hereafter, being re- lieved of thisanach- ronism in phrase- ology, insist that Colonial is the only correct and proper label for those beauties of the eighteenth century which we to-day know with such in- timacy.
On my return from the European trip I was amazed and delighted to find a representa- tive of Col. Meyer on the dock, a con- tract in his hand, and with a demand Wallis be looked this commission
from the virile West that
up and sent South. With
and sufficiently financed, I began my journey
south, much as Sir Galahad did in his search
for the Holy Grail.
I had been face to face with the great ex- pressions of Europe, and had talked withVedder, with Abbey, and with others in the ateliers of the E. D. B. A. I knew the museums of Ma- drid, of Florence, of Paris, and of London; the streets and alleys of all of those Spanish, Italian, and French cities where architecture is at home, and where the street gamins and the proletariat are in complete accord with the architectural expressions of their fathers. With the memories of the old world fresh in my mind, and with add-
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES
ed experience and know- ledge, this Southern trip was much the same to me as those side jour- neys which I had made into Brittany, Provence, and through the byways and alleys of the archi- tects' paradise.
The Southern journey led to Fells Point in Baltimore, to Annapolis, Fredericksburg, Va., Wil- liamsburg, and York- town, among others.
I sailed up the York River to Rosewell in a log dugout. How we got there I do not know, but this 1 remember with pleasure, as I remember the constant courtesy of those Virginia folk, that those at Rosewell permit- ted me to sketch the beautiful details of that supreme expression in architectural history without any objection.
"THE WILLOWS," GLOUCESTER, NEW JERSEY
The walls were built of three-inch planks dovetailed together
at the corners. Built about 1720
I encountered some op- position in Fredericksburg when I essayed so politely to ingratiate myself in the good graces of the pra-nde dame who pre- sided as chatelaine over Kenmore, but without success, until the sugges- tion of the hotel man tempted me to try the husband while the wife was absent. Those of you who read this, coming out of Boston and remem- bering Dizzy Bridge just about where the Public Library now stands, will chortle with glee when 1 tell you that because I had been in swimming at Dizzy Bridge 1 was ad- mitted into the fraternity of old friends by this most charming gentleman. He joined with me in getting results before his wife re- turned.
It is a fact that archi-
"MONTEBELLO," NEAR BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. Built in 1812
The* detail, both exterior and interior, was extremely minute in scale and departed far from classic traditions. This house resembles " Homewood " both in scale and character of moldings
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
lecture does catch some of the characteristics of those people who create it; the manners and customs of the people, who must necessarily express themselves in brick, wood, and stone and color, must be and are reflected in the buildings. Because of this fact, and because of that other fact that the people of this middle South were more often gentlemen than other- wise— gentlemen not only because of their social assurance, but gentlemen because they were sportsmen in every sense of the word,— their architecture shows the reflection; or, rather, their architecture is the physical ex- pression of their own thought and point of view.
There must have been a homey, seignorial atmosphere about the great manor-houses in the heyday of their youth and power that would shame our modern Fifth Avenue magnates, if that were possible. The facades of Westover, Shirley, Brandon, etc., are simple, gentle, and assured, as only the facades of men and women who have assurance of place and family may be gentle and simple. I once saw a thorough- bred girl on the back of a thoroughbred horse, coming up the sward from the James to a thoroughbred house — that of Carter's Grove: a perfect picture and a most natural conclusion, for the house was in the class with both Diana and the horse. And these other types might be, and indeed must be, accepted as the progeny of the more stately and dignified chateaux of the great landowners of Colonial times, for here we find the same completeness, the same con- straint against over-adornment.
The streets in the little villages of the South are lined with these charming and restful homes, and you will also find in the type which we will call the outhouses of the great mansions, the same care in design and the same restraint in composition and ornament which are illustrated in the charming Williamsburg, Falmouth, and Fredericksburg examples: all of them supreme in their place, and all of them creating a restful atmosphere such as you may find between the covers of "Cranford."
Have you read "Cranford"? If you have, you may possibly appreciate the charming
ladies at Harwood House, Annapolis. If you know this classic, the story of the flower-garden, the dinner to which these charming ladies in- vited the wanderlust youngster, the sweet appreciation of his quest, will appeal to you, even though you have not been invited to church service, as I was invited, — invited to join them in their old high-back pew.
Was George Washington a finer and broader man because of his life at Mount Vernon, or was Mount Vernon and its type, such as we know them, beautiful because of the desires of those old worthies who cussed and smoked and tippled, meanwhile fighting our battles and planning our independence from George of England?
We may find Georgian examples through the shires of England. Cork has some of them; Dublin also, and London is colored with its ex- pression. Georgian, however, and not Colonial, for our Colonial, the son of the Georgian, if you please, has clapboards, porches in Doric and Corinthian or near Corinthian, cornices and modillions, or cornices ornamented with the invention of our own native joiners; for wood to these old men was a servant, and they played in and out through the grain of the woods for their curves and their applied ornamentsinsuchfashionaswould have shocked the stolid Britishers of the Georgian times.
The drawings and sketches made of the Southern work suggested a book on the sub- ject, and I was again commissioned to go South, although this first book — and I believe it was the first book published on the Colonial- included sketches made in New England, etc. Those other books of photographs and drawings which followed this publication have added tremendously to our knowledge of Colonial, and in the later days the fellows who, like Deane, Bragdon, Chandler, Brown, Embury, and Bessell, have studied the varying phases and who have written books and articles on the subject, have placed the country under great obligations, for these publications have served their part in the development of good taste in architecture.
The subject of the fifth monograph will be Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts, 1750-1800, with descriptive text by Julian A. Buckly
Subject of Previous Numbers of
THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
No. i. Colonial Cottages Text by Joseph Everett Chandler
No. 2. New England Colonial Houses. Text by Frank Chouteau Brown No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands. Text by Aymar Embury II
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES
"TUCKAHOE," GOOCHLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA. Built about 1707
The scene of Thomas Jefferson's boyhood. It is the oldest of the James River frame mansions. The house reveals an interesting plan which is I in shape: the library, drawing-room and stair hall in one wing, with the ball-room connecting the rear wing, in which the dining-room, bedroom and second stair hall are located
"TEDINGTON," SANDY POINT, CHARLES CITY COUNTY, VIRGINIA. Built in 1717
Named after a place in London. The house has massive walls of brick and from the first floor is weather-boarded over the inside brick casing; known in Colonial days as a " stock " building, and supposed to be indestructible. The estate is on the James River
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
AN EARLY COTTAGE, FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA Long dormers with sharp-peaked gables are characteristic of the early Southern houses
TUCKER HOUSE, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
The houses in this section followed the same general plan, the various departments located in ells or extensions clustered in a rambling manner about the central building. This house, like a majority of the Southern Colonial houses, has a bed- room on the ground floor. The windows are glazed with small panes set in lead
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES
HOUSE OF PEYTON RANDOLPH, WILLIAMSBURG. VIRGINIA Mr. Randolph was the first President of the Continental Congress
HOUSE ON DUKE OF GLOUCESTER STREET, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
Williamsburg was founded in 1632. It was the center of Colonial growth in the South from 1698, when Governor Nicholson removed the seat of government from Jamestown to this place. The town contains many excellent examples of low, picturesque wooden houses built in the latter part of the seventeenth century
10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
RISING SUN TAVERN, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA
There is a beautiful hall and stairway. All bedrooms have slanting ceilings. Washington slept at this place when he came to visit his mother
MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA
There are many interesting old houses in Fredericksburg, among them the frame cottage in which Mary the mother of Washington lived and where she died
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES
MOUNT VERNON MANSION, FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA Probably the most notable of Virginia plantations, the home of George Washington
v'
WYE HOUSE, TALBOT COUNTY. MARYLAND. Built about 1780
The original manor-house was built in 1668 A fragment of this is now used as an outbuilding. The main building contains the principal rooms and connects by corridors with one-story wings in which are the library on one side and the domestic offices on the other. The whole facade is two hundred feet in length
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
"THE GLIBE," POWHATAN COURT, VIRGINIA
An example of the use of a large central dormer with smaller ones on either side; characteristic of houses of this class in the South
DR. BILDERBECK'S HOUSE, SALEM, NEW JERSEY. Built in 1813
The bead-edged clapboard walls are painted yellow and the trim is white There has been an unfortunate 20th-century excrescence added at the side. The building is otherwise intact and as sound as when first built
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES
'3
GOVERNOUR EDEN HOUSE, EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA. Built about 1750 The framed overhang construction is most unusual in the Southern colonies
THE PENDELTON HOUSE, NEAR RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
The early Virginia colonists built their houses of wood. A characteristic feature of these early houses was the chimney at each end built outside the house wall for its entire height. The occurrence of the gam- brel is not nearly so frequent as in the North, and there are few examples of framing with the overhang
SPRING HOUSE AND DAIRY, ESTATE OF GOODLOE HARPER, BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND. Built about 1800
Pliotograph by Julian Buckly
Houses of this type were built near a spring or cold, swift-running brook. There is a sunken trench all around inside the outside wall about 18 inches deep and 18 inches wide. The cold water enters at one side of the house and goes out the opposite side. The water is regulated by a gate so that it will not rise beyond the height of the milk jars, which are set in the trenches
ANNOUNCING THE FIRST WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
A SUBURBAN HOUSE TO COST $10,000 '
(Program on following page)
WITH the renewal of interest evi- denced all over the country in the architecture of our forefathers, there has come an awakened appreciation of the charm of the old houses and a desire on the part of the architectural profession to express in their designs to-day those inter- esting features of mass and detail which char- acterized the early buildings. There appears to be a growing demand on the part of cli- ents for homes which embody the charm and delicacy of our colonial and early American architecture, and this fact seems to make most welcome the publication of data which will further acquaint one with the subject. The White Pine Series of Architectural Mono- graphs has only just begun to present a record of these beautiful and suggestive examples of wood-built houses now remaining for our study and emulation. The old buildings illustrated are a testimony to the early architects' ability in designing and a most convincing proof of the enduring qualities of White Pine, used so exten- sively for these houses. Perhaps no other wood stands the passage of time as does White Pine. The keen interest in these Monographs and the work they areillustrating prompted the thought that something more of real value might be ac- complished if architects were given an incentive to vie with one another in the creation of a really American house of a given size. With this in mind, the Editor of The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs hereby insti- tutes an architectural competition. The object of this competition is to encourage the study of the wood-house problem, especially of the type where delicacy of detail and refinement of mold- ing can best be executed in White Pine.
We owe a debt to White Pine for many of the seventeenth and eighteenth century houses which have been preserved to us in all their pristine refinement of detail. The very same quality of White Pine used in these early ex- amples is obtainable to-day; and if we avail ourselves of the privilege of building with it, there may be created a domestic architecture which we in turn may leave as a heritage for the admiration of future generations.
There is an abundance of White Pine at your disposal for all purposes of building. The soft, even texture of the wood makes it delightful to work, and you can be sure that it will stay
put. As long tests have demonstrated, White Pine is truly the ideal wood for all work that is to be painted, and for the outside covering of. a house it has no equal. The workable qualities of White Pine make it easy to pro- duce crisply cut moldings of beautiful detail for cornices, trim, etc., ensuring the designer limitless possibilities in the expression of his individuality.
Uninformed writers in the public and archi- tectural press have called attention to and bewailed the "fact" that the old-fashioned, best quality White Pine is now scarce. This impression is contrary to fact, and therefore most unfortunate. White Pine is so abundant as to be economical for every ordinary struc- tural use, but is particularly urged for outside exposed finish work, where it must withstand the elements. The designer need not feel that he is forced to place limitations on his design, that he must be sparing in using White Pine only for carved work; he should know that there is plenty of White Pine for all outside finish and will be for years to come.
It is hoped that the designs submitted in this Competition will exhibit a careful study of the particular problem, and that contes- tants will consider the house one to be actu- ally built of wood. Originality in design is looked for, but attention is called to the fact that this house is presumed to meet a practi- cal need in every American suburb, and there- fore should in all respects be a distinct im- provement over the average house erected by the speculative builder.
The Editor wishes to assure all contestants that it is not the purpose to make use of the resulting designs other than for exhibition or the publication of a selected number in book- let form. This booklet will not purport to be a home-builders' "plan-book," but simply a work suggesting how White Pine may appro- priately be used, and a copy will be sent each contestant. The August issue of The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs will be devoted to the publication of the Prize and Mention Designs. In every case where a competitor's design is shown, his full name and address will be given, and all inquiries regard- ing his work will be forwarded direct to him. It is planned to judge the submitted designs on May i2th and i3th.
PROGRAM FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION A SUBURBAN HOUSE TO COST $10,000
(INCLUDING GARAGE FOR ONE CAR)
OUTSIDE FINISH TO BE BUILT OF WHITE PINE
PRIZES AND MENTIONS Premiated Design will receive Design placed second will receive Design placed third will receive Design placed fourth will receive Six Mentions
$750.00 400.00 250.00
IOO.OO
Architects and Architectural Draughtsmen are invited to enter this Competition Competition closes at 5 p.m., Monday, May ist, 1916
PROBLEM: The subject is the design of a Suburban Res- idence with a Garage to accommodate one car, both to be built of wood, the outside finish, consisting of siding and cor- ner boards ; window sash, frames and casings ; outside doors, door frames and casings ; outside blinds ; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and moldings; and any other outside finish lumber — not in- cluding shingles — to be built of White Pine. The house is to be located on a rectangular lot with a frontage on the highway of 100 ft., and 200 ft. deep, the Northerly end of the lot facing the highway. Running South from the highway for a distance of 50 ft. the lot is approximately level, but from this point takes a 10% grade to the South. There is facing the South an unobstructed river view. It is assumed that the adjacent lots are of similar dimensions and that a restriction covering all this block provides that no house be erected nearer than 30 feet from the highway property line. The architectural style, plan arrangement, gardens, and the location of the house and garage upon the lot, are left to the designer. Provisions should be made for a living-room, dining-room, kitchen, pantry, laundry, four master's rooms and two baths, and one maid's room with toilet, and should also include a piazza. The total cubage of the house, garage, and porches must not exceed 50,000 cubic feet, and for the purpose of this Competition the price per cubic foot is set at 20 cents, this being the estimated cost at which houses of the type specified can be built in almost every part of the country.
JUDGMENT: The Jury of Award will base their judgment on the effect of the design as a whole ; its appropriateness to the given site; the degree of ingenuity shown in the plans; and the fitness of the design to express the wood-built house.
IT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW: A pen and ink perspective of the subject at ]^ inch scale, clearly indicating the design and the character of the exterior finish. Plans of the first and second floors, blacked in solid at the scale of 8 feet to the inch, with the dimensions of each room given on the plan at a size which can be plainly read even when reduced. In con- nection with the first floor plan give the plot plan. Two elevations at 8 feet to the inch. A key cross-section at a scale of 8 feet to the inch showing height from basement floor through all roofs. Detail drawings at % inch scale of the entrance door or porch and of the fireplace side of the living room. Three inch scale profiles of the main cornice, doorway and other special exterior features to present the design attractively. Graphic scales must be shown.
PRESENTATION : The drawings required are to be on too sheets only. The size of these sheets is to be exactly 23 X 30 inches. Plain border lines are to be drawn so that the space inside them will be exactly 2 1 % X 27^ inches. Whatman or similar white paper is to be used unmounted ; Bristol board or thin paper is prohibited. All drawings must be made in black ink. Color or wash on the drawings will not be permitted.
All detail drawings to be shown on the second sheet. The drawings are to be signed by a nom de plume or device. It is especially required that the perspective shall be accu- rately plotted and indication given as to vanishing points and eye point. There is to be printed on the drawing, as space may permit, " Design for a Suburban House and Garage of White Pine." On the drawing, in a space meas- uring 4X5 inches, enclosed in a border, is to be given, at a size which will permit reduction, the contestant's calculation of the total cubage.
COMPUTATIONS: The cubageof the house will be figured from the basement floor, which shall be assumed to be at least 8 feet below the first story level, and the full dimensions of the first story, exclusive of the garage, to the average height of all roofs. Porches, etc., will be computed at one fourth actual cubage above ground level. Cubage will be computed by two architects, not competitors, engaged by the Editor The Jury will positively not consider designs which exceed the prescribed cubage.
DELIVERY OF DRAWINGS: The drawing is to be en- closed between stiff boards or rolled in a strong tube not less than 3 inches in diameter, securely wrapped, and addressed to Russell F. Whitehead, Editor, 132 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y., on or before May ist, 1916. In the wrapper with the design is to be enclosed a sealed envelope containing the true name of the contestant. The nom de plume chosen by the designer must be placed on the outside of the sealed envelope. Drawings sent by mail must be at the first class postage rate as required by the Postal regulations.
Drawings submitted in this Competition are at owner's risk from the time they are sent until returned, although reasonable care will be exercised in their handling and keeping.
RECEIPT OF DRAWINGS: Designs will be removed from their wrappers by the Editor, who will place a number upon each drawing and the corresponding number on the enclosed sealed envelope, for purposes of better identification. The envelopes will be placed in the custody of the Editor, and will not be opened until after the awards have been made.
JURY OF AWARD: HarrieT. Lindeberg, New York, N.Y.; Benno Janssen, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Frank B. Mead, Cleveland, O.; Frederick W. Perkins, Chicago, III.; and Richard B. Derby, Boston, Mass., well known country house architects, have accepted invitations to serve on the Jury.
THE PRIZE DESIGNS are to become the property of The While Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, and the right is reserved by this publication to publish or exhibit any or all of the others.
RETURN OF DRAWINGS: Unsuccessful contestants will have their drawings returned, postage prepaid, direct from the Editor's office.
Contestants are requested to read the announcement on the preceding page for other particulars
16
An Architectural ^Monograph™
Domestic Architecture
in Massachusetts
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HOUSE AT WAYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Entrance Doorway. Built about 1800.
The trellis and seats are new, having been added by Ralph Adams Cram, Architect, the present owner and occupant.
Photograph by Julian Buckly
Tfi&WttlTL PINL
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND ITS /MMLABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. II
APRIL, 1916
No. 2
ARCHITECTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS
DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
By JULIAN BUCKLY
The architectural profession is acquainted, it is believed, with Mr. Buckly's charming photographs of both old and current work. Mr. Buckly began his camera wanderings at the time he was practising architecture in Baltimore, and he has always been keenly interested in recording the work of his fellow-architects in New York and Boston, where he has recently practised, by means of excellent photographs. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR
OUTSIDE of that very early and almost conjectural Colony house type that at first reflected far more of the aspect of its English Gothic predecessor than it hinted at the lighter form of classical dwelling, there was also the early and unpretentious "farm- house." It was doubtless because of its simple and economical lines that this type persisted for so many years, — even, as a matter of fact, until this very day, — although its late deriva- tives are, unfortunately, so deficient in all its original inherent attributes of beauty of propor- tion and delicacy and refinement of moulding and scale as scarcely to permit the relationship to be now recognizable.
So these earlier dwellings, which were gener- ally of the very simplest pitch-roof type, — the low shed, with its eaves hardly above the ground at the back, being in the most part a later addition, — continued to reappear, for well over a hundred years, as the houses of the "first settlers" in new communities, springing up along the New England coast and its inland river valleys. They also persisted, till a much later time, as the "farm-house" par excellence throughout all New England.
To cover the development thoroughly, it is perhaps necessary further to speak of the houses of the humbler families, or those built in the more sparsely settled communities, and in those sections where the men were fisher- folk or the farms sterile or sandy. Here a still simpler kind of cottage, of one story, with a low-pitched or gambrel roof, was simultane- ously developing in use; but this "cottage type" is so architecturally distinct and sepa- rate a form that its consideration here would
but serve to confuse the reader interested in tracing the development of New England Colo- nial architecture — and so, having been men- tioned, it will be left until it can be fully and separately studied by itself.
To resume, this simple pitch-roof, farm-house type, one room deep and two stories high, was at first built exclusively with one ridge pole and two end gables, making the simplest pos- sible form of roof, unbroken by dormers, as it then provided only an unfinished attic space meagrely lighted from the gable ends. The pitch of this roof varied greatly. A few very early examples show the steeper pitch of Gothic influence. Later it lowered naturally to more nearly the Georgian proportion; though there can be no doubt but that the builders of these simple houses were more concerned to get just that exact relation where the pitch was steep enough to throw off the water from its shingled slopes, with the use of the minimum factor of safety, while it would still be low enough to permit of the use of the shortest and smallest rafter lengths allowed by a due regard for these practical requirements, than to display any re- gard for, or perhaps even knowledge of, the classic precedent that had then recently become cus- tomary and established in England. But the roof pitch continued gradually to flatten as time went on — a process in which the kind of roof with two slopes, known generally as "gam- brel," may somewhat haveassisted — untilat last, well into the nineteenth century, — 1 830 or 1 840, or thereabouts, — it arrived at the low slope ap- propriate to the revival of the Greek influence that, when first blending with its predecessor, produced such beautiful and dignified results.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
But as this very simple yet beautiful farm-house type did not always satisfy the needs of those commu- nities that were, by the end of the eighteenth century, growing decidedly more prosperous, developing a wealthy class that in their turn at once demanded more pretension and style in their dwellings while be- ing willing and able to ex- pend more money upon them, both the plan and the architectural style of these houses began rapidly to change. In plan the house first grew a service ell that extended more and more, as the prosperity of the farm grew, until it often ran slam into the big barn itself. This was the almost invariable method on the farm, where land was plenty and the living requirements of the family itself changed but little from generation to generation.
Detail of Entrance.
FARM-HOUSE AT MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS. The pilasters are an excellent example of chisel carving.
Sometimes this ell grew on at the rear, sometimes it extended at the side, some- times it grew in two parts (then generally termed "wings") extending either to right and left of the old house, or, less frequently, running backfrom each side or end, making the "E" shape plan.
In the Colonial village or town, however, so simple an "addition" met neither the needs nor conditions that were most likely to exist. Land was more re- stricted and expensive, and, what was quite as impor- tant, the growing social amenities of family life re- quired more than the old two-room first-story plan. It is true that at first it was possible to retain one of these rooms as a parlor and turn the old dining-room into a separate living-room, building a new dining-room and
OLD FARM-HOUSE AT MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Built before 1800. An unusual element occurs in the old porch and in the projection of the first-story rooms.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS
kitchen at the rear in an ell. But this was merely an emergency measure, perhaps neces- sary in temporarily fixing over the old house. When the time to build a new one arrived, the two-room plan of the old farm-house was exactly doubled: the center hall was continued through the house and two more rooms were built at the back, one upon either side. Thus a parlor, living-room, dining-room and kitchen were pro- vided on the first floor; and, as the need of a library or office came to be felt, the old method of adding a new kitchen in an ell was again re- sorted to; and once again the plan began to de- velop and grow in this same way, following much the same natural process, it should be observed, as Nature has herself ordained for the growth of the pollywog!
So, too, the exterior underwent changes at the same time. The double depth of the house — making it nearly square in plan — ran the old pitched roof and end-gabled ridge pole so high into the air as at once to introduce new possi- bilities. Either its steep pitch could be retained and the old unused attic be utilized as a third living floor — an opportunity much needed by some of the very generous families accruing to the early settlers! — or the appearance of the house could be obviously helped by again re-
ducing the rafter length (a practical and eco- nomical aspect natural to these early builders), thus lowering at once both the ridge and pitch of the roof. This produced an end gable that perhaps appeared rather awkward in propor- tion to the Colonial carpenter's eye, trained to a steeper slope; and so he probably at once thought of the possibility of pitching his roof from all four rather than from only two sides, and the newer, more prosperous and capacious square Colonial house type was born !
Typical of the "farm-house" group is the "old red house" in Milton, now a part of the large "Russell Farm"; and while its exact date is not known, it is supposed to have been built some time before 1800, by one Nathaniel Rob- bins, and is distinguished from most of its as- sociates by an unusual architectural feature in the two projecting one-storied portions occur- ring on both ends. Although from the outside these might seem to be later additions to an older house, internally they have every appear- ance of having been built at the same time as the rest of the structure. The cornice and dado finish continue around the rooms without break, while inside the room does not show the break that outside allows the corner board to con- tinue down and the projecting ell cornice to
THE GENERAL PUTNAM HOUSE AT DANVERS, MASSACHUSETTS. The outer vestibule and railing are carpenter additions.
Photograph by Wilfrtd A . French
Built about 1744.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Detail of Pilaster. THE HOOPER HOUSE AT H1NGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.
butt against it, both refinements displaying some evident skill and forethought on the part of the builder. The difference is made up in thickness of walls; the main house front wall being furred-in to effect this purpose, as well as to provide cheeks to take care of the inside window shutters in the window reveals.
It is impossible to give a date to the porch. Its unusually simple detail and close relation to the old extension give every assurance of its being contemporaneous, despite the fact that it is so rare a feature of Colonial work. The doorway is crude and archaic in some of its chiseled carpenter-carved decoration, but all the more interesting for that. Whether built at an earlier date or not, this house could easily pass as from twenty-five to fifty years older than the date assigned it above.
The Emery House at Newburyport, built by Thomas Coker in 1796, is an unusually clear example of the simply planned front house with the added rear ell. In this case the front part has a gambrel roof, of exactly perfect propor- tions, and the ell a simpler pitched roof, as is often found when the ell's narrower width brings the two rafters of the same pitch as the lower slope of the gambrel to a ridge intersec- tion occurring at the same point where the gam- brers upper flatter slope begins. The outside vestibule entrance, at the place indicated, is unusual; and the vestibule, while, as usual, of later date, is a good example of its kind. In
fact, much of the bare appearance of this house is occasioned merely by its lack of blinds.
Another very similar example of the gambrel roof type is the General Putnam House in Dan- vers — in its present state representing approxi- mately the period of 1 744 (although a claim has been advanced that a portion of the house is as old as 1648). This house has, in addition to its low ell, a comparatively modern vestibule with a characteristically modern carpenter's version of a balustrade above it. This house presents as much of a contrast as is possible to the Dalton House at Newburyport. While variously dated as being built from 1750 to 1760, the photograph of this house speaks for itself, presenting an unusually spacious and generous treatment of the gambrel roof slope (now slated, while the house has a new end bay and suspiciously widely spaced columns at the entrance!). The whole design nevertheless shows much more refinement of handling than is apparent in the other example mentioned.
The Dummer House at Byfield, near New- buryport, is a less well known example of a prim New England type, of which the War- ner House at Portsmouth is perhaps the best known existing structure. As in the latter case, it frequently has the brick ends that follow naturally from dividing the old center chimney and placing the fireplaces on the end walls.
Detail of Entrance and Pediment.
THE APTHORP HOUSE AT CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1760.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS
Before turning to the houses of square plan, let us look for a moment at the little house in Hingham — also of L shape — locally known as the "Bulfinch House." Local legend persists in claiming that it is formed from the upper two stories of an old house, once on Bowdoin, near Bulfinch Street, in Boston, of which the lower story had been of brick, which was taken down in 1841, and this upper part rafted down the harbor in parts on a packet, carried part way up the hill, and re-erected on its present site. The charming and unusual corner pilaster is,
the lower portion serving as the old shed, with five beautiful arches, some of which are now filled in.
The Apthorp House in Cambridge is an ex- ample of the more stately type of square Colo- nial house plan, of which the next two or three houses mentioned are further variants. These houses were oftentimes graced with roof balus- trades, preferably along the upper roof deck. As the chimneys with this plan were normally placed on the outside wall, they also often had brick ends. It is, in New England, the local
Photograph by Wilfred A. French
THE DALTON HOUSE AT NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. Built between 1750 and 1760. This picture is of special interest as showing the house before its recent restoration.
at any rate, excuse enough for including the house here! The sturdy simplicity of the door- way is also suggestive of Bulfinch's hands.
The house built by Commodore Joshua Lor- ing in 1757 in old Roxbury is a rarely dignified and beautiful relic of a pre-Revolutionary man- sion. The entrance was originally on the west side, where two beautiful Corinthian pilasters and capitals still show beneath a porch con- struction put on at this end a number of years ago. The present north doorway, opening on the garden, might, solely because of its greater refinement, also be suspected as a possible later addition. At the back is a separate building, designed for servants' rooms on the second floor,
representative of the "Westover" type that was equally representative of the South. When built for the occupancy of a Colonial bishop in 1760, it did not include the third story now shown over the pediment in the photograph of the entrance, although it was added very soon afterward — according to one story, to serve as the slaves' quarters. While removed from its old site, and now surrounded by college dormi- tories, it still appears to dignified advantage, largely because of its foreground. It is inter- esting to note how superior this doorway is, in strength and decision of detail, to the simi- lar treatment to be seen on the Longfellow House, built at practically the same time —
( Continued on page 1 1 )
10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
fro»i the Mary H. Northend Collection
THE GOVERNOR WILLIAM DUMMER HOUSE AT BYFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. An example of the prim New England type with fireplaces on the outer end walls.
THE EMERY HOUSE AT NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1796 by Thomas Coker, Architect.
A good example of the New England gambrel roof type.
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS
1759 — and of pre- cisely similar type, standing barely three quarters of a mile awayon BrattleStreet. Most beautiful and aristocratic of all the New England houses of this kind, however, was the old Tayloe House in Roxbury, near the Dorchester line. Its details were notable for their deli- cacy and refinement, while the house, though of a regular and consistently pop- ular plan, yet pos- sessed minor and un- usual elements, in- cluding a rounding bay and two-story porch at the rear.
An instance of a house with a lateral ell extension, although of later date, is an old owned by the architect
Detail, Entrance Vestibule.
THE BENNETT HOUSE, WAYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS. This is a recent addition, as is generally the case where this feature is found
house at Wayland, now , Mr. Ralph AdamsCram.
There happen to be two fairly well known examplesof old garden houses in New Eng- land : one the summer house that, up to ten or a dozen years ago, stood back of the Royall House in Med- ford.on top of an arti- ficial mound that, as a matter of fact, en- closed the old "ice- house" of the estate. While the summer house has now nearly disappeared, one sec- tion of it still remains and has been preserved with thehopeof sooner or later restoring it to its accustomed site. Along with this is shown the so-called "Tea House" belong- ing to the Elias Has- kett Derby estate, on Andover Street at Peabody, supposed to have been built in 1799 by Samuel Maclntyre.
THE BENNETT HOUSE AT WAYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS. Built about 1800. Situated at the beginning of the Old Connecticut Path. This house, although late in date, is refined and delicate in treatment. The outside vestibule composes harmoniously with the rest of the design.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
From the Halliday Collection, Boston
THE CRAIG IE-LONGFELLOW HOUSE AT CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1759 by Col. John Bassell.
While similar in general scheme to the Tayloe House (page 8), the detail is of a bolder type. The doorway may also be compared with that of the Apthorp House (page 6).
The Garden Front.
THE LORING HOUSE AT OLD ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1757 by Commodore Joshua Loring. Commodore Loring was chief naval officer in command of the King's ships in the Colonies
INTERPRETATION OF THE PROGRAM
THE WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
(Program reprinted on following page)
IT is very gratifying to find that the While Pine Monograph Series Architectural Competition is creating so much real inter- est both in the character of the problem and the material in which it is to be solved, and that it has been the means of extending the scope and influence of the work which the Monograph Series desires to accomplish.
A competition for a White Pine house must of necessity appeal to the creative faculties of the designer and stimulate the thoughtful use of this most wonderful of all woods for the out- side of a house. The limitless possibilities af- forded, in working with White Pine, to express one's individuality make the problem all the more attractive to the designer. With the full knowledge of the abundance of White Pine for use to-day he need not hesitate to make liberal use of this wood to produce a house which is fine in mass and charming in quality, as judged by its crisply and delicately cut mouldings for trim, cornice, and other embellishments.
With the many expressions of interest in the competition havecomecertainquestionsconcern- ing the interpretation of the requirements of the problem as stated in the competition program. We are glad of this opportunity, therefore, to make clear to contestants all those points about which any question has arisen, in terms which per- haps will be better understood, giving such fur- ther information as to clarify all the conditions.
Under "PROBLEM": It is desired that the design of the house be as complete in plan as possible, and for this reason it was felt necessary to specify that provision be made for a laundry and a maid's room. It is not required that the laundry be on the first floor, or that the maid's room be on the second floor, unless the designer so chooses. In case the laundry is placed in the basement and the maid's room in the attic, means of access to these rooms must be shown.
The location of the garage upon the lot is left to the discretion of the contestant, and in this connection the designer should be familiar with all regulations governing this type of building.
Under "IT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW": A plot plan is called for. This may be a key plan at a scale chosen which will permit of an attractive arrangement of the sheet. In show- ing the house on the lot it is desired that the plan arrangement of the first floor be indicated thereon, and the points of the compass given as well. Contestants are not required to show the cellar or attic plan.
Under "COMPUTATIONS": It is necessary to consider the basement as extending under the entire first floor of the main portion of the house. It has been the experience in other com- petitions that a great many designers were able to obtain a much larger house than could pos- sibly be built at the prescribed cost, by taking advantage of the fact that they called for exca- vation under only a small portion of the house, and that they were privileged, therefore, to use the cubage gained in this way to enlarge the de- sign. It is the hope of this competition that all designs submitted can be actually built for $10,000, and at the same time be practical in every sense of the word.
The actual cubage of the garage shall be taken in making up the total cubage of 50,000 cubic feet. The statement, "exclusive of garage," means that it is not necessary to presume that there is a basement under the garage.
The cellar walls, piers and other foundations below the bottom of the first floor joists may be assumed to be of stone, brick or concrete, as is usual in this type of building.
There is no limit to the number of designs that may be submitted by a contestant.
It is desired by the conductors of this compe- tition that the greatest freedom shall be allowed the designer in the selection of the architectural style, the plan arrangement, and the location of both the house and the garage upon the lot. The conditions governing these items have been purposely unrestricted and left to the ingenuity of the designer. By this means he is free to give scope to his imagination without feeling hampered by burdensome conditions.
The subject of the sixth monograph will be Early Colonial Architecture in Connecticut,
with descriptive text by Richard B. Derby
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
No. No. No. 3.
No. "
Colonial Cottages
New England Colonial Houses
Farm Houses of New Netherlands
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies.
Text by Joseph Everett Chandler Text by Frank Chouteau Brown Text by Aymar Embury 1 1 Text by Frank E. Wallis
PROGRAM FOR AN ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION A SUBURBAN HOUSE TO COST $10,000
(INCLUDING GARAGE FOR ONE CAR)
OUTSIDE FINISH TO BE BUILT OF WHITE PINE
PRIZES AND MENTIONS
Premiated Design will receive - $750.00
Design placed second will receive - 400.00
Design placed third will receive 250.00
Design placed fourth will receive - 100.00 Six Mentions
Architects and Architectural Draughtsmen are invited to enter this Competition
Competition closes at 5 p.m., Monday, May ist, 1916
PROBLEM: The subject is the design of a Suburban Res- idence with a Garage to accommodate one car, both to be built of wood, the outside finish, consisting of siding and cor- ner boards ; window sash, frames and casings ; outside doors, door frames and casings ; outside blinds ; all exposed porch and balcony lumber ; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and moldings ; and any other outside finish lumber — not in- cluding shingles — to be built of White Pine. The house is to be located on a rectangular lot with a frontage on the highway of 100 ft., and 200 ft. deep, the Northerly end of the lot facing the highway. Running South from the highway for a distance of 50 ft. the lot is approximately level, but from this point takes a 10% grade to the South. There is facing the South an unobstructed river view. It is assumed that the adjacent lots are of similar dimensions and that a restriction covering all this block provides that no house be erected nearer than 30 feet from the highway property line. The architectural style, plan arrangement, gardens, and the location of the house and garage upon the lot, are left to the designer. Provisions should be made for a living-room, dining-room, kitchen, pantry, laundry, four master's rooms and two baths, and one maid's room with toilet, and should also include a piazza. The total cubage of the house, garage, and porches must not exceed 50,000 cubic feet, and for the purpose of this Competition the price per cubic foot is set at 20 cents, this being the estimated cost at which houses of the type specified can be built in almost every part of the country.
JUDGMENT: The Jury of Award will base their judgment on the effect of the design as a whole ; its appropriateness to the given site; the degree of ingenuity shown in the plans; and the fitness of the design to express the wood-built house.
IT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW: A pen and ink perspective of the subject at % inch scale, clearly indicating the design and the character of the exterior finish. Plans of the first and second floors, blacked in solid at the scale of 8 feet to the inch, with the dimensions of each room given on the plan at a size which can be plainly read even when reduced. A key plot plan showing first floor plan of house. Two elevations at 8 feet to the inch. A key cross-section at a scale of 8 feet to the inch showing height from basement floor through all roofs. Detail drawings at % inch scale of the entrance door or porch and of the fireplace side of the living room. Three inch scale profiles of the main cornice, doorway and other special exterior features to present the design attractively. Graphic scales must be shown.
PRESENTATION : The drawings required are to be on too sheets only. The size of these sheets is to be exactly 23 X 30 inches. Plain border lines are to be drawn so that the space inside them will be exactly 21 % X 27^ inches. Whatman or similar white paper is to be used unmounted ; Bristol board or thin paper is prohibited. All drawings must be made in black ink. Color or wash on the drawings will not be permitted.
All detail drawings to be shown on the second sheet. The drawings are to be signed by a nom de plume or device. It is especially required that the perspective shall be accu- rately plotted and indication given as to vanishing points and eye point. There is to be printed on the drawing, as space may permit, " Design for a Suburban House and Garage of White Pine." On the drawing, in a space meas- uring 4X5 inches, enclosed in a border, is to be given, at a size which will permit reduction, the contestant's calculation of the total cubage.
COMPUTATIONS: The cubage of the house will be figured from the basement floor, which shall be assumed to be at least 8 feet below the first story level, and the full dimensions of the first story, exclusive of the garage, to the average height of all roofs. Porches, etc., will be computed at one fourth actual cubage above ground level. Cubage will be computed by two architects, not competitors, engaged by the Editor. The Jury will positively not consider designs which exceed the prescribed cubage.
DELIVERY OF DRAWINGS: The drawing is to be en- closed between stiff boards or rolled in a strong tube not less than 3 inches in diameter, securely wrapped, and addressed to Russell F. Whitehead, Editor, 132 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y., on or before May ist, 1916. In the wrapper with the design is to be enclosed a sealed envelope containing the true name of the contestant. The nom de plume chosen by the designer must be placed on the outside of the sealed envelope. Drawings, sent by mail must be at the first class postage rate as required by the Postal regulations.
Drawings submitted in this Competition are at owner's risk from the time they are sent until returned, although reasonable care will be exercised in their handling and keeping.
RECEIPT OF DRAWINGS: Designs will be removed from their wrappers by the Editor, who will place a number upon each drawing and the corresponding number on the enclosed sealed envelope, for purposes of better identification. The envelopes will be placed in the custody of the Editor, and will not be opened until after the awards have been made.
JURY OF AWARD: HarrieT. Lindeberg, New York, N.Y.; Benno Janssen, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Frank B. Mead, Cleveland, O.; Frederick W. Perkins, Chicago, 111.; and Richard B. Derby, Boston, Mass., well known country house architects, have accepted invitations to serve on the Jury.
THE PRIZE DESIGNS are to become the property of The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, and the right is reserved by this publication to publish or exhibit any or all of the others.
RETURN OF DRAWINGS: Unsuccessful contestants will have their drawings returned, postage prepaid, direct from the Editor's office.
Contestants are referred to the preceding page for added information and interpretation of the program
16
An Architectural Monograph
Houses o Connecticut
k£2££K1
Text by
RICHARD B DERBY
Prepared for publication by %//"<?// TWhiteheadformerty&itor of The Architectural Record and The T^ricKb uilde r 1)2 MadfonXVe. NewYorK N. Y. t<)/6
THE COLTON HOUSE, LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Entrance Doorway.
Photograph by H. O. Warner
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CJ WHITE PINE AM) ITS AMIABILITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol.
JUNE, 1916
No. 3
EARLY HOUSES OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY
By RICHARD B. DERBY
Mr. Derby, of the firm of Derby &> Robinson, A rchitects, of Boston, has designed ninny quaint and artistic examples of dwellings which adhtrt strongly to precedent and closely follow our early Colonial traditions. It is believed that these charming structures will find a permanent place in the evolutionary history of our domestic work and will do much toward bringing the ideals of the profession to a greater height.— EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN BUCKLY AND OTHERS
PREFACE
THE Connecticut Valley was first settled by exiles from Massachusetts in 1636. The original settlements in Springfield and other communities in Massachusetts and also in the so-called "river towns" of Connecti- cut, Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, broke up from time to time, and the seceders formed new settlements along the river valley at other points. At the same time the first settled towns were augmented by the arrival of new members from the coast. Within a comparatively short time territory was intermittently occupied be- tween, say, Northampton and Wethersfield, over a distance of one hundred miles or so. Their first dwellings were merely cellars, which, however, speedily gave place to a kind of house which became typical of the so-called first period work. The plan of these houses was little more than two rooms on either side of the chimney, in front of which was the stair lead- ing out of the hall into which the front door opened. The second story was the same as the first, although in some cases the rooms were slightly larger by reason of an overhang. This early plan was altered by the addition of a shed on the rear, making the typical plan of the sec- ond period, and this again was altered to make the third period by raising the addition a full two stories, and by the consequent change in roofing to the gambrel.
Thence we have shift to the two end chim- neys, altering their positions and occupying such a place with regard to the rooms that the resultant plan resembles two of the earlier plans put side by side, with a hallway running be- tween them. These types overlapped each other in various ways, but eventually gave place as essential types to the Greek influence, which began to be felt, perhaps, around r8oo. The Connecticut Valley work had some few
characteristics of its own, due to local material or the importation direct from England of craftsmen working in slightly differing meth- ods. The chimneys, for instance, were largely built of stone, since stone was plentiful and brick, of course, was not. The brick ovens which we find inserted in the chimneys were not, as a rule, contemporary with them. The summer beams ran from chimney to end wall, as in the houses of the Plymouth colony, in- stead of parallel with the chimney girt, as in the early houses of other communities. The use under the overhang of both drop and bracket is a Connecticut characteristic, as are also the brackets under the gable, though the use of brackets under the verge board is not uncom- mon elsewhere. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of this Connecticut Valley work in the matter of design is to be found in the entrance treatment of the houses. The doors themselves were double doors, paneled in a manner not elsewhere to be found. One writer refers the paneling to Jacobean precedent. The frames around these also were markedly distinctive. Three types stand out, all of which are broad, of course, by reason of the wide door openings: the frames which have the flat entablatures, those with simple pediments, and those with broken pediment frames, which are perhaps more typical than the others. On the detail of all of these, particularly the latter, much careful workmanship is lavished. It varies from a kind which follows precedent to that which is unique, much of the latter being pure inspiration on the owner's or builder's part. It would seem as if the builders of the earlier houses found much entertainment in ex- ercising their ingenuity upon the detail of their entrances, without, however, departing from their general type.
THE WHITMAN HOUSE, FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT. Noteworthy as an example of the overhang construction with original drops and stone chimney.
THE WILLIAMS HOUSE, EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. , : Characteristic of Connecticut third period work.
M
AN LOVES any material that he has worked upon in proportion to its re- sistance to his efforts of bending it to his will, — assuming that he has not attempted the impossible or the absurd with reference to the task at hand. This is why the hand-hewn timber of our old houses is better than the two by four sawed stud or the six by eight post. 1 can very well believe that the first settlers in Connecticut took their timbers for their houses with them, as they are said to have done. They had wrought upon them with their own hands, and had a certain affection for them on this ac- count, and what is equally important, the tim- bers had an affection for the men who had worked them. The frames of our present houses are a pretty good example of efficiency in the economic and modern sense. Its loads have been carefully appraised and distributed proportionately over the members which it sup- ports, so that the strain and stress on each of these is just precisely what each one will bear, and never more or less. This may be all right, as no doubt it is from the scientific or the eco- nomic point of view, but it represents for me a very low order of efficiency.
1 look at the ten by twelve corner posts in the summer kitchen of my great-grandfather's old home, and I wonder whether he knew that four by six posts would have done the work of these. Perhaps he did, and perhaps he did not, and perhaps he did not care whether it would have done the work or not ; but I feel sure that he would never have had the satisfaction out of our smaller post that he must have experienced from the ten by twelve. My great-grand- father had the reputation in his district of being able to square the butt of a log more perfectly than any one else around, and he left a better stump in his wood lot than his neighbors did. I am sure, therefore, that he applied himself with great care to the corner posts, beams and rafters of his own home, that he had a de- fensible pride in the result of his handiwork, and that he never could have had this pride in any four by six. The affection which he had for his timbers was returned by them, and is being returned to-day. I get back some of it always when I look at the smoky corner posts, or when I lie on the bed in the unfinished attic and let my eyes wander over the hand-hewn rafters.
Connecticut settlers of 1636 forged their way westward from Massachusetts through un- charted forests. They cut their own paths, ex- cept, perhaps, for short distances, where they found an Indian trail making in their direction. Besides their axes they must have carried arms; for, though the Indians were politically friendly,
they were hardly to be trusted in every case. They must have carried, too, some provisions and their camping outfits, for they did not know that they would always have luck in find- ing food, and they were quite uncertain in what places or at what times they would pitch their tents. It is hardly to be believed, therefore, that they carried timber along with the other things on their backs, or that they added this to the burdens of their horses. It is not in- credible, however, that, the Connecticut Valley once reached, they had their timbers brought in the vessels which made the first long voyage around the cape and up the river to the place of their abode. They were engaged primarily in clearing and planting, and, no doubt, their energies were fully occupied with these exer- tions.
The first houses, as we know, were merely cellars dug in the side of a hill, the walls lined with stone or logs; the roofs simply lean-tos brushed or thatched. These crude shelters gave place to better habitations in compara- tively short time. The very early dwellings were likely built of White Pine, and in certain instances of oak, squared and bored and ready to be raised and pinned together.
Fetching timber from Massachusetts could hardly have continued long. It was too much like bringing coals to Newcastle. The timber was abundant, and the craftsmen instinct must have cried aloud to exercise itself.
We are not acquainted with the aspect of the forest which these settlers looked out upon, and we do not know precisely the feelings which the native trees engendered under the condi- tions which obtained ; but some of us are not so young but that we have seen native forests, and the impression these have made upon us (though of a later time and under widely changed conditions) is not perhaps so very dif- ferent from that made on the earliest inhabi- tants of Western Massachusetts and Connecti- cut. I myself remember very well the primeval forests of the Alleghany Mountains in Pennsyl- vania. I remember when I first rode over them on a tote-team, and later tramped my way, with pack on back, beneath the pine and hemlock. The lowest branches of these trees were far above me. I should hardly dare to guess how far, but I can recollect distinctly that the rhododendrons which flourished in the dusk below them interlaced their lowest branches several times my height above my head, and the blossoms of the topmost branches must have been thirty or more feet in height. The butts of the trees themselves were huge, and the whole effect or feeling (one does not observe the forest) for me was the same that I get from
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
looking at a lofty mountain. I do not wish to water, whence it could be splashed or floated try to match my strength against a mountain, to the saw-mills. These lumbermen had both and I did not (as I now remember) wish to strength and genius for this work, and no doubt
build myself a cabin of these trees.
This was not the feeling, however, of the men who worked among them. These trees, or the making of them into timber, was their life. They were not depressed but rather tempted and exhilarated by the size and number of them; it was their pride, like my great- grandfather's, to square a butt with axes or to notch one so exactly that the tree would fall precise- ly where they meant it should. They saw only the tree that could be felled and subdivided, barked and piled on skidways and later take its
THE WAIT HOUSE, SOUTH LYME, MASSACHUSETTS. Unsymmetrical placing of the windows.
the earlier settlers had it also. In addition, they had an instinct for building their homes.
The earliest houses which they built have not come down to us. The I ndians, who were friendly for the first years, took the war- path, and the life of the settlers for per- haps a hundred years included a constant warfare for defense amongitsother duties. As the whites increased in number they were more able to pro- tect themselves. The first settlements were frequently destroyed. Springfield was burned in 1675 and Deerfield met the same fate twice,
booming way for miles along the frosty slide to — smaller places even more frequently. Men,
OLD HOUSE AT FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT. Gambrel of the third period with plan of the first period.
EARLY HOUSES OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY
women and children were butchered by scores from the earliest type of house and has the and many were carried into captivity. One hand-hewn timbers put together according to writer* has said: "There is hardly a square the Iogic"and efficiency of this early time. The
acre and certainly not a square mile of the Connecticut Valley that has not been tracked by the flying feet of fear, resounded with the groan of the dying, drunk the blood of the dead or served as the scene of toils made doubly toilsome by an apprehension of danger that never slept." In spite of this the towns grew slowly, for the inhabi- tants— such of them as were left — came back and rebuilt their homes.
Most of these houses we find were doubt- less built not earlier than 1650, and 1 myself feel reasonably sure only of work as many as ten years later. This, of course, was modeled
THE THOMAS LEE HOUSE, EAST LYME, MASSACHUSETTS. Original part of house built about 1660.
examples of the first period are to be found mostly in Connecti- cut, and even here in the southern part of the valley. After these, as we go north, we find examples of the two succeeding periods, and in the northern part of the Connecticut Valley we find examples of the Greek influence. This does not mean that the late work is found, but rather that the earlier work is not found ( or at least that I have not found it ) in the northern part. Here in the val- ley, as elsewhere in the country, we find the earlier builders the craftsmen of their own
* Holland, " History of Western Massachusetts."
THE DEMFNG HOUSE, WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT. Center doorway with one window on either side.
10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
houses, and here as elsewhere we find the crafts- men limited to the work of the building craft. In proportion as time advanced and the settle- ments increased in size, people pursued more and more strictly their own business, and more and more called in outsiders, who were builders only, to construct their houses for them. This meant that the builders, in fulfilling all their obligations, economized their time by milling their logs instead of squaring them by hand. They used nails instead of wooden pins and used manufactured nails instead of hand-wrought ones. In this way they got more and more out of touch with the materials in which and with which they worked, and so, of course, they had less affection for them. The good old beams were first cased and then entirely concealed behind plaster, being reduced in size to meet merely structural needs. Interest became cen-
tered in the things that were apparent outside as well as inside the house, and this tendency continued until we to-day are giving our interest and attention to the detail which superficially appears.
It would be interesting to do an old house as the old men would have done it, and it is likely that most architects would welcome a chance to do this if it offered. Big White Pine timber grows abundantly to-day, though no longer in the East and at our very doors, but the facilities of transportation may almost do away with the handicap of this condition. Let some big lumberman offer us his large timbers and see whether this may not result in a reversion in some degree to older architectural types. These types, when added to our present ones, would furnish a broader basis of tradition on which to build our future native work.
THE ELLSWORTH HOUSE, WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT. Two-story end treatment is interesting. Classic proportions for columns have been disregarded, resulting in a delicacy which is peculiarly appropriate to wood.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
HOUSE AT HILLSTEAD, FARMINGTON, CONNECTICUT. Excellent but rather sophisticated example of type of house which embraces elements of design from several periods, all probably earlier than itself.
HOUSE OF GOVERNOR RICHARD GRISWOLD, BLACKHALL, CONNECTICUT. An unusual and interesting composition in spite of the regrettable bay.
Built 1800.
EARLY HOUSES OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY
THE HORATIO HOYT HOUSE, DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS Excellent example of Connecticut Valley variety of a type of house common to New England.
THE FRARY HOUSE, DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. North portion built in 1683. An L variety of the above Hoyt type of house.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE FRARY HOUSE, DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Side Entrance Doorway.
Excellent in proportion and in well-executed detail.
THE WHITE PINE OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES,
NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, MINNESOTA,
WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN, AND IDAHO
ITS COMPARATIVE QUALITIES
By ALLISON W. LAIRD General Manager, 'Potlatch Lumber Company, 'Pot/atch, Idaho
WITH INTERPOLATED STATEMENT BY HOWARD F. WEISS, DIRECTOR UNITED STATES FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY
THE White Pine used in building our first New England homes was grown in the New England States, New York and Pennsylvania. Since then the trend of White Pine production has gradually been westward, and to-day the major portion of the White Pine distributed in the markets of the United States, and also exported, comes from Northern Minne- sota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and the far western district of Northern Idaho. The habitat of the true White Pine seems to have been con- fined to three districts in the United States and to a small portion of Eastern Canada, and while widely separated and distinctly different in to- pographical features, and in climatic and soil conditions, yet each has produced in almost identical quality that species of tree known as "White Pine."'
Numerous species of Pine are now being marketed under the name of "White Pine," these being variously called "California White Pine," "Oregon White Pine," "Mexican White Pine," etc., but the White Pine of the Eastern States, of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and of Idaho, is the only true White Pine other than the Canadian product to-day being mar- keted under that name.
That the comparative qualities of White Pine from the widely separated territories of the New England States, New York, Pennsylvania, Min- nesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Idaho, may be presented in an authoritative and unpreju- diced way, herewith is appended a statement by Mr. Howard F. Weiss, Director United States Forest Products Laboratory, — Mr. Weiss being the chief technical expert on all forest products for the United States Government, and an acknowledged national authority on all subjects pertaining to wood:
"The White Pine (Pinus strobus) grown years ago in the New England States and m Pennsylvania analyzes botanically and in other particulars the same as the White Pine to-day being cut in Minnesota, Wis- consin, and Michigan, other than the slight differences that result from the changed climatic and soil conditions in the widely separated territories in which it is grown. Also does Idaho White Pine, though botani- cally called Pinus monticola, analyze almost
identically like the White Pine of the New England States, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the climatic and soil conditions of Idaho here again in some slight degree differentiating it from the White Pine of the East and of the Middle West. In other words, for practical use the White Pine of the New England States, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Mich- igan, and Idaho is so similar that it can be used interchangeably with very satisfactory results."
The White Pine (Pinus strobus) of the New England States, New York and Pennsylvania, and of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, is alike characterized by its extreme softness, ease of working, strength, durability, its ability to stay in place after once being fitted, its freedom from pitch or objectionable acids, and its con- sequent remarkable qualities as a structural wood, especially for outside uses.
The White Pine formerly cut in the East and in the North Central States was of large growth and of exceptional quality, — of soft, almost corklike texture, — and there is still remaining a large feetage of this same high quality of timber in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. White Pine lumbering operations are to-day being carried on in the virgin forests the same as they were generations ago, and not, as has sometimes been supposed, from so-called second growth or cut-over lands. While the White Pine produced to-day in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the White Pine grown years ago in New England, is or was all cut from virgin forests, it must not be supposed that all White Pine from any one locality, either in the East or Middle West, is of equal quality. The choicest of old growth White Pine does not grow alone in, nor is it identified with, any one locality, the White Pine of highest quality and the coarser types usually growing together, oftentimes intermixed, in the same general territory. Some territories naturally produce a larger and some a lesser percentage of the choicer qualities, but no one territory produces it all; and while all White Pine pro- ducing territories are alike contributors, yet all differ in the relative percentage each is able to furnish in the higher and the lower grades.
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Idaho White Pine (Pinus monticola) is a true White Pine, differing only slightly in certain characteristics from the White Pine (Pinus strobus) of the New England States, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. In fact, all botanists are not agreed that there is a botanical difference.
Idaho White Pine is hardy and grows in thin and rocky soil in mountainous districts, or in rich volcanic ash, the growth being dense and intermingled with Fir and Tamarack. The rain- and snow-fall are heavy and conditions have produced an exceptionally tall, round tree, with little taper and few and strong limbs. The large old growth White Pine in this district furnishes the same quality of soft, cork White Pine as was the distinguishing trait of the Eastern White Pine. The second or younger growth White Pine furnishes what is known under the grading rules as so-called "White Pine Common" lumber, this younger growth White Pine producing remarkably straight- grained, sound and small-knotted lumber, show- ing evenness of grain close up to the knot defect, and the same general appearance throughout the entire length of the board. The freedom of the trees from large limbs renders the lumber comparatively free from large, coarse knots, those which do appear being of the pin-knot variety.
It seems unnecessary to dwell on the merits of Clear White Pine, but so-called White Pine "Common" lumber, or in other words White Pine that carries knots, should be pains- takingly described for the reason that if this particular character of lumber was thoroughly understood its practical uses would be greatly broadened. In house construction, for exterior finish, in porches, cornices, siding, and other out- side trim, or for any use where the wood is to be covered with paint, the better grades of this so-called "White Pine Common Lumber" are — after shellacking its small, sound knots — almost the equal in actual service of Clear White Pine lumber. Unfortunately White Pine trees do not produce "Clear" lumber wholly, and a large part of the tree carries defects, the most prev- alent being knots. Knots are not the result of a diseased or defective tree, but are really the limbs and branches of the tree. An open
forest in its freedom of growth produces large- limbed trees and consequently large-knotted lumber. In denser, more heavily shaded forests the trees become self-pruning, the small limbs growing stuntedly and dropping off at an early period in the tree's life, this in result producing small-knotted grades of lumber.
In general, the marked characteristics of all White Pine, whether from the Eastern States, the Middle West, or from Idaho, are softness of texture, evenness of fiber, closeness of grain, absence of unruly cross-grain, ability to stand extremes of weather, hot or cold, wet or dry, without deterioration or rot, and an absence of any tendency to open at the joints, to warp or to creep, after once being put into place. It shrinks less than any other structural wood, is very light, and while it does not possess in pieces of equal dimension the strength of some of the harder, heavier woods, weight for weight it has no equal. For pattern work or the most delicate wood -carving it is the first choice of all wood -workers.
White Pine in its freedom from resin or pitch or from objectionable acids and oils takes paint or enamel finish perfectly. It absorbs and grips the paint, but does this economically, and holds its coat of paint longer and more perfectly than any other wood, hard or soft.
Commercially speaking, the New England States, New York, and Pennsylvania formerly furnished, and in later years Michigan, Wis- consin, and Minnesota have furnished the great and seemingly exhaustless supply of White Pine lumber up to a comparatively recent date. About ten years ago Idaho White Pine began to appear in the markets and has since competed in friendly rivalry. A close analyzation of the comparative qualities of the White Pine from the East, Middle West, and from Idaho results in finding only those slight differences which are due to changed climatic and soil conditions in the widely separated territories. For all practical purposes, however, the White Pine grown in any of these three White Pine pro- ducing territories is identical, and can be used from any one district, or interchangeably if de- sired, by the most discriminating and exacting of architects or builders, with an absolute as- surance of satisfactory results.
The seventh monograph will be devoted to the publication of the Pri^e and Mention designs in the While Pine Architectural Competition, with the report of the Jury of Award.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I Vol. I Vol. I Vol. II Vol. 11 |
O O O 0 O Z Z Z Z Z |
Colonial Cottages
New England Colonial Houses -
Farm Houses of New Netherlands
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies
Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts
Text by Joseph Everett Chandler Text by Frank Chouteau Brown Text by Aymar Embury II Text by Frank E. Wallis Text by Julian Buckly
An Architectural MONOGRAPH
on
SVBVRBAN HOVSE
AND GARAGE
Competitive Drawings
With report of the Jury of Architects
TUchardTJ Derby fBenno Jans sen HarrieT Ltndeberg : Frank B Meade "Frederick WPerkins
Trepared for Tublic&tion by
'RuffellFWhitehe&ctformer/yMtor
of The Architectural Record
and The Brickb uilder
132 Madison^vc-NewYorlcN.Y
1916
•rrrrrn
^rrrrrrn
PtR-iPLCTIVL VlLW OF E.NTR-ANCE. SIDE.
DESIGN FOR, A SVBVR.BAN HOV5L AND GARAGE TO BL BVILTOF WHITL PINE
ESTIMATED
MAIN HO V5E. bOTH WINGS [THE. PORCH &E.ING FIO VR-tD AT IT5 FVLL CVbAGL] GAFIAGF_ PEfLGOLA [FIGVR.LD AT J/4. ACTVALCV6AGL
TOTAL CVbAGL 48,335
ESTIMATED GQ/"T iO
TOTAL COST J. 9 ,fe«o6
10,897 2.43O
FIRST PRIZE DESIGN
Submitted by R. S. Raymond and H. Brookman, New York, N. Y
PINL SERIES^
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
ABI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USLS CT WHITE PINE AND ITS AALABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol.
AUGUST, 1916
No. 4
REPORT OF THE JURY OF AWARD
THE WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL COMPETI- TION FOR A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
Judged at theBiltmore Hotel, New York, May 12 and 13, 1916
THE PROBLEM : The subject is the design of a Suburban Residence with a Garage to accommodate one car, both to be built of wood, the outside finish, consisting of siding and corner boards ; window sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and moldings; and any other outside finish lumber — not including shingles — to be built of White Pine. The house is to be located on a rectangular lot with a frontage on the highway of 100 ft. and 200 ft. deep, the Northerly end of the lot fac- ing the highway. Running South from the highway for a distance of 50 ft. the lot is approximately level, but from this point takes a 10% grade to the South. There is facing the South an unobstructed river view. It is assumed that the ad- jacent lots are of similar dimensions and that a restriction covering all this block provides that no house be erected nearer than 30 feet from the highway property line. The architectural style, plan arrangement, gardens, and the location of the house and garage upon the lot, are left to the designer. Provisions should be made for a living-room, dining-room, kitchen, pantry, laundry, four master's rooms and two baths, and one maid's room with toilet, and should also include a piazza. The total cubage of the house, garage, and porches must not exceed 50,000 cubic feet, and for the purpose of this Competi- tion the price per cubic foot is set at 20 cents, this being the estimated cost at which houses of the type specified can be built in almost every part of the country.
THE problem proposed seems to have been particularly interesting to the competitors if the number and excel- lence of the submitted designs may bear testi- mony. There were three hundred and sixty-six contestants and when the nom de plume enve- lopes were opened they disclosed the names, not only of leading designers and draughtsmen the country over, but of principals whose names are by-words in connection with resi- dence architecture.
The very precise and clear conditions and requirements given in the program left no doubt as to the intention of its author, who wished above all to present a definite problem, which while it gave all possible variety in scope and treatment was still governed by specific conditions so that the judges might con- sider the various plan solutions upon an exact parity. It was considered unjust to permit the contestant to assume his own points of the compass and different grade relations. It is interesting to note that even when the contest- ants were restricted to exactly one problem a wide variety of plans were developed.
Your jury in making the awards based their judgment, as prescribed by the program of the
competition, upon the effect of the design as a whole, its appropriateness to the given site, the degree of ingenuity shown in the plans; and the fitness of the design to express the wood- built house. The drawings, however, were considered not alone from the design point of view but rather design combined with the re- quirements of a good, common-sense, livable house, and the jury at all times endeavored to balance their ideas between the artistic and the practical.
After carefully considering all the designs submitted, the judges agreed upon about one hundred from which to select the four prize and six mention drawings. This next task proved much more difficult than the first step and consumed the better part of two days. Designs which exceeded the prescribed cubage were of course eliminated from consideration as well as those which, for some reason or another, failed of uniform excellence. Either the plan was weak or the competitor failed to regard his house as a suburban dwelling built upon a lot with improved property on either side. Then, too, there were designs which were distinctly country house in type and therefore unsuitable for a suburban district where the close building
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
on adjoining property would ruin their livable- ness. There were many schemes which, al- though they came within the cubage, were ob- viously too pretentious to be built for anywhere near the prescribed cost. All these defects were carefully analyzed and regretfully taken into consideration in eliminating the designs. While the prize drawings and those admitted to mention are each most creditable to the authors, none were without faults and the ob- ject of this report is to give constructive criti- cism as well as praise.
FIRST PRIZE. The requirements of the program were met in a most direct manner, the general plan allowing of ample space both to the east and the west, an important consideration especially in a comparatively narrow lot if the house is to feel the freedom the location sug- gests, and taking full advantage of the exposure to the south. The plan is excellent, giving liberal space on the first floor, indoors and out.
Every room of importance has a southerly exposure. A feature of the second floor plan is that each bedroom has two exposures and that the four rooms connect directly with baths, with possible privacy for the owner. The position of the stairs to the attic is unfortunate, making it necessary to pass through the main second floor hall to reach them from the back stairs. This, however, in a small house of this type is not of great importance.
The exterior speaks of its material — wood. The design is simple in form and construction and most frankly expressed the Ten Thousand Dollar house. The jury was particularly pleased with the presentation of the design and the beauty of the detail. The garage is nicely iso- lated by service yard fence and would not interfere with the morning sun.
SECOND PRIZE. The design is most excellent, particularly the north elevation, and the details show great refinement and a feeling for beautiful proportion. Here again the exterior is un- questionably wood, with the exception of the entrance door, which suggests stone rather than wood. The house is well placed on the lot, with possible criticism of the garage so near the side line. It was thought that the design was too pretentious in feeling for the prescribed cost. The plan is very livable but not as thoughtful and as well arranged as the first prize. The porch and balcony arrangement is admirable. It is to be regretted that the author took two corners on the second floor for maid's room and one for closet. The matter of opening study into porch is optional and has advantages and faults either way, equally true of opening bed-
room over study on to balcony. There is no entrance to attic.
THIRD PRIZE. This house has a very charm- ing exterior of good wood design. The street elevation is much more interesting, however, than the garden elevation and the house takes up too much width of the lot. The garage is also placed too near the property line. The plan is well arranged on the first floor but noticeably lacking of cross draft in bedrooms on the second floor. Only two of the master's bedrooms face to the south, and only one of these has two exposures. Making a passage of the child's room from the maid's room to front hall is questionable. No means of getting to the attic, where much storage space is available, has been provided.
FOURTH PRIZE. The exterior of the house shows a marked appreciation of good wood de- tail, and is altogether very finely done. The position on the lot may be criticized as it forces the garage to the front. The garage is not suc- cessfully placed in relation to the house, and in design is ordinary and far below the standard of the house. The sloping roof to the south, although charming exteriorly, was done at the expense of the bedrooms. The plan of the first floor is good, — the wide opposite openings from hall into dining-room and living-room are, however, noticeably bad features, spoiling the privacy of a good room. The second floor suf- fered by the use of only threedormers, the practi- cal solution perhaps calling for a sacrifice on the exterior. Cross draft is lacking in all bedrooms, with only one dormer in each. There is no stair- way to attic, where much room is available.
MENTIONS. The six drawings are presented as of equal merit. They are of a high standard of excellence, but from a practical standpoint were not considered as good as the prize de- signs. No attempt was made to place them in any sort of order.
It is the opinion of your jury that the con- testants in the White Pine Architectural Com- petition are to be congratulated on the thought which they gave to their work. It was very satisfactory to the jury to be privileged to con- sider so many designs of unquestionable archi- tectural quality and superb draughtsmanship. There must be a personal benefit to be derived by the care and time which each one gave to the consideration of the problem and the ma- terial in which it was to be executed.
RICHARD B. DERBY BENNO JANSSEN HARRIE T. LINDEBERG FRANK B. MEADE FREDERICK W. PERKINS
Jury of
A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
iSCALl DtTML OF MAIN
5OVTH LtVATIQN
WLSt ELEVATION
DL5IGN FOF^A SVBVUBAN HOV5L
AND GARAGE. OF WHITE PINL SHEET SHOWING THE. ELEVATIONS • SECTIONS AND IMPORTANT DE-- TAIL5 OF TH E. HOV5L
i SCALE. DE.TAIL Of
CVR.VLD
OF PtDIMtNT
ENTA&LATVR.E.-
PILA5TE.P~ CAP-
TfLIWv & PANE.L
MOVLD OF DOORi
3A' 5 GALE DLTAIL OF ENTRANCE.
•
JtCTION THR.VMAIN rtOyt.
51CTIONTHR.V WINC/
DETAIL OF tA5L OF PILA5TE.R-
5CALE. Dt-TAIL LLLVATION Of- LIVING R.O 6 M
FIRST PRIZE DESIGN, Detail Sheet
Submitted by R. S. Raymond and H. Brookman, New York, N. Y.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
OT MANTEL IK LIVING IK)OM
DESIGN rOI^A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE OF WHITE PINE
SECOND PRIZE DESIGN, Detail Sheet
Submitted by Alfred Cookman Cass, New York, N. Y.
A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
DESIGN fOR^A SUBIH^BAN HOUS£ AND GARAGE OF WHITE PINE
SUGGESTED BY P1NUS STRPBU5
SECOND PRIZE DESIGN
Submitted by Alfred Cookman Cass. New York, N. Y.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
LIVING COPLNICEL,. ILL
MANTHL StfLLf
LL
ENTRANCE DETAIL
LLELVATION Of f I EX- PLACE.. Si DH. Of LIVING ROOM
• E. N 0 • t L HVAT I O N
£ CALLS
TtilL ELC.VATION? tati. fOC. plUDflLLS ^=L
ftTAILf ft^
MAIN House. 33,000
WING 7,ie&
PORJOHEIS \.-L4Z.
GAItAQL 3.S 00 TOTAL
THIRD PRIZE DESIGN, Detail Sheet
Submitted by Lewis Welsh and J. Floyd Yewell, New York, N. Y.
A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
f^'SWaBSSSSSgSBSHSBaBai
'
CAST VANNING PONT js INCHES
LINt ¥<tSI VANISHING ROINT Z INCKK |*OW, fcOUlte. LINE.
DESIGN TOR A
SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
OF "WHITE PENL
• FIRST • F LOOR- PLAN -
THIRD PRIZE DESIGN
Submitted by Lewis Welsh and J. Floyd Yewell. New York, N. Y.
10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
•To-DEL-DuiLT-or V/fflTL-
FOURTH PRIZE DESIGN, Detail Sheet
Submitted by R. J. Wadsworth, Philadelphia, Pa
A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
O -s"
— -a
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G a-
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£1
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
A SUBURBAN HOUSE AND GARAGE
THE AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
PLANS FOR FUTURE ISSUES
A EAR ago we ventured to hope that through our Series of Architectural Monographs we might have the good fortune to gain the attention of the architectural profession in order further to acquaint them with White Pine —its qualities — its availability — and its cost. Nothing could more fittingly emphasize this basic message than the contents of this our seventh monograph — the results of an architec- turalcompetition which brings home graphically to every practicing architect the fact that, for a subject so useful and frequent as a $10,000 suburban house, White Pine is not only a medium of artistic expression, but is available to-day and is economical.
Six numbers of the Monographs have been issued during the year as planned; and as we start the second year nothing could be more encouraging than the realization that in these crowded and eventful days we have not missed the goal for which we strove. Grateful as is this realization, we are not beguiling ourselves; we have had so many tributes from those whose attention we sought to attract, couched in the superlative of praise, that we feel justified in thinking we have obtained an audience.
We have aimed to renew and to hold the architects' interest in White Pine lumber, first by contradicting the amazing misconception which has existed in the minds of so many, that the supply of White Pine was exhausted, and secondly by performing a real service through our Series of Architectural Monographs. These are planned to be useful to the architect at once as a source of authoritative information and a work of reference crammed with meaty suggestions. We have aimed to establish and maintain confidence between the architectural profession and the manufacturers of White Pine, feeling that the tie that binds is our ef- fort to sell and their desire to obtain that King of Soft Woods which embodies all the virtues of other soft woods without one of their short- comings.
The Wbiie Pine Series of Architectural Monographs has been developed with much thought and care. Both the illustrations and text have been selected not only with the ut- most study but by dint of extended travel, in order to provide a medium of information both dignified and pleasing. Quality rather than quantity, we have felt, would count in the end.
A veritable mine of valuable material has been unearthed in out-of-the-way places for fu- ture issues of the White Pine Series. Adhering to the Monograph idea of devoting each issue to a particular subject, we will continue to cover fields which have hitherto been untouched ex- cept in perhaps one or two exclusive architec- tural books. All sections of the country where work of high architectural merit is to be found, and which is universally applicable to present- day problems, will be exploited and published under properclassificationforaccurate reference. After the work in the different geographical divisions, compiled chronologically according to periods, has been completed, it will then be our purpose to study each instructive architec- tural feature of a building by means of Com- parative Details. Already accurate measured drawings are being prepared, supplementing specially made photographs, for the purpose of aiding all students of architecture in these comparisons. These later issues promise to be most interesting and will offer a wonderful op- portunity for those endeavoring to solve some particularly detailed problem.
These announcements for future issues, we hope, will give reason for gratitude that a work so exhaustive within its limits, so authen- tic and sincere, should have been planned while it is still possible to measure and to write at first hand of those masterpieces of early American wood-built homes which have stood for centuries as monuments of history and models of architecture.
WHITE PINE BUREAU,
MERCHANTS BANK BUILDING, SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA
Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol.
The subject of the eighth Monograph will be "Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture of Connecticut," with descriptive text by Wesley S. Bessell.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
No. No. 2. No. 3. No. i. No. 2. No. 3.
Colonial Cottages - Text by Joseph Everett Chandler
New England Colonial Houses - - Text by Frank Chouteau Brown
Farm Houses of New Netherlands - - Text by Aymar Embury II
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies Text by Frank E. Wallis
Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts - Text by Julian Buckly
Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley Text by Richard B. Derby
24
AnArchitectural Monograph
On OLD WOODBVRY&)
^Adjacent Domestic Jlrchitecture in Connecticut
Text
WESLEY S BESS ELL :-
or Tublic&tion by Kuf fa JIFWhitehead former^ Mtor of The Architectural Record and The Brickb uiJder
THE SILES HOUSE, LOWER WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT. Detail of Entrance.
An example of the two-story motif with pedimented entrance which was employed in Connecticut in the prerevolutionary houses.
3&WHIT
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
ABI-MONTLY PUBLIG^ION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES <T WHITE PINE AND ITS yVALABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. II
OCTOBER, 191(i
No. 5
OLD WOODBURY AND ADJACENT DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF CONNECTICUT
By WESLEY S. BESSELL
The old Connecticut Jwtts.es hare had special study by Mr. Bessell. His water-color sketches and measured drawings of these masterpieces o, Colonial architecture have proved a source of inspiration to thf architectural profession. His writings are an ardent plea for the correct interpre- tation and design of the architecture of our forefathers. Mr. Bessell is well known in New York as a designer, hailing been in the offices of Charles A. Rich, Theodate Pope, Frank £. Wallis and others. He is at present a practising architect in New ) 'ork and the architect for the
new Mount I'ernon Seminary at Washington, D.C. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN BUCKLY AND THK AUTHOR
THE period of our Colonial architecture does not seem very distant when it is viewed in comparison with the history of architecture of the world, and yet in the short three centuries between then and now great changes have taken place to make our modern architecture a conglomerate mass of uninterest- ing work. Why this unfortunate development should have been permitted to take place when so many examples of the best of our seventeenth and eighteenth century dwellings remain all about us for our guidance and emulation is a source of wonderment to all thinking persons. The rapid growth of the country both in size and wealth may have robbed us of the desire to express ourselves in terms as simple and sweet as those of our forefathers, but why we should have absolutely lost the spirit of the older homes is hard to understand.
Perhaps if we step back to the town of Wood- bury in the pleasant little Naugatuck Valley of Connecticut and picture it at the beginning of our Revolutionary struggles we may gain a concise idea of the spirit that then existed but which unfortunately seems to have long since been snuffed out. If we could have been in this quaint town one Sunday morning long ago we could not help but have become imbued with its atmosphere. It was a clear, bright morning, one long to be remembered by the inhabitants. The British at Boston had already marched out and met the minute-men, and now the men and boys of Wood bury expected to depart in order to join Washington's command, and on
this particular Sunday, just after service at the North Church, a band of men were to leave their homes, some for long periods, others for all time. As the bell tolled in the belfry of North Church, which Hezikiah Platt had designed and built and whose history was to be written in later times, fate decreed that one Jonathan, son of Hezikiah, was here to take leave of Sally Orton, daughter of William Orton . Outlined above the trees the North Church spire stood, dignified, pure white, and delicate of design. In the play of light and shadow, the pilastered front sup- porting the pediment in which the green blind spread in fan-like shape blended well with the blue and pale yellow facings of the Continental army uniforms so proudly worn by the boys of Woodbury. Sally and Jonathan were wont to take leave, for they were childhood sweethearts, and the Orton house was soon no longer to have Jonathan Platt swing on the picket gate and call to Sally, and then hide behind the stately rose bush that covered its entrance. Just beyond this scene stood the Orton House with its quaint wooden doorway and rough stone door-step, which had served to bind these two. Grown to sweet maidenhood, she had opened this same door for him, for his tap on the knocker was as well known to Sally as his laughter, and if in her anxiety to answer that knock she upset the candle-holder from its lodging place, we can now forgive her for the charred lace work that suffered for her haste. When once inside the stair hall with its stairway of turned balusters and newels, carved scrolls at the open end of
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
the strings, one could see that it was all the work of the elder Platt. Jonathan was ushered into the parlor. Here he could gaze upon the handiwork of his parent by way of a panelled mantel and wainscot, but his gaze rested not long on his father's labors, but upon a pretty face in a poke bonnet, and strange as it may seem, the work of one Hezikiah Platt was no longer thought of. Hezikiah Platt was respon- sible in his small way for many of the buildings of Woodbury, for he had built for one Abner Lockwood the house at Long Hill where the
Benjamin had been their architectural guides, and they could not break from the tradition that had been established.
The soldiers from Woodbury left by the post road on this memorable Sunday — left behind all that was theirs, the places their fathers and they had created out of wood and masonry. Shaded streets grew narrow as they passed by the old tavern in the bend of the road where they were lost to view. Over a rise they could still see the North Church spire, quietly nes- tling in the beautiful valley; and by the church
THE ORTON HOUSE, WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT. (Home of Sally Orton.)
road turns sharp on its way to Sandy Hook, and the Siles House in lower Woodbury with its pedimented entrance, and then the Judson House, and the Bostwick House, with its simple entrance flanked by well proportioned windows on which the blinds gave a charming color against the white pine clapboards. Yes, the elder Platt had played an important part in the building up of Woodbury, but as things were reckoned then, his houses were but of a type, exemplified by others, similar in design but dif- ferent in detail, and no one thought but of this kind of house, for had they not all lived the simple life, and why should they not carry out the portrayal of what life was to them in their homes of wood? Beatty Langley and Asher
sat Sally Orton, not daring to raise her head, for her very life had gone forth, and Wood- bury's youth and manhood, and particularly Jonathan Platt's, were now facing a duty made necessary by oppression, a duty that meant, if well done, the keeping of home and family to- gether— the homes they had built with their own hands, the homes that they had worked for and in which they had taken so much pride. These must stand, must exist, for they were part of themselves. Had not Absalom Turnbull, the village smith, forged the hinges and moulded the knobs on those houses, was not the timber hewn from the clearing and run through the saw by their hands? And so it was that the work of our forefathers, created in mind and mod-
OLD WOODBURY AND ADJACENT DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
5
elled in wood, was now to be protected by such men who, going forth to preserve their handi- work, counted not the cost.
This spirit existed at that time, this spirit still exists, but why has the present generation lapsed into a don't-care feeling regarding what home is or can be made? Why do we who sally forth nowadays, familiar as we are with these works of our forefathers, permit the atrocities committed by the so-much-per-yard mills and ten-dollar-per-house, profit-taking contractors? Home does not mean much
strange to say, this is what he thinks is beauti- ful. One wonders what Jonathan Platt, going forth to protect, and Sally Orton, remaining in the background to keep in order for his home- coming the old Orton house with its hollyhocks, foxgloves, and boxwood hedge, with its quiet simplicity, would think if they could view these modern so-called homes. One cannot help but wonder also if the man of to-day has lost the desire for beauty or if it has only been taken away from him by the constant presentation of something hideous. Let us hope that the latter
HOUSE AT WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT. (Jonathan Plan's Home.)
to these concerns. The pride taken in and thought given to his buildings by Hezikiah Platt do not interest them. Their chief thoughts and interest are commercial ones, and the houses which they produce are usually sad and material examples of what not to do. The beautiful villas with special mention of "Colo- nial" style advertised for sale by our present day get-rich-quick-build-a-house-over-night re- alty developers are the blight of our architec- tural development. How one wishes the word "villa" had never existed, and that it might constitute a crime to desecrate the word "colo- nial."
This is what we see to-day — this is what the average citizen is buying and building, and,
is the case, and that there are numerous Jona- than Platts and Sally Ortons, and that all that is needed for the betterment of our domestic architecture is the removal of the evil manner in which it is created.
Jonathan returns to Woodbury after having served his country well, and Sally is there to greet him. Of course the boxwood hedge is larger, and the rose bush almost hides from view the gate, but all is the same upon his re- turn as far as the house is concerned. The de- scendants of Jonathan and Sally, taking up where they left off, continued the work of their fathers, for did not the Dennings and Captain Asubel Arnold build according to tradition? Their houses on the bend of the road are pure
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Colonial. And until the Greek revival there was no departure from a general type; even with the ad- vent of the Neo-Grec it was so woven into these older creations that no real damage was done, but after this period chaos ran rampant, and as a re- sult we find the nonde- scripts which unfortu- nately are with us to-day, the so-called Elizabethan, Gothic and Queen Anne houses with their paper doily edging and verge board scalloping in imita- tion of pantry shelving paper.
Unfortunately this pe- riod acted like a blight on America's architecture, for it fastened itself to the pure examples which fell into its hands, and to-day it is difficult to find a
Detail of Cor
THE IABES BACON HOUSE, WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT.
In this example a bead takes the place of a stile between the panels. The panel mould miters with the lowest member of the overhang mouldings.
house, either old or new, which is free from its rav- ages.
It is with a great deal of inward satisfaction and pleasure, however, that we note that the descendants of Jonathan and Sally are again rising to meet and prevent such conditions from going on unchecked. To-day there is a refreshing influence at work in our midst for the construction of houses for these descendants. A new Jonathan Platt and Sally are taking up the work where the former left off. Our architecture is assuming a definite character, and surely will be benefited by the care- ful study being made by this new generation of architects, who are delv- ing into the beauties of
(Continued on page If)
THE JABES BACON HOUSE, ON THE LOWER ROAD, WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT.
One of the earliest Woodbury houses of the double overhang type. The clapboards are fastened by boat nails left clearly exposed and painted over. The porch is of much later date.
OLD WOODBURY AND ADJACENT DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
THE LOCKWOOD HOUSE, CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT
The main house is over two hundred years old. The gambrel- roofed ell composes nicely with the single-pitch roof of the house
10LSE NEAR SANDY HOOK, CONNECTICUT. ON THE SOUTHBURY ROAD.
Typical of the early eighteenth-rentury houses of the lean-to variety in this section. The window are divided into twenty-four lights. The original gutters were of wood
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the older examples, obtaining in their work those qualities and that spirit of quaintness known as America's gifts to the architecture of the world, which have been so long neglected by those responsible for our domestic architecture. This Colonial architecture of our forefathers is again about to come into its own ; indeed, there are to-day many instances where we may dis- cover work which is faithful in every way to the best of our early traditions. There is a reversion to a consideration of those subtle qualities which produced the many homes of past centuries that possess a charm that age
alone cannot give, but which is the result of that true art of the Colonial builders whose lives were expressed in the design of their dwellings. It is to be hoped that this interest which is be- ing manifested in the best of the old examples of house-building will prevent any further spread of past building evils. That these evils can be removed is certain, but it needs the sin- cere and untiring help of every one, both in the profession and out. Cosmopolitan America can and should develop a type, and that type may readily have the Colonial traditions as a basic principle.
llSlITTIlllll
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Photograph l<y Lewis E. Welsh
THE SANFORD HOUSE, LITCHFI ELD, CONNECTICUT.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
OLD SLAVE QUARTERS OF THE BACON HOUSE, WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT. This building is now used as a tea house.
OLD HOUSE AT RIDGEFI ELD, CONNECTICUT. The lines of the porch roof have been softened by a very happy treatment.
OLD WOODBURY AND ADJACENT DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
THE MARSHALL HOUSE, WOODBURY. CONNECTICUT.
The wing is the original house and is over two hundred and thirty years old. The row of two-story columns of the living-porch is characteristic of this section and a pleasing method of handling the piazza problem.
THE BOSTWICK HOUSE, SOUTHBURY, CONNECTICUT. The fenestration is excellent for a small house and the detail of cornice and window trim very carefully designed.
THE BOSTWICK HOUSE, SOUTHBURY, CONNECTICUT. Detail of Entrance Porch.
A good example of this type of porch with wood-paneled soffit of the hood. The seats at the side are modern.
THE AVAILABLE SUPPLY OF WHITE PINE TIMBER
By FREDERICK E. WEYERHAEUSER
Office of Frederick Weyerhaeuser, Saint Paul, Minnesota
WITHIN the past few months, while discussing methods of advertising, a business acquaintance asked, "Why advertise White Pine when the supply is so nearly exhausted?" The question reveals a wide-spread misunderstanding as to the avail- able quantity of White Pine timber, — a misun- derstanding which is not surprising when one recalls the statement of-, ten repeated some five years ago by a leading exponent of conserva- tion, that the supply of timber of all kinds in the United States would be consumed within twenty-five years. Such a statement must leave the impression that if our timber supply is so nearly gone, then surely White Pine, the build- ing wood most useful and most desired, must remain in only very lim- ited quantities. With- out anything even ap- proaching accurate in- formation covering the vast timbered areas of the United States, it is not so surprising as it is unfortunate that such unfounded statements are made.
How inadequate have been the estimates of standing timber is shown by an experience of my father, the late Frederick Weyerhaeuser. When he began manufacturing White Pine lum- ber at Rock Island, Illinois, in 1859, he looked about for a dependable source of logs for the saw-mill. Black River in Wisconsin was the nearest stream from which to draw, but he was advised by well-informed loggers to go further North to theChippewa River, because the Black River timber supply was already nearly ex- hausted. As a matter of fact, logs in consider-
KREDERICK E. WKYERHAEUSER
able quantities were driven down the Black River for forty years afterwards.
While it may seem incredible, as early as 1650 fears were expressed that the very large foreign trade would soon deplete the supply of White Pine timber, which was then cut mainly on the Piscataqua River in Maine and New Hampshire. In 1880 Professor Sargeant, in connection with the cen- sus of the United States of that year, estimated the Minnesota White Pine timber supply to be 8, 1 70,000,000 feet, but sixteen years later General C. C. Andrews, Minnesota State Fire Warden, estimated the supply at 16,840,000,000 feet, more than twice the amount reported by Professor Sargeant.
It would of course be absurd to argue that the supply of White Pine timber is as great as it was years ago, or that White Pine manu- facturers could long sup- ply the United States with its entire lumber requirements. But for the many uses in house construction for which White Pine excels, there is unquestionably an abundant supply for generations to come.
The United States Forest Service in Janu- ary, 1915, estimated the stand of White Pine timber in this country by groups of States as follows:
Northeastern States Middle Atlantic States Idaho Lake States
Total
Unfortunately the estimate of the Forest Ser- vice covering the Lake States includes what is
16,400,000,000 feet 5,900,000,000 " 24,540,000,000 " 12,000,000,000 " 58,840,000,000 "
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
commonly known as " Norway Pine," the total being 18,400,000,000 feet; but it is probably safe to assume that of this amount 12,000,000 - ooo feet is White Pine, and in the above com- putation it is so tabulated.
Attention is also called to the fact that these figures do not include Western Yellow Pine, which is often advertised and sold under such names as California or Oregon White Pine. While Western Yellow Pine is a wood of excel- lent merit for many uses, it must not be con- fused with the true White Pine, the "Pinus Strobus" of the Eastern States and the "Pinus Monticola" of the States west of the Rocky Mountains.
In addition to the above figures there is a considerable amount of true White Pine in Montana, Washington and Oregon, and also in British Columbia, which province alone is estimated to have something over two billion feet. Our Eastern retail markets also draw heavily upon the White Pine of Eastern Can- ada,— the provinces of Ontario and Quebec being credited with billions of feet, while all of the Maritime Provinces contain consider- able tracts of White Pine scattered through their vast forests of Spruce and Hemlock.
Mr. Henry S. Graves, Chief Forester of the United States, calls attention to the truly startling fact that after logging has been going on for approximately 200 years in New Eng-
land and New York, the seven States within that territory were in 1915 credited with 16,- 400,000,000 feet of White Pine, in some instances the third and even the fourth crop being avail- able to log. Timber grows rapidly in the At- lantic States, but the possibility of reproducing White Pine in Idaho and in our North Pacific Coast States is certainly no less promising. However, disregarding the annual growth and reproduction of White Pine timber, together with the possibilities of increasing such repro- duction through proper scientific forestry methods, and also disregarding the Canadian supply, 59,000,000,000 feet of available White Pine timber still standing in the United States is an amount that almost staggers the imagi- nation. Under present-day methods of manu- facture, the lumber produced from this amount of White Pine timber would provide a fence of inch boards 600 feet high around the world at the equator, or would build complete 2,500,000 houses of average size.
No attempt is made in this article to dwell or even touch upon the individual and distinc- tive merits of White Pine as a building wood, its sole purpose being to bring to the architec- tural profession such facts as will be convinc- ing proof of the abundant supply of White Pine timber to-day available for their use and to dispel any erroneous impression as to its scarcity.
The subject of the ninth Monograph will be "Old Maryland Houses," with descriptive text by Charles A. Ziegler, Architect
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. |
I, I, I, H, II, II, II, |
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. |
I. 2. 3- I. 2. 3- 4- |
Colonial Cottages
New England Colonial Houses
Farm Houses of New Netherlands
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies
Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts
Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley
A Suburban House and Garage
Text by Joseph Everett Chandler Text by Frank Chouteau Brown Text by Aymar Embury 1 1 Text by Frank E. Wallis Text by Julian Buckly Text by Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
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* Colonial ^Architecture ^^e SHORE ^MARYLAND
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CW7</J Text by ^CHARLES A ZIEGLERs*
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BEVERLY" ON THE POCOMOKE RIVER, MARYLAND. Detail of Porch.
The curious treatment of the transom above the door occurs on both entrances.
7WHT
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE A^ ITS AALABLITY TODAf AS A STRUCTURAL WOOD
Vol. II
DECEMBER, 1910
No.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE EASTERN
SHORE OF MARYLAND
Br CHARLES A. ZIEGLER
As Chairman of the Philadelphia Chapter, American Institute of Architects' Committee on Preservation of Historic Monuments, Mr. 7.iegler
has devoted much time and careful study to the architecture of the early A merican settlers, especially those examples remaining in the Middle
Colonies. Mr. Ziegler is a member of the firm of Duhring, Okie &* /.ieglcr. Architects.— EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHILIP B. WALLACE AND THE AUTHOR
TO the student of architecture who has perused the "Architectural Monograph Series" published by the White Pine Bureau, it must have become apparent that the matter has been treated from a standpoint that is quite original and refreshing. Even the closest student of the early manner of building in America must have found much that was new in the development of the styles as illus- trated in the less familiar examples presented, many of which are not generally known even to the architect.
Numerous volumes have been published, illustrating the larger and more important works of the " Colonial Period," but with the simpler structures, so logical and full of refine- ment, we are not so familiar ; and yet these simpler buildings are perhaps the best evidence we have of how innate and unaffected was the art of proper building among the early colonists.
It requires no very unusual mind to compile in a fairly satisfactory manner a structure com- posed of odds and ends selected from that vast storehouse of accumulated " Architectural Styles," even if the fragments are used in a manner never intended by the brain that orig- inally conceived it ; but to create from very crude material, without the use of ornament and very often of mouldings, buildings that command our admiration today, bespeaks a natural and unstilted art that was popular and entirely devoid of affectation.
Victor Hugo in his "Notre Dame" states that Architecture lost its function as recorder of human history in the 1 5th century when Gutenberg invented the printing-press. This
seems like a very abstract hypothesis and is perhaps somewhat abstruse, but his argument that before the art of printing was perfected men expressed their highest aspirations in build- ing forms is quite sound. That architecture is crystallized history, or, as Viollet le Due has said, "Art is the measure of civilization," is only another way of stating Hugo's eloquent argument.
Just why architecture in America deteriorated so woefully in the middle of the igth century it is difficult to say, but this deterioration is itself a record of a marked change in the in- tellectual development of a people. In the evolution of our national life, we have reached the era where the striving for ultimate efficiency (some call it Kultur) has eliminated the art sense as a popular movement and has substi- tuted as a lure commercial enterprise. Center- ing about our cities are great whirlpools of humanity that draw upon the countryside until it is barren of all but the indigent and young, and a few, very few, of those who still have visions of a golden age and dreams of a higher provincialism. There are, however, beyond the whirlpools, quiet eddies not affected by the great commotion, which although they do not gather the flotsam and jetsam of the sea, never- theless retain that which was committed to their care in perfect contentment.
Those who have succumbed to the lure of the road feel instinctively the witchery of such environment : the long lane of spreading trees arching overhead like the vaulting in some ancient nave, with the sun-flecked roadway running between, where you raise your foot
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
from the accelerator and permit thepulseof the motor to beat nor- mally again; the neat whitewashed houses behind green foliage, and the kindly, slow- moving people who always seem to have so much time at their disposal.
It was in such an atmosphere as this that we found our- selves when, at the instigation of the Editor, we made the long de- layed motor trip through Maryland in quest of the Colonial.
Founded in 1632 by Lord Baltimore, Mary- land in many ways exhibits in its architecture the tendencies of the Cavalier stock that came with him to America to escape persecution abroad. There is no feeling of arrogance or ostentation about the work, in fact, rather a refinement that denotes gentility ; but, lack- ing the spirit of thrift possessed by the Puritans, their houses possess a spaciousness not usually found in the North. They laid out large planta- tions, kept many slaves who tilled the fields and
COCKRAN'S GRANGE, NEAR MIDDLETOWN, MARYLAND
raised the excellent thoroughbred stock ; they entertained lav- ishly and were often ruined by their ex- cesses, as the records show.
It is not, however, the object of this article to treat of the larger and more fami- liar houses, but rather of the work done on the fertile peninsula best known to the natives as the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This peninsula, sometimes referred to as the " Land of Evergreens," rich in its agricultural pursuits and ravaged very little by the wars that have raged about it, contains many quaint old towns that possess much of the charm of earlier days and innumerable old farmsteads, many of which are still owned and operated by descendants of the original settlers.
One of the most characteristic of these planta- tions is Beverly, situated on the Pocomoke River near the northern boundary of Virginia. Although possessing considerable architectural merit, I believe that this building has never
BOURKE HOUSE, NEAR CENTREVILLE, MARYLAND. Characteristic approach to the Maryland farm-house.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
been illustrated in any architectural publication before, although mentioned by several authors. It was a very pleasant surprise to me to come unexpectedly upon so excellent an example. The property has been the seat of the Dennis family of Maryland for over two hundred years. Dannock Dennis received the patent to the original estate, containing over one thousand six hundred acres, from Charles II in 1664, and it has remained the homestead of this family for nine generations. The first house erected on the plantation was
this sort, as illustrated in the photographs of Cockran's Grange near Middletown and the Bourke House at Centreville.
In wandering through Maryland one is very much impressed by the beauty of these lanes leading up to the white farm buildings, usually so well grouped and surrounded by orchards and shade trees. The illustration of the farm-house near Chestertown on page 9 gives some idea of the effect of these interesting white buildings among the trees. This building also conveys some idea of the simplicity of the detail and the
"BEVERLY" ON THE POCOMOKE RIVER, MARYLAND. The approach to this gateway is about one mile long.
destroyed by fire in the i8th century, the pres- ent building being erected in 1774. The old family coach with iron steps, leather springs and seats for lackeys still remains in the carriage- 5hed, and the old family graveyard with its stone tablets recording the passing of nine generations still nestles among the huge shade trees near the house. A broad avenue about one mile in length, flanked by large red cedars, leads to the old road at the eastern end of the plantation. These long shaded lanes are a very characteristic feature of the landscape in Maryland, even the simplest farms having splendid approaches of
excellent massing of these simple farm-houses. Many of the smaller houses seen along the roadside might well serve as models for the moderate-sized houses that are being erected throughout the country in such atrociously bad taste; in fact, one is strongly impressed by the superiority of the crudest negro quarters in Maryland as compared with the average me- chanic's home in more progressive sections. The roofs are always just the right pitch with only cornice enough to perform the proper functions of a cornice, and these with very sim- ple mouldings, if any. The cornice was seldom
(Continued on page 10)
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND 7
FARM-HOUSE NEAR WESTOWN, MARYLAND.
EARLY FARM-HOUSE ON MARYLAND STATE ROAD.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
OLD SLAVE QUARTERS ON MARYLAND STATE ROAD.
STEPHENS HOUSE, GALENA, MARYLAND.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND 9
OLD HOUSE NEAR KINGSTON, MARYLAND.
OLD FARM-HOUSE NEAR CHESTERTOWN, MARYLAND.
IO
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
OLD HOUSE NEAR CECILTON, MARYLAND. Showing characteristic method of enlarging the building from generation to generation.
carried up the gable ends, these being usually finished with a face-board over which the shingles project slightly. The chimneys were always of brick and usually very generous in size. The gambrel roof is seldom seen in this section. In enlarging the houses it was usual to prolong the main axis of the building, pro- ducing long, low lines with roofs at different levels. Very often the addition was larger than
the original building, as in the old house near Cecilton, above, where we have three distinct divisions, the smaller section being probably the original. Sometimes, however, wings were car- ried out to the rear, as in the old house near Kingston, below, but the treatment of the intersection of the roofs and grouping of gables was always somewhat similar and forms one of the charms of these simple buildings.
OLD HOUSE NEAR KINGSTON, MARYLAND. Another example showing interesting development of additions.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
The Stephens House at Galena, page 8, formerly Georgetown Cross Roads, wasoriginally a log cabin and is reputed to be two hundred years old. As was very often the case where the early settlers became more prosperous and sought more commodious surroundings, the building was extended and the entire construc- tion covered with White Pine siding, and with this protection many excellent examples of the first nouses erected in this country have been preserved.
The road running past this building is a por- tion of the Maryland State Road, which runs the entire length of the Eastern Shore and is one of the most excellent roads imaginable and one that the architectural student might profitably make use of if he would see evidence of the fact that a proper sense of proportion was a common heritage in the early days of our history, and not possessed solely by the designers of the more pretentious Georgian examples.
TWO OLD FARM-HOUSES NEAR POCOMOKE CITY, MARYLAND. It is interesting to note curious fence-posts which show the English influence.
DETAIL OF RIVER ENTRANCE, "BEVERLY" ON THE POCOMOKE RIVER, MARYLAND.
The ironwork was brought from England about 1775. The arched device for carrying the lantern ring over the steps is very unusual
RIVER FRONT, "BEVERLY" ON THE POCOMOKE RIVER, MARYLAND. The covered cellarway is common in the Maryland houses.
WHAT GRADE OF WHITE PINE SHALL I SPECIFY?"
IN THE OFFICE of every architect whose practice includes the design and super- intendence of representative American homes, the thirst for accurate information makes all authoritative literature concerning building materials, and specification data aimed to facilitate their proper use, most welcome.
White Pine has been intimately known by architects for generations. They have had opportunities without number of familiarizing themselves with the workable and lasting qual- ities of White Pine in their building operations, and they have always recognized this wood as pre-eminent for out-of-doors, where exposure to the elements has been the test. They know White Pine, but the one unsolved and as yet unanswered question has been to specify its use correctly. Due to an unfortunate lack of correct information, architects have been com- pelled in most instances to use their own phras- ing in stating the grade wanted, and this has very naturally led to many misunderstandings between the architect, the contractor, and the client.
Unfortunately, up to the present time there has been published no accurate treatise on White Pine to which the architect could turn
for reference and dependable information re- garding the different grades when writing his specifications. The White Pine manufactur- ers, though tardily, are now making every effort to correct this omission. In October of last year a brief prospectus of a contemplated Specification Book was announced in the Mono- graph Series, which it was hoped would be worthy to take its place with other technical books always at the architects' service. It had been evident for a long time that there was a crying need for a text-book covering the subject of White Pine which would serve definitely to establish a standard by which the architect, the contractor, the retail lumber dealer, and the wholesale manufacturer could work to- gether with a perfect understanding of the nomenclature of White Pine Grades and what they stand for, and of the Grading Rules apply- ing thereto.
The first announcement of the White Pine Book of Grading Rules was made after the work had been carefully studied and, it was supposed, fully mapped out. Since that time the further details in its compilation have delayed its publication, but it is hoped that this delay will be more than compensated for by the greater
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
perfection of the finished book, and that when completed it will prove of inestimable value to the architect as a working tool in his office. It was again thought that the book would be ready to distribute in September, and a second announcement was made of its publication. On further analysis, however, it was not yet quite satisfactory to those having its prepara- tion in charge. They wanted the work to be as complete as it was possible to make it, and to have its contents set forth in most accurate, clear and concise form. The publication was, therefore, postponed until this could be ac- complished, which has now been done.
The White Pine Book of Grading Rules will be distributed on February i, 1917, to those architects receiving the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs and to other practic- ing architects making request for it.
The book contains a mine of valuable in- formation regarding White Pine. The archi- tects' frequent question, " What Grade of White Pine Shall I Specify ? " is fully and completely answered. Everything concerning the technical phase of the use of White Pine is included in the work. It is fully illustrated by half-tone reproductions, at one-inch scale, from photo- graphs. As no lumber grade can be definitely represented by a single board, each grade is ' illustrated by the use of from three to six boards, placed side by side, showing in so far as is practicable a really representative grade. This method of showing the grades makes it unnecessary actually to see the lumber itself
before writing the specifications, and helps the architect to visualize the lumber to be used, and in this way to prepare himself to judge properly the chosen grade when delivered at the job. If it so happens that the grade furnished exceeds or falls short in quality of his mental impression of it from the photographic repro- ductions, his future specifications may be cor- rected to conform with his newly acquired knowledge of just what the grade should be.
Following the photographic reproduction of each grade there are a " Description of Grade," "General Grade Distinctions," "Stock Sizes," " Recommended Uses," and " Approximate Differences in Cost between Grades." Further is included a separate tabulation of " Classified Recommended Uses for White Pine in House Construction," subdivided into three classes as applied to houses of high, medium and low cost. Also are included a "General Index," carefully detailed for quick reference, " Instructions for Use of White Pine Grading Rules," "White Pine Terms and Their Meaning," "Description of Recognized White Pine Lumber Defects," and " Comparative Qualities of White Pine from the New England States, New York and Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Idaho."
In short, the forthcoming Book of White Pine Grading Rules is a text-book which should take its place with other technical books in every architect's office. We feel assured that it will prove useful and will be welcomed by the architectural profession.
The subject of the tenth Monograph will be Three-Story Houses of New England,
1750-1800.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, No. Vol. I, No. Vol. I, No. Vol. 1 1, No. Vol. 1 1, No. Vol. 1 1, No. Vol. 1 1, No. Vol. II, No.
1. Colonial Cottages
2. New England Colonial Houses
3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands
1 . Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies
2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts
3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley
4. A Suburban House and Garage -
5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic
Architecture in Connecticut
Text by Joseph Everett Chandler Text by Frank Chouteau Brown Text by Aymar Embury II Text by Frank E. Wallis Text by Julian Buckly Text by Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
- Text by Wesley S. Bessell
i • -i
B
An Architectural
MONOGRAPH on Old Tlff^^totyHouses
ewEngland
xx' — o
Text by
FRANK CHOUTEAU BROWN "Prepared for Tublic&tion by 'RujrellFWhiteheadformer/yfditor of 77ze Architectural Record and The Brickb uilder
THE CROWINGSHIELD HOUSE AT DANVERSPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. (1798-1803.) Detail of Entrance.
The chaste simplicity and beauty of this entrance doorway and window overhead are well indicated in this picture. Indeed, of all the three-story houses produced in this section, this dwelling seems to be the most perfectly proportioned, and at the same time the simplest, example.
^sWHIT
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPH
ABI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND ITS AMIABILITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. Ill
FEBRUARY, 1917
THREE-STORY COLONIAL HOUSES OH
NEW ENGLAND
This article was a part of the original manuscript on " Colonial Houses of Neiv England" contributed by Mr. Brown for the second number of The Monograph Series. Because of the quality and quantity of the illustrations which had been collected and the limited space available in a single issue in which to present them, the material was more closely classified and one Monograph devoted to the smaller houses of early date and another to the three-story dwellings as herewith shown, Mr. Brown is an architect of Boston, Massachusetts. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN BUCKLY
THE Colonial dwellings of New England group themselves naturally into three definite physical classifications. There is first the small cottage one story and a half high, an early and more primitive type found in the smaller and less wealthy communities or in the country. This kind of cottage is typical of certain sections, such as part of Maine and Cape Cod; and certain fisher villages, such as Biddeford Pool, Marblehead, portions of Glou- cester and other towns. Some of these cottages are essentially charming, but they possess little value except the incidental detail for most architectural work of the current day.
There is, secondly, the larger house of two stories and roof, containing generally an attic story. This house may be of the simplest pos- sible type of pitch roof with end gable, typical of the larger farmstead ; or, in order to provide more space on the third floor, the gable may be developed in the familiar gambrel roof. Or, this same type of house may itself easily ex- tend into the larger, more spacious and pre- tentious abode of the landed proprietor, wealthy merchantman or shipowner, where we find the most beautiful architectural details that, for delicacy, refinement and restraint, have not elsewhere been equalled under any other con- ditions on this continent and never surpassed.
In New England there was little tendency to develop the type of mansion familiar through- out the South. The central house with ex- tended wings on both sides is rarely found,
except in some uncommon instances, such as the Black House at Ellsworth, or the Governor Gore mansion outside of Boston. On the other hand, the unbalanced development of a big house with one wing is very often seen, particularly in such sections, for instance, as the Old Provi- dence Plantations, or in Salem, or wherever con- siderable wealth had come into the possession of the leading merchants or families of that time. In these more crowded and larger Co- lonial cities, however, this wing extension gen- erally developed at the back of the main house- rather than extended parallel with the street frontage — and there it often grew until it pro- duced a well-defined enclosure surrounding a servants' courtyard at the back or one side of the main house. This tendency is definitely in- dicated in the Royall House, and even more clearly in some of the old Providence and Port- land houses, or the Pierce-Nichols house at Salem, for instance. While the New England mansion of this type developed many interest- ing details of handling, its general exterior archi- tectural treatment remained nevertheless fairly balanced and formal, and, within the rigid out- lines prescribed by custom, no very great varia- tion of design or parti was possible. It there- fore came naturally to be that, when in New England a still larger dwelling was demanded by conditions, it rather took the form of the three-story house than attempted to extend a second ell or wing to balance the one formerly thrown out,— and this type of dwelling, pos-
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
sessing peculiar architectural difficulties of its own for solution, came soon to be recognized as a third principal, characteristic type that dis- tinguished some of the later houses of New Eng- land that were generally built just previous to, or immediately after, the year 1800. That the type was not exclusively to be found in any one locality is proved by the accompanying illustra- tions, which have been selected purposely to illustrate the considerable geographical area from which the material was drawn, and have intentionally avoided reproducing any of the
the entrance was published. This house was built in 1 760 and was very soon after increased by the addition of the third story in a treatment that on its architectural side, by the way, is sufficiently simple and direct to be quite con- vincing.
The problem of undertaking to increase the Colonial house to three stories in height and retain its usual and nearly square proportions in plan, is one that might well cause the archi- tectural designer to pause and carefully regard the difficulties presented by the problem of
THE HAVEN HOUSE AT PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE. Built about 1800.
The porch and doorway, window caps and cornice help to relieve the squareness of the design.
most familiar and well-known three-story struc- tures in Salem, or selecting more than one or two of the most important or suggestive ex- amples from Portsmouth, Portland, or the other larger New England communities.
In this connection it is perhaps instructive to refer to two earlier Monographs, one contain- ing the Isaac Royall House at Medford (Vol.1, No. 2), which is distinctly of a foreign and more palatial three-story type, suggesting the South- ern treatment of the central buildingwith wings, which dates from as early as 1 732 ; and the other recalling the Bishop Apthorp House in Cam- bridge (Vol. II, No. 2), of which only a detail of
making such a box-like structure attractive and consistent with his Colonial ideals. Such a square and uncompromising house as the old Haven homestead at Portsmouth, for instance, contains little architectural relief from its rec- tangular proportions except such as is to be found in the caps of the windows, the delicate arched detail of the very broad and overhanging cornice, and the balustrade, that, in the case of the porch at least, has every suggestion of being a more modern addition to the design. Here the original builders evidently felt that they could do no less than make a virtue of necessity and so give to the porch and doorway all the
THREE-STORY HOUSES OF NEW ENGLAND
emphasis of dignity and height that the house facade made possible, their only attempt at diminishing the height being found in the low third-story windows, only two panes of glass high.
The Woodbury mansion near Portsmouth indicates a more conscientious endeavor to relieve the box-like exterior proportions of the dwelling by the horizontal bands, the increase in height of the first and second story windows, and the balconies used across the front. Again, dignity and simplicity, with great refinement
ment and simplicity in design and proportion. Seen as it appears in these photographs, with- out blinds or shutters, and largely minus paint, it nevertheless commands attention and re- spect from these very sterling qualities of a majestic consciousness of innate beauty and serenity of proportion and refinement of detail. Rather earlier in date than most of these other houses (as indicated by its bold and virile moulding section and heavy window caps) is Elmwood in Cambridge. With the fenestration rather more gracefully composed, and with only
GOVERNOR WOODBURY MANSION NEAR PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Built in 1809 by Captain Samuel Ham. Purchased by Levi Woodbury (Governor of New Hampshire 1823-1824) in 1839.
of proportion, are indicated, — particularly in the details of the porch, where the balustrade is even more obviously a modern addition, al- though the roof balustrade with its halved balusters seems more consistently to belong to the original design. This house is greatly favored by setting in a rather beautiful grove, where the unkempt terraces and tree surround- ingsadd greatly to itsinterestand attractiveness. At Danversport still stands an old house, much battered by wind and weather in its ex- posed location, of less depth in plan than is usual with the three-story house, and with far more than the usual chaste beauty of refine-
what adventitious and incidental element of balance is obtained from the porch on one side and the one-story service wing on the other, this house ventures sturdily to win approbation solely by means of the rather unusual treatment of entrance and second-story window overhead, — which, in its present form at least, is largely a conjectural reproduction of what may have been its original design.
One of the most unusually interesting — and also surprisingly little known — houses near Boston is the Baldwin house at Woburn, which is in some ways more pretentious and elaborate in treatment and detail than any other example
6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
of the three-story type to be found in the general vicinity of Boston. The siding of this house is entirely treated in imitation of the effect of stone divisions; the corner pilasters are given an entasis that is more nearly a "belly"; the architraves impinge upon a delicately moulded cornice; the roof balustrade is typical, in the refinement of its baluster shape and halving, of its comparatively old period; and finally, the entrance feature and Palladian window — while the former is somewhat injured by its extra
cap design is here laid aside for a sturdy and bold virility that is, under the circumstances, rather surprising. In this particular case an incidental defect is noted in the fact that, some time or other, the front columns of the entrance porch have been replaced by crudely turned shafts, and the bases of the former fluted columns have been utilized in place of the pre- sumably exposed capitals. The balustrade here goes back to a break in the roof that suggests a monitor deck treatment: rather a more con-
THE CROWINGSHIELD HOUSE AT DANVERSPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.
Built by Nathan Reed between 1798, when he purchased this part of Governor Endicott's old "Orchard Farm," and 1803, when he finished his term in Congress. The house was afterward owned by Captain Crowingshield and Captain Benjamin Porter. In the pond in front of the dwelling the first owner experimented with a paddle-wheel steamboat.
width and both are in detail and size better suited to a two-story than a three-story type of house — yet remain nevertheless so interesting and suggestive for the architect as to make it nearly unique in importance among the treat- ments of this type of house to be found in New England.
At North Andover is an example of a Mclntyre three-story house less well known than the ex- ample in Salem itself. Mclntyre, when work- ing on a house of this type, evidently followed his book very closely for his proportions and details, — the well-known refinement of his carv- ing in mantelpieces and gate-posts and door-
sistent and plausible location for this mode of roof adornment. The fence-posts of the gate at the rear of the house were brought from Salem to their present location, and are — as was of course to be expected ! — also attributed to the much over-worked and omnipresent Samuel Mclntyre himself.
The John Peirce house at Portsmouth is one of the well-known examples of this type of structure; and, despite the abominable en- trance porch, its chaste simplicity and beauty of detail and moulding ornamentation amply serve to retain its interest for the student of good architecture.
(Continued on page 10)
"ELMWOOD," RESIDENCE OF JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Front.
The door itself is of recent inspiration, and some parts of the entrance feature are executed in new woodwork. How far they exactly reproduce the original, it is of course impossible to determine. This photograph clearly shows the omission of corner boards and treatment of siding at the angles.
IO
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Simplest — and most beautiful — of all the houses of this type is the Boardman house at Portsmouth. Evidently the designer had merely in mind to carry out a design such as had been elsewhere used on a brick fafade, substituting plank boarding for the other material, and at the same time greatly beautifying his whole composition by the charming grade, attenuation and refinement of the columns and pilasters in the curved porch and recessed Palladian window motif overhead. Such delicacy of moulding
treatment and simplicity of design as are here shown would hardly be consistent with the heavier material and the larger scale of a brick dwelling, — but as it is, this house remains per- haps the most beautiful, chaste and distin- guished instance of the Puritan treatment of this type of dwelling to be found in the New England colonies, and so should serve as epi- logue and apogee to this brief record and appre- ciation of a type of Colonial dwelling unique and restricted to this section of North America.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, No. i. Colonial Cottages.
Vol. I, No. 2. New England Colonial Houses.
Vol. I, No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands.
Vol. II, No. i. Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies.
Vol. II, No. 2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts.
Vol. 1 1, No. 3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley.
Vol. II, No. 4. A Suburban House and Garage.
Vol. 1 1, No. 5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic
Architecture in Connecticut. Vol. II, No. 6. Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore
of Maryland.
THE COLONEL LOAMMI BALDWIN HOUSE AT WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS
The owner was an important and influential officer in the early Colonies and thediscoverer and improver of the Baldwin apple. The half balusters and odd belly on the corner pilasters, along with their awkward height relation to the windows, are all to be noted in this view.
THE COLONEL LOAMMI BALDWIN HOUSE, WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Entrance.
The very delicate detail shown in this picture and the small scale of the rusti- cated boarding seem inconsistent with the width of the entrance feature and the size of the whole house. The glass division is novel and unusual.
H
DETAIL OF ENTRANCE PORCH AND DOORWAY, LANGLEY BOARDMAN HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Although the beauty of detail of the Palladian window does not appear in this photograph, it shows at least the delicacy, grace and beauty of the attenuated porch columns, and the refinement of the detail in the cornice above and in the equally refined mahogany door with its delicately moulded panels.
(Programme on Following Page)
THE interest manifested in the first White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs Competition was so great that we are encouraged to offer to the architects and drafts- men of this country a similar competition again this year, choosing as subject a house of some- what largersize than thefirst problem, and which therefore offers to the competitors greater op- portunity for variety of treatment. The prop- erty on which the house is to be placed is indicated by the dia- gram on this page, which is to be consid- ered a part of the pro- gramme, and the con- ditions of grade and of restrictions are those very commonly met with in suburban work. It is the desire of the Editor of the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs to present a problem which may not be considered too easy, yet which is just the sort of building that one encounters in every-day practice. It is hoped that the so- lution of this problem will be of genuine prac- tical interest to the architects all over the country, as well as of
great benefit to the con- DIAGRAM
testants. It is not the
intention of the White Pine Bureau to publish the drawings submitted in the competition in such form that people will be tempted to try to build without the services of an architect. The prize and mention drawings, however, will be published in the August, 1917, number of the Monograph Series, and a copy of this issue will be sent to each competitor. Following the precedent es- tablished last year, an exhibition of the draw- ings will be held in some of the larger cities, if the architectural standard of the designs warrants it. One of the leading architectural journals will also present a selected number of the most interesting drawings. Where drawings are exhibited or published, the contestant's full name and address will be given, and all inquiries regarding his work will be forwarded directly to him.
The competition of 1916 showed that the contestants felt . that designs following, on
the whole, old Colonial work would alone be acceptable to the jury. We wish to assure intending competitors that this was by no means the case, nor should it be so con- sidered at this time, although we believe that the possibilities of wooden architecture have in no other historic style been so fully ex- ploited as in the Co- lonial. We wish to assure all competitors that originality of treat- ment will not be re- garded with disfavor by the jury, but that the contrary is the case. It has, of course, been the aim of the White Pine Monograph Series to present to the architec- tural profession of the United States beauti- ful and, where possible, hitherto unknown ex- amples of wooden Co- lonial architecture, with a view to demonstrate to them the durability of White Pine and its plasticity of treatment, which could, perhaps, in no other way be as well shown as by il- lustrations of the splen- did old eighteenth-cen- tury houses which were built of White Pine and which form the back- boneofthearchitectural styles developed in this country. Wehavehoped that we might at the same time do a real ser- vice to the architectural profession, since we are fully aware of the extraordinary growth of in- terest in this work in the United States, and of the difficulty of obtaining adequate data re- garding it. We have, therefore, been led to publish as much as we could collect of the early material which was of real artistic quality.
We wish, however, to repeat that the fact that the Monograph Series has been entirely con- cerned with examples of Colonial work should not influence competitors in the choice of style in which to work, and any variation of treatment from the traditional which is sound architecture and shows a proper regard for the qualities of the material will, we are assured, be welcomed by the jury.
The Jury of Award will meet at "The Green- brier," White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, May i8th, to judge the submitted designs.
OF PLOT
The Wlniie Pine Monograph Series SECOND ANNUAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
PROGRAMME FOR A HOUSE TO COST $12,500
OUTSIDE FINISH TO BE OF WHITE PINE
PRIZES AND MENTIONS
Premiated Design will receive $750
Design placed second will receive - $400
Design placed third will receive $250
Design placed fourth will receive $100
ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Mention
Jury of Award
Charles A. Platt John Russell Pope Aymar Embury II Charles Barton Keen Wilson Eyre
All Architects and Architectural Draftsmen are cordially invited to enter this Competition Competition closes at 5 p.m., Tuesday, May i, 1917
PROBLEM : The design of a residence, to be built of wood (all the outside finish, consisting of siding and corner boards; window sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and mouldings, etc., not including shingles, to be of White Pine), for all-year- round occupancy by an American family with an annual in- come of $5,000. The competitor shall assume that the family is of average size and is one of taste and refinement, and shall provide appropriate accommodations including out- of-doors sleeping quarters.
The architectural style is optional and the plan arrange- ment left to the ingenuity of the designer.
The house is to be located on a rectangular lot at the north- east corner of two streets (see diagram on preceding page). The lot measures i25'-o" on the Main street, which runs east and west, and 2oo'-p" on the Secondary street, which leads to the railroad station. It is assumed that there is a restriction which provides that the house shall not be erected nearer than thirty feet from the Main and twenty feet from the Secondary highway property line, and that no building may be placed within ten feet of the east or five feet from the north lot line. The outlook is equally desirable in all directions and the neighboring houses of the usual hetero- geneous character of design obtaining in towns, small cities or suburbs of large cities. Contestants are referred to the diagram on page 1 5 for the various grade levels of the lot.
The total cubage of the bouse and porches must not exceed 55,000 cubic feet.
The house must be one that can be built for $12,500, and the design must therefore be of such character that there may be no doubt about its cost.
IT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW: A pen-and-ink perspective of the subject at %. inch scale clearly indicating the character of the exterior finish. Plans of the first and second floors at y% inch scale, blacked in solid, with the dimensions of each room given in good-sized figures. Two elevations at l/& inch scale. A cross section at % inch scale showing height from basement floor through all roofs. A key plot plan at small scale showing what is in the contestant's mind as the desir- able development of the entire property. Detail drawings at ^ inch scale of the entrance feature and of the fireplace side of the dining-room. Profiles of the exterior details at 3 inches scale, in sufficient number to present the subject adequately and attractively. Graphic scales must be shown in all cases.
JUDGMENT: The Jury of Award will consider the archi- tectural merit of the design and the ingenuity shown in the development of the plans; the fitness of the design to express the wood-built house; the appropriateness of the design to the given site, and whether, even if the house is within the prescribed cubage, it can be built for $12,500.
PRESENTATION: Drawings are to be shown on two sheets only. Each sheet is to be exactly 23 x 30 inches. Plain border lines are to be drawn so that the space inside them
will be exactly 21^ x 27^ inches. Whatman or similar white paper is to be used. Bristol board or thin paper is prohibited, and no drawings are to be presented mounted. All drawings must be made in BLACK ink. Diluted black ink is partic- ularly prohibited. Color or wash on the drawings will not be permitted. All detail drawings are to be shown on one sheet. It is especially required that the perspective be accu- rately plotted. There is to be printed on the drawings as space may permit: "DESIGN FOR A WHITE PINE HOUSE TO COST $12,500." The drawings are to be signed by a nom de plume or device. On the sheet containing the floor plans, in a space measuring 4x5 inches, enclosed in a plain border, is to be printed the contestant's calculation of the total cubage.
There is no limit to the number of designs that may be submitted by a contestant.
COMPUTATIONS: The cubage of the house shall be the actual number of cubic feet shown by the design, computed from the basement floor to the full height of flat roofs; or, if pitch roofs, the finished portions of the attic should be included, or those parts which might be finished. All measure- ments are to be taken to the outside of the walls and founda- tions. One-story open porches shall be figured at % actual cubage above ground level. One-story wings or bays, how- ever, or enclosed sleeping porches two stories high shall be figured at the actual cubage.
The cubage of each design will be carefully checked by an architect and a contractor engaged by the Editor. The fury will positively not consider designs which exceed 55,000 cubic feet or which do not in all other respects conform to the condi- tions of the programme.
DELIVERY OF DRAWINGS: The drawings are to be rolled in a strong tube not less than 3 inches in diameter, or enclosed between stiff corrugated boards, securely wrapped and sent to RUSSELL F. WHITEHEAD, EDITOR, 132 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y., to reach him on or before Tuesday, May i, 1917. Enclosed with the drawings is to be a sealed envelope bearing on the out- side the chosen nom de plume and on the inside the true name and address of the contestant. Drawings sent by mail must be at the first-class postage rate as required by the Postal Regulations.
RECEIPT OF DRAWINGS: Designs will be removed from their wrappers by the Editor, who will place a number upon each drawing and the corresponding number on the enclosed sealed envelope for purposes of better identification. The envelopes will be placed in the custody of the Editor, and will not be opened until after the awards have been made.
THE PRIZE DESIGNS are to become the property of The, While Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, and the right is reserved by this publication to publish or exhibit any or all of the others.
RETURN OF DRAWINGS: Unsuccessful contestants will have their drawings returned, postage prepaid, direct from the Editor's office.
Contestants are referred to the preceding page for plot diagram and other particulars
16
AnArchitecti^ml
RAPH/^Eirfy
rWith Text by eADDISON B LeBOUTlLLIERj
Trepared for 'Publication by 'RuffellFWhiteheadformer/yMtor of Tlie Architectural Record and The Brickbuilder
132 Madison'Bve.NewYork.N.Y
1917
1
THE PHELPS HOUSE, ANDOVER HILL, MASSACHUSETTS. 1809-1812. Detail of Doorway and Entrance Porch.
This view shows the delicate detail of the fluted porch columns and architraves, the turned bed moulds and carved Doric entablature.
T&WHITE,
ARCHITECTURAL
PINL
SERIES^
LONG GRAPHS
Vol. Ill
ABI-MONTLY PUBLICATION .SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AM) ITS A/ALABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL WED
APRIL, 1917
No. 2
THE EARLY WOODEN ARCHITECTURE OF ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
Bj>ADDlSON B. LEBOUTILLIER
Mr. Le Boutillier was born in the western fart of New York State. He began his architectural practice in Chicago and did some work in connection with the World's Fair. He went to Boston and after practising for himself for a while became a member of the firm of Fisher, Ripley and Le Boutillier. Besides his architectural work he has done a number of interesting designs for book-plates, covers, etc., and since taking up his rtsidince in A ndover, several years ago, he has made a considerable study of the architectural history of this old Massachusetts town. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN A. BUCKLY
TH E towns of Andover and North Andover, situated in the valleysof the Merrimac and Shawsheen Rivers and occupying about one-sixth of the territory of Essex County, are historically and architecturally interesting, as since their foundation in 1646 they have been typical of New England tradition and civilization. The early settlers, coming from Cambridge, Salem, Ipswich and Rowley, werea hardy, thrifty and pious people, many of whose dwellings for- tunately remain to reflect their prosperity. Therefore, in this community may be traced, by existing examples, the development of New England wooden architecture, from the humble farm houses of the seventeenth century to the stately mansions of one hundred years ago.
From the original settlement of scattered farms the town grew and prospered, in spite of hardships, I ndian wars and the witchcraft frenzy. Many of the citizens became rich, as riches were counted in those days, and with their wealth came comforts, leisure and learning of the true New England type. ' ' The town had a grammar and district school, two churches that were crowded on Sunday and weekly lecture days. There was a social library in the North Parish and on the whole the town of Andover was as flourishing as any inland town of the Common- wealth."
In 1778 Phillips Academy was founded, and some years later Andover Theological Seminary. These were established upon Andover Hill, at that time a rocky upland pasture. Around this
nucleus there grew up in the space of fifty years a remarkable group of houses, whose occupants left names well known in history, literature and theology. Here, in 1782, Judge Phillips, the founder of the Academy, built his fine three- story "mansion house" — which, until its de- struction by fire, was the finest house on the Hill. The finest remaining house, and one of the show places on the Hill, is the " President's House," built for Dr. Griffin, at that time president of the Seminary. It appears that the donor, Mr. William Bartlet, of Newbury- port, gave Dr. Griffin carte blanche, and, happily for us, he took him at his word, for the result, as will be seen by the illustrations (frontispiece and page 9), is an exceptionally fine example of wooden architecture. Even the detail view of the porch and doorway gives little idea of the scale of this design. It may, perhaps, be parti- ally grasped by noticing that the screen door is cut a couple of feet below the top of the open- ing— that being evidently considered as pro- viding ample height for ordinary occupants to pass in and out — as indeed it does! The pro- portion of the house is so well kept, the detail of the porch and house cornice, the arched windows and doors, so delicate and beautiful, that the spectator is unable to realize the un- usual height of the story — unusual even at the comparatively late date of this example.
The two towns were formerly one (originally called "Cochichawicke"), the first settlements being at what are now called North Andover
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
and "Frye Village," where more examples of houses of the olden type are to be found.
Of course the "Governor Bradstreet House" in North Andover is one of the most famous of early Massachusetts dwellings. While many of its rooms have been repanelled and ceiled, one or two still retain the old English type of panelling that proves its great antiquity. Only its somewhat retired location prevents this house from being far better known than it is,— especially as it lies almost across the street from
the same year as the house, presumed to have been begun immediately after the former dwell- ing was destroyed by fire in July, 1666. Tra- dition states this was the home of Simon Brad- street, who came to America with Governor Winthrop in 1 630 and was one of the first settlers of Andover. He built the first mill on the "Cochituate," near its junction with the Merri- mac River, in 1644, thus founding the milling industriesof Lawrence, Massachusetts. He after- wards returned to Salem, when he is supposed to
"GOVERNOR BRADSTREET HOUSE," NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.
Built in 1667 by one of the first settlers of Andover, Simon Bradstreet, afterwards Deputy Governor and Governor. It was also the home of the first woman poet of America, Anne Bradstreet, and survived several Indian raids. The sash in the lower windows are not original.
the old Phillips House, with its entrance door- way set off-center of the facade, and its un- usually capacious and hospitable gambrel slopes, —a dwelling which would be of interest to many tourists because of its associations with Phillips Brooks. To architects it may — per- haps— serve as some palliation to record that the present end veranda was added by the late H. H. Richardson.
The Bradstreet House is the only dwelling now existing from the first fifty-year period of Andover's settlement. Its frame is of massive timbers, its walls are lined with brick, and the two huge elms in front are supposed to date from
have relinquished this house to his son, Col. Dudley Bradstreet, as the dwelling was cer- tainly known to belong to him until his death in 1702.
In the "South Parish," now the town of Andover, is the Abbot farm house, standing beside the old brook — and the newer railroad embankment — at the left of the track just as the train approaches the Andover station. With its service courtyard thrown out around the wonderful old elm that overhangs the road, it makes as beautiful and picturesque an old New England farm house as can anywhere be found —despite the fact that the old brick of the
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
chimney has since been plastered and the old window sash removed or changed.
Of the gambrel roof type of house this locality furnishes numerous examples, many of them with that short upper slope which seems always to provide a certain quaintness of aspect. This is to be noted in three or four of the present illustrations — in one case, at least, in the earlier type with small windows, and in another and later example (shown on page 7) with an un- usually fine and sturdy hand-worked cornice.
Even the small Colonial cottage is represented
along the range of sheds added at the rear. This Swift House is itself a particularly sturdy and successful example of later Colonial type, with its interesting monitor roof treatment and virile detail. The same sturdy character of detail ap- pears in the Abbot House doorway on Central Street, with the Greek fret worked into the soffit of the pediment of the cornice and its squat bellying frieze. The Newman House, on Andover Hill, possesses an especially well worked out order, and the entrance and second-story Palladian window archway are enriched by
THE PHILLIPS HOUSE, NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.
Built by the Honorable Samuel Phillips in 1752. The porch covers two end doorways, both with pediments and toplights. The one in the center of the gable had also pilasters and supporting brackets. The smaller door, just at the back wall, had only a surrounding architrave but boasted eight panels.
by a charming example — now a tea-room — in Andover village; while the old Abbot tavern, with its historical associations, although it has now little of the exterior aspect of its previous use, yet preserves two examples of that partic- ular local type of outer vestibule, frequently to be found in Andover, where, apparently, the side arched window was a favorite touch of some late Colonial builder.
Not only this tavern but the little tea-room and the old Swift House on Central Street both carry this type of arch at the sides of the vesti- bule. In the latter house it is also worked into the pediment over the entrance door, as well as
ornamental patterns carefully grooved by a carpenter's gouge in the way that is often found in local work.
Andover also provides several examples of the three-story house type, of which the Kittredge House is the only instance that has been utilized in this Monograph. At the time of its construction this house had no equal for elegance in the whole "North Parish," and it was rivalled only by Judge Phillips's mansion, then recently built — and since destroyed— in the "South Parish." "The lofty ceilings, great hall and broad staircase, heavy door and pon- derous brass knocker, the avenue of trees leading
EARLY WOODEN ARCHITECTURE OF ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
to the front entrance, still mark it as a stately home, of a courtly period when the aristocratic ideas of old-country traditions still held in the style of livingand social customsof theColonies." Oddly enough, despite the fact that there still exist in Andover so many old dwellings, no one of the several early houses of worship built by the settlers has come down to the present day. The first "meeting house" is supposed to have been built near the old "North Burying Ground," where in 1669 a "new meeting house" was built "with upper and lower galleries," and another church was built in 1 709 in the Andover "South Parish." This last church stood until 1734, when a second building was erected and occupied until 1 787, along with a parsonage — a gambrel roof house now occupied as a private residence. Although not illustrated in this Mon- ograph, its quaint construction long made it one of the most interesting of old Andover houses. Unfortunately, this meeting house was demol-
ished in 1835, the porch removed to the manu- facturing village near the Merrimac and fitted up as part of a dwelling house, while the pew walls made a unique fence in the front yard of a neighboring house, west of the common.
However, all the old churches have disap- peared, and so only the old dwellings of the town — many more examples than it was possible to illustrate in these pages — remain to provide an architectural background into which can be read the history of a New England farming community and its gradual progression from prosperous early Colonial to more recent times. Fortunately, the modern tremendous milling industries that settled in this district — making Lawrence so famous and ugly! — chose newer sites, and so the portly old farm houses of the several earlier scattered settlements have been spared to delight us with a virile architectural beauty that we can appreciate even while we fail in equalling it to-day!
THE COL. JAMES FRYE HOUSE, NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. Built about 1730.
The windows, and perhaps the porch, are more modern. A huge elm — a famous land- mark planted in 1725 by Chaplain Frye — stood near this house until quite recently.
IO
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE MANNING HOUSE, ON PORTER ROAD, ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1758.
"COL. SAMUEL JOHNSON HOUSE," NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. This house was built by Capt. Timothy Johnson, and by him given in 1771 to Col. Samuel Johnson, his son.
EARLY WOODEN ARCHITECTURE OF AN DOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
1 1
OLD HOUSE AT ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS
Squire Jno. Kneeland occupied this house about 1796. Exact date of building unknown. It is a charmingly informal cottage, now known as the " Rose Cottage Tea Room."
THE KITTREDGE HOUSE, NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.
Built by Dr. Thomas Kittredge, surgeon in Col. Frye's regiment, in 1784. Attributed to Samuel Mclntyre. At the time the walls of this house were " raised," Dr. Kittredge had colored slaves as servants.
THE OLD SWIFT HOUSE, ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1795. Detail of Side Doorway and Vestibule.
An unusually fine example of the type of vestibule, with its small overarched side window, that is distinctive of, and local to, the town of Andover.
THE SECOND ANNUAL WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
(Programme reprinted on following page)
THE creative faculties of the architectural designer are appealed to at once by a competition for a house to be built of White Pine. There are limitless possibilities afforded to express one's individuality when working with White Pine, which has been known for centu- ries as a building mate- rial which lends itself very readily to all out- side uses in house con- struction, and can be easily worked into many attractive forms, mouldings and other embellishments. We trust therefore that the problem which is pre- sented here will awaken the imagination and ingenuity of the con- testants, and that the resulting designs may set a new standard of excellence.
Jt is the desire of the Editor of theWhite Pine Series of Architectural Monographs to present a problem which may not be considered too easy, yet which is just the sort of building
that one encounters DIAGRAM OF PLOT
in every-day practice.
It is hoped that the solution of this problem will be of genuine practical interest to archi- tects all over the country, as well as of great benefit to the contestants. It is not the inten- tion of the White Pine Bureau to publish the drawings submitted in the competition in such form that people will be tempted to try to build without the services of an architect. The prize and mention drawings, however, will be pub- lished in the August, 1917, number of the
Monograph Series, and a copy of this issue will be sent to each competitor. Following the precedent established last year, an exhibition of the drawings will be held in some of the
larger cities, if the ar- chitectural standard of the designs warrants it. One of the leading ar- chitectural journals will also present a selected number of the most in- teresting drawings. Where drawings are ex- hibited or published, the contestant's full name and address will be given, and all inquir- ies regarding his work will be forwarded di- rectly to him.
The competition of 1916 showed that the contestants felt that designs following, on the whole, old Colonial work would alone be acceptable to the jury. We wish to assure in- tending competitors that this was by no means the case, nor should it be so consider- ed at this time, although we believe that the pos- sibilities of wooden ar- chitecture have in no other historic style been
so fully exploited as in the Colonial . We wish to assure all competitors that originality of treat- ment will not be regarded with disfavor by the jury, but that the contrary is the case, and any yariationof treatment fromthetraditional which is sound architecture and shows a proper regard forthe qualitiesof the material will be welcomed. The Jury of Award will meet at " The Green- brier," White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, May 1 8th, to judge the submitted designs.
The
subject of the twelfth Monograph will be Old Homes of Newburyport, Massachusetts With text by RICHARD ARNOLD FISHER, Architect
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol. Vol.
I. No.
I, No.
I, No. II. No. II. No. 1 1, No. II, No. II, No. II, No. Ill, No.
Colonial Cottages ----------
New England Colonial Houses --------
Farm Houses of New Netherlands .......
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies -
Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts
Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley - - - - -
A Suburban House and Garage --
Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in Connecticut - Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland - Three-Story Houses of New England ------
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury 1 1 Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown
The Wbiie Pine Monograph Series SECOND ANNUAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
PROGRAMME FOR A HOUSE TO COST $12,500
OUTSIDE FINISH TO BE OF WHITE PINE
PRIZES AND MENTIONS
Premiated Design will receive $750
Design placed second will receive - $400
Design placed third will receive $250
Design placed fourth will receive $100
ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Mention
Jury of Award
Charles A. Platt John Russell Pope Aymar Embury II Charles Barton Keen Wilson Eyre
All Architects and Architectural Draftsmen are cordially invited to enter this Competition Competition closes at 5 p.m., Tuesday, May i , 1917
PROBLEM : The design of a residence, to be built of wood (all the outside finish, consisting of siding and corner boards; window sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and mouldings, etc., not including shingles, to be of White Pine), for all-year- round occupancy by an American family with an annual in- come of $5,000. The competitor shall assume that the family is of average size and is one of taste and refinement, and shall provide appropriate accommodations including out- of-doors sleeping quarters.
The architectural style is optional and the plan arrange- ment left to the ingenuity of the designer.
The house is to be located on a rectangular lot at the north- east corner of two streets (see diagram on preceding page). The lot measures 12^-0" on the Main street, which runs east and west, and 2oo'-o" on the Secondary street, which leads to the railroad station. It is assumed that there is a restriction which provides that the house shall not be erected nearer than thirty feet from the Main and twenty feet from the Secondary highway property line, and that no building may be placed within ten feet of the east or five feet from the north lot line. The outlook is equally desirable in all directions and the neighboring houses of the usual hetero- geneous character of design obtaining in towns, small cities or suburbs of large cities. Contestants are referred to the diagram on page 1 5 for the various grade levels of the lot.
The total cubage of the bouse and porches must not exceed 55,000 cubic feet.
The house must be one that can be built for $12,500, and the design must therefore be of such character that there may be no doubt about its cost.
IT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW: A pen-and-ink perspective of the subject at ^ inch scale clearly indicating the character of the exterior finish. Plans of the first and second floors at l/% inch scale, blacked in solid, with the dimensions of each room given in good-sized figures. Two elevations at ^ inch scale. A cross section at Y% inch scale showing height from basement floor through all roofs. A key plot plan at small scale showing what is in the contestant's mind as the desir- able development of the entire property. Detail drawings at & inch scale of the entrance feature and of the fireplace side of the dining-room. Profiles of the exterior details at 3 inches scale, in sufficient number to present the subject adequately and attractively. Graphic scales must be shown in all cases.
JUDGMENT: The Jury of Award will consider the archi- tectural merit of the design and the ingenuity shown in the development of the plans; the fitness of the design to express the wood-built house; the appropriateness of the design to the given site, and whether, even if the house is within the prescribed cubage, it can be built for $12,500.
PRESENTATION: Drawings are to be shown on two sheets only. Each sheet is to be exactly 23 x 30 inches. Plain border lines are to be drawn so that the space inside them
will be exactly 2 i % x 27^ inches. Whatman or similar white paper is to be used. Bristol board or thin paper is prohibited, and no drawings are to be presented mounted. All drawings must be made in BLACK ink. Diluted black ink is partic- ularly prohibited. Color or wash on the drawings will not be permitted. All detail drawings are to be shown on one sheet. It is especially required that the perspective be accu- rately plotted. There is to be printed on the drawings as space may permit: "DESIGN FOR A WHITE PINE HOUSE TO COST $12,500." The drawings are to be signed by a nom de plume or device. On the sheet containing the floor plans, in a space measuring 4x5 inches, enclosed in a plain border, is to be printed the contestant's calculation of the total cubage.
There is no limit to the number of designs that may be submitted by a contestant.
COMPUTATIONS: The cubage of the house shall be the actual number of cubic feet shown by the design, computed from the basement floor to the full height of flat roofs; or, if pitch roofs, the finished portions of the attic should be included, or those parts which might be finished. All measure- ments are to be taken to the outside of the walls and founda- tions. One-story open porches shall be figured at % actual cubage above ground level. One-story wings or bays, how- ever, or enclosed sleeping porches two stories high shall be figured at the actual cubage.
The cubage of each design will be carefully checked by an architect and a contractor engaged by the Editor. The jury will positively not consider designs which exceed 55,000 cubic feet or which do not in all other respects conform to the condi- tions of the programme.
DELIVERY OF DRAWINGS: The drawings are to be rolled in a strong tube not less than 3 inches in diameter, or enclosed between stiff corrugated boards, securely wrapped and sent to RUSSELL F. WHITEHEAD, EDITOR, 132 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y., to reach him on or before Tuesday, May i, 1917. Enclosed with the drawings is to be a sealed envelope bearing on the out- side the chosen nom de plume and on the inside the true name and address of the contestant. Drawings sent by mail must be at the first-class postage rate as required by the Postal Regulations.
RECEIPT OF DRAWINGS: Designs will be removed from their wrappers by the Editor, who will place a number upon each drawing and the corresponding number on the enclosed sealed envelope for purposes of better identification. The envelopes will be placed in the custody of the Editor, and will not be opened until after the awards have been made.
THE PRIZE DESIGNS are to become the property of The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, and the right is reserved by this publication to publish or exhibit any or all of the others.
RETURN OF DRAWINGS: Unsuccessful contestants will have their drawings returned, postage prepaid, direct from the Editor's office.
Contestants are referred to the preceding page for plot diagram and other particulars
16
An ArchiteGttjml MONQGRAPf*
Newbu
MassacFmse
With Text by
^RICHARD ARNOLD FISHED 'Prepared for publication by tyf/ell TWhiteheadformer]y£cf/lor yTheJZrchitectural Record and The 'BricKbuildex J)2 -MadifonXve. A/ewYorX N. Y.
THE GOVERNOR WILLIAM DUMMER HOUSE AT BYFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Entrance and Front Facade.
The doorway is almost Jacobean in character, which is a type seldom found in this vicinity. The house is now used by the Head-master of Dummer Academy.
TfeWMTTE PINL
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION .SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND ITS /WMLABLITY TODAf A5 A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol.111
JUNE, 1917
No. 3
OLD HOUSES IN AND AROUND NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS
By RICHARD ARNOLD FISHER
Mr. Fisher was born in the Toivn of Brookline, Massachusetts, and has practiced architecture in Boston for the past sixteen years, at first by hiinsflfand later as a member of the firm of fisher, Ripley and Le Boutillier. He has made a special study of early New England building! ami has restored a number of old houses, in Boston and elsewhere in New England. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN A. BUCKLY
THE city of Newburyport lies a few miles up-stream from the mouth of the river Merrimack, which forms its harbour, and was, at one period of its early and greater days, second in importance only to Boston among New England seaports. This was in the early years of the nineteenth century, when Massa- chusetts ships were to be seen in most of the harbours of the world; in the year 1804 it is recorded that the duties collected in Massachu- setts exceeded even those of New York. This was the time when Newburyport was at the height of its prosperity, the receipts of its Cus- tom House ranking third among Massachusetts ports of entry, and its imports in a single month reaching the value of more than three-quarters of a million dollars. In the year 1805 its fleet numbered one hundred and seventy-three ships and other vessels of good size,exclusiveof smaller craft not listed. Shipbuilding was also an im- portant industry there, and at one period one hundred vessels were under construction at the same time. A number of frigates and sloops of war were built in its yards, and later on some of the swift clipper ships, such as the renowned "Dreadnought," that made the American mer- chant marine famous. One generally hears that Newburyport was founded in 16*5, but, strictly speaking, that is the date of settlement of the town of Newbury, from which Newbury- port was set off in the middle of the eighteenth century. The two towns still form one com- munity in a geographical and social sense. The original settlement was not on the Merri- mack, but on the shores of the Parker River, a
smaller tidal stream lying a mile or two farther toward the South. The early settlers formed a farming community, but the proximity of the Merrimack led naturally to the upbuilding of sea trade, and long before the time of the Rev- olution it had become a shipping centre of con- siderable importance. Its traffic was largely with England and the continent of Europe, while that of Salem was more with the East Indies, a difference having its origin, it is said, in the limitation set on the size of Newbury- port ships by the depth of water over the bar at the harbour mouth. The East India trade demanded larger ships than Newburyport could furnish, so Salem and Portsmouth were able to develop this important trade at the expense of the town on the Merrimack.
While there are interesting buildings in all parts of the town, the chief architectural inter- est of Newburyport lies in its High Street, which, wide and straight, and shaded by elm trees throughout its length of three miles, is one of the most charming streets to be found any- where in New England. It lies along "The Ridge," a gentle rise of land roughly parallel to the river, and many of the old houses on its upper side stand on terraces well above the street and have deep gardens behind them run- ning back to pasture and farm land beyond. A most interesting view of the town may be had from the rear of some of the places on the upper side of the High Street. Many of the gardens have in them little arbours or summer houses of lattice-work, that are as old as the houses themselves. Several of the more im-
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
portant gardens, especially those that are ter- raced, are of considerable interest and charm. One passing through the town is impressed by the large number of great, square three-storied houses whose dignified aspect testifies to the prosperity and good taste of their builders of a hundred years ago and more. The houses of this type were built, for the most part, be- tween the Revolution and the War of 1812, few of them antedating the Declaration of Independence. Among the earliest and finest
Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Han- cock and other historical worthies, together with several mythological characters and a number of animals.
While houses of the square, three-storied type are undoubtedly what give its predomi- nant character to the town, there are notable examples of the two-storied gambrel-roof type as well, of which the Bradbury-Spalding house in Green Street, built about 1790, is one of the best. Much older is the house in State Street
-,\y
THE JAMES NOYES HOUSE, NEWBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1646. The doorways are additions made about 1830.
of the houses of this type are the Lowell-John- son house and the Jackson-Dexter house, both in the High Street. The latter house was the residence of that eccentric merchant who called himself "Lord" Timothy Dexter, around whose name various legends have accumulated, among them the story of a shipload of warming-pans sent to the West Indies, where they were sold at great profit as ladles for use in sugar re- fineries. An old print shows how this house looked in Timothy Dexter's time, when it had a sort of forecourt between it and the street, around which were ranged on high pedestals a number of wooden statues representing George
now occupied by the Dalton Club. It is not known just when this was built, but its builder, Michael Dalton, bought the land in 1746, which would place the date of its erection later, at all events, than that. The boarding of the front is coursed in imitation of stone. The in- terior finish is very good and there is a particu- larly fine staircase with twisted newels and balusters. It was in this house that George Washington stayed when on his journey through the New England States. An unusual feature of this house is the great breadth of its facade, which made it possible to have five dormers in the roof without any sense of crowding.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
A still older type of two-storied house hav- ing a plain pitched roof is the Short house, No. 6 High Street, Newbury, which was built soon after 1717, when the land was acquired by Nathaniel Knight, and is given an unusual character by the large square chimney in each gable, the gable ends of the house being of brick. The front door of this house is of a kind unusual in that part of the country, with its pair of doors and the narrow light over them. These doors are undoubtedly the original ones and are of interest on that account, as few
In Newbury and Oldtown and the outlying portions of Newburyport are numerous farm- houses of the simple and dignified type found almost everywhere in New England, but the individual character of Newburyport is chiefly given by the square three-storied "Mansion Houses," of which so many are found in the High Street.
Newburyport, although to-day manufacturing has taken the place of sea-borne commerce as its chief industry, is less changed than most other old towns of its importance, and one can easily
"LORD" TIMOTHY DEXTER HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. Built about 1772. Showing the house as it at present stands in the High Street after the removal of the forecourt and statues.
existing outside doors in old houses are of the period of the house itself. In many cases, not only the doors, but their architectural frame- work as well, have been replaced by later ones much inferior in design and detail to the rest of the building, so that one often sees on houses that obviously date from the eighteenth century, doorways of the pseudo-Greek type of 1830.
In the neighbouring town of Byfield, which was formerly Byfield parish of the town of Newbury, is the very interesting old house which is now the residence of the head-master of Dummer Academy. Its main entrance is unlike any other in the neighbourhood, its pilas- ters being ornamented with grape-vines carved in quite high relief, and carrying carved brack- ets which support the pediment.
form a good idea of how it must have looked in the year 1800 when Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College, visited it while on a tour through the New England States, after which visit he wrote :
"The houses, taken collectively, make a better appearance than those of any other town in New England. Many of them are particularly handsome. Their appendages, also, are unu- sually neat. Indeed, an air of wealth, taste and elegance is spread over this beautiful spot with a cheerfulness and brilliancy to which I know no rival. . . . Upon the whole, few places probably in the world furnish more means of a delightful residence than Newburyport."
NOTE : Indebtedness for much information is gratefully ac- knowledged to " Old Newburyport Houses," by Albert Hale.
OLD HOUSES OF NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS
THE FOSTER HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.
Built about 1808. Note the wide corner-boards, the inter- esting treatment of the deck and detail of the dormers
THE KNAPP-PERRY HOUSE, 47 HIGH STREET, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1809. The wooden fence corresponds in design with railing around the deck of the house.
••BBP^T
12
THE MOULTON HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. Built circa 1810.
A stately example of the three-story Newburyport house. The houses along the Ridge are of similar type.
THE SAWYER-HALE HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS
Built during the latter part of the i8th century. Particularly good cornice, dormer spacing, and broken scroll pediment.
THE SHORT HOUSE, NEWBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. Built in 1717. Detail of Doorway.
These are among the oldest panelled doors in New England.
THE NELSON-WHEELWRIGHT HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. An example of the smaller three-story house. The porch is obviously modern.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT WOOD
A PROBLEM WHICH CONFRONTS THE ARCHITECT TO-DAY
CMBER markets have, in recent years, be- come complex. At the time the lumber business first came into being in the White Pine forests of New England, there was little choice of woods. White Pine, almost alone, supplied the market, and being fortu- nately so well adapted to practically all build- ing requirements, did its work admirably. But as the industry has reached out into the vast timbered areas of the north and south and west, new woods have found their way into the mar- ket, partly to compete with White Pine, the recognized standard structural wood, and partly to supply the greatly increasing demand for lumber products. Many of these woods for- merly were considered of little value because comparatively little was known about them. They all have their uses, however; all of them possess inherent qualities which fit them for these uses; yet none of them possess exactly the same qualities or the same combination of qual-
ities. Hence the confusion which unfortunately has resulted from a lack of proper appreciation of the various qualifications of the many woods from which the user has been forced to make an unguided choice.
With so many different woods on the market, with so many exacting requirements to be met, and with so little definite information available on the specific qualities and combinations of qualities and adaptabilities of the many woods offered for sale, there is little wonder that, while lumber is being used and studied in a va- riety of exacting circumstances, many mistakes have been made — unintentional but costly ones which, in some measure, have reflected damag- ingly upon lumber in general. Lumbermen, therefore, are at last awake to these conditions, and by censoring each kind of lumber with re- spect to the uses for which it is offered for sale, they are endeavouring to protect the architect and his clients from embarrassing and costly
16
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
mistakes. They are realizing that the future of the lumber business demands a closer scru- tiny of their sales, and that the thoughtless practice of selling any wood for any purpose no longer meets the modern standard of buying, a standard based, not primarily on first cost, but upon service and ultimate economy.
The White Pine manufacturers are standing to-day in exactly this position with reference to their product. Three centuries of building experience have definitely determined the quali- ties of White Pine, and the manufacturers are en- deavouring through the medium of educational publicity to direct it into those uses for which it is not only by nature better adapted than other woods, but for uses for which it is, price considered, commercially practical from the standpoint of the actual consumer. That the architect may know what the recommended, commercially practical uses for White Pine are, and the various forms in which it is available to him for those uses, and that he may specify his White Pine wants in such a way as to elimi- nate the possibility of misunderstanding on the part of the contractor or the lumber dealer, the manufacturers of White Pine, after more than a year of painstaking effort, are but recently presenting to the architectural offices a com- plete and comprehensive text-book on White Pine grades and their recommended uses. The many months that have been consumed in this compilation evidence their desire to impart to the architect, in a manner creditable to them- selves, the most accurate information possible concerning White Pine as a building wood.
Unusual market pressure may, occasionally,
reduce in some markets the available supply of White Pine, or in fact any kind of lumber. Temporary shortage of dry stock is likely to occur at times in all markets. But for the type of building operations that require the best lumber, there is and will be for generations an ample supply of White Pine to meet these spe- cial uses.
Economy, brought about by a more compre- hensive understanding of its uses and qualities, will dictate the lumber sales of the future. The lumber manufacturers, realizing at last that upon them rests the responsibility of standing sponsor to the consumer for their particular product or kind of lumber, are, through coop- eration with the universities and the United States Forest Products Laboratory, studying their products, and endeavouring, by means of educational campaigns, to offer the consumer, for his guidance in selection, accurate informa- tion on the qualities and adaptabilities of each species of wood.
Retail lumber dealers of the future will not only know more about the adaptabilities and local economies of the different woods, but they will be both able and willing, through a more intimate knowledge of mill stocks and those special items which result from mill operation, to assist the architect, the contractor and the owner more intelligently in the most economi- cal selection, not only of the species and grades of wood, but of the most adaptable sizes and lengths.
A new day has dawned, it is hoped, upon the buying and selling of lumber. It is of tremen- dous importance to every user of wood.
The thirteenth Monograph will he devoted to the publication of the Pri^e and Mention designs in the Second Annual White Pine Architectural Competition, with the report of the Jury of Award
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, Vol. I, Vol. I, Vol. II, Vol. II, Vol.
Vol. II, Vol. II, Vol. II, Vol. Ill, Vol. Ill,
No. i No. 2. No. 3. No. i. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. No. 6. No. i. No. 2.
Colonial Cottages ---------
New England Colonial Houses -------
Farm Houses of New Netherlands
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies ... - Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts -----
Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley - - - -
A Suburban House and Garage -------
Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in Connecticut Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland Three-Story Houses of New England Early Wooden Architecture of Andover, Massachusetts
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury 1 1 Frank E. Wallis lulian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier
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•*•#•*•
An Architectural
MONOGRAPH
on a
WHITE PINE HOVSE
Competitive Drawings
With report of the Jury of Architects
Aymar Embury E : Wilson Eyre:
Ch&rles BartonKe en : John Rus sell Pope
Alexander Trowbridge
"Prepared for Tublic&tion by
"Ruffe// F Whitehead formerly Editor VT
or The y-lrchitectura/'R.ecord and The Brickb tt ilder
IIS
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T&WHITE, PINL
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
ABI-MONTLY PUBLIGKTION5UGGE5TING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND US /MMLABLITY TODAf AS A5TRLJCTURAL W3DD
Vol. Ill
AUGUST, 1917
No. 4
REPORT OF THE JURY OF AWARD
THE SECOND ANNUAL WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION FOR A HOUSE TO COST TWELVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS
Judged at the Greenbrier, While Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, May 17 and 18, 1917
THE PROBLEM : The design of a residence, to be built of wood (all the outside finish, consisting of siding and cor- ner boards; window sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and mouldings, etc., not including shingles, to be of White Pine), for all-year-round occupancy by an American family with an annual income of $5000. The competitor shall assume that the family is of average size and is one of taste and refinement, and shall provide appropriate accommodations, including out-of-doors sleeping quarters.
The architectural style is optional, and the plan arrangement left to the ingenuity of the designer.
The house is to be located on a rectangular lot at the northeast corner of two streets. The lot measures 125' o" on the Main street, which runs east and west, and 200' o" on the Secondary street, which leads to the railroad station. It is as- sumed that there is a restriction which provides that the house shall not be erected nearer than thirty feet from the Main and twenty feet from the Secondary highway property line, and that no building may be placed within ten feet of the east or five feet from the north lot line. The outlook is equally desirable in all directions, and the neighboring houses of the usual heterogeneous character of design obtaining in towns, small cities or suburbs of large cities.
The total cubage of the house and porches must not exceed 55,000 cubic feet.
The house must be one that can be built for $12,500, and the design must therefore be of such character that there may be no doubt about its cost.
A' the meeting of the Jury, before examin- ing any of the drawings, the Jurors gave careful consideration to the fact that the program did not definitely state the number and sizes of the rooms required; and determined unanimously the permissible latitude in number and sizes of rooms to accommodate the family as described. The Jurors agreed that, on the first floor, two rooms of fairly large size besides the dining room, were necessary to constitute a complete and livable house; that variations in habits of living would make permissible con- siderable differences in the character of these rooms; they also agreed that an adequate ser- vice portion was a necessity. On the second floor a minimum of three bedrooms and two baths, one of the bedrooms to be large enough for the comfortable permanent accommodation of two persons, was thought requisite, together with a sleeping porch for at least two persons, besides either one or two maids' rooms and bath, depending upon the size and character of the house. They decided also that a cellar under
the main part of the house was essential to good construction.
This interpretation of the program was faith- fully observed in the consideration of the drawings.
Unfortunately, a number of the competitors did not seem to consider that the requirements of the program as to the use of color and diluted ink meant anything, and eleven drawings were removed from consideration for one or the other of these reasons. Sorne of the competitors man- aged to figure the cubage of their buildings within the requirements, by excavating the cel- lar for a small part only ; but where the result of such tabulation of contents produced a house which manifestly could not have been built for $12,500 in any portion of the country or at any recent time, these plans were omitted from con- sideration. Also, where competitors, by decep- tive figuring of the cubic contents, made their drawings appear to conform to the terms of the program, where in reality they did not, the designs were not considered. The total number
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
of drawings eliminated for these reasons was seventeen and the Jury regrets exceedingly the implication of these competitors that it would not faithfully discharge its obligation in this important respect.
In making the judgment, the Jury, in accord- ance with the terms of the program, considered first the architectural merit of the various designs, and found to their regret that by so doing most of the houses which were located on the plot in the position which the Jury deemed to be the best were not of sufficient architec- tural excellence to be considered. The Jury was unanimous in believing that the house should be located toward the rear of the plot, with the service wing and a possible garage at the interior corner; the main rooms and the gardening or other development of the grounds toward the Main Street to the South, with the entrance road to the house and garage at the North. This would have given convenient access for automo- bile traffic to the station, and would also have given proper light, air and outlook to the prin- cipal rooms. The plans finally selected by the Jury for the first and second places were those which were placed toward the front of the lot, with the gardens at the rear, but were so ar- ranged that certain of the rooms had both good light and air to the South and in part a good outlook to the North over the garden.
The Jury, after two sessions, were finally able to reduce the number of plans under consider- ation to twelve, and from these selected four which seemed, in respect to all the qualities mentioned under the heading "Judgment" in the program, to be of all-round superiority. The Jury found themselves unable to discrim- inate between the eight remaining designs and therefore decided to award all eight Mentions, instead of six, as specified in the program.
FIRST PRIZE, Design No. 204: In regard to the first requirement of the judgment (the architectural merit of the design) the Jury con- sidered that this competitor shows the combi- nation of imagination and good taste essential to successful country house design in a greater degree than any other competitor. The placing of the house on the property is excellent, though not ideal; the treatment of the grounds, both as shown in perspective and as on the plot plan, is admirable. The details both of interior and exterior show intelligence and knowledge, and are of a type suitable to the limitation of cost. The plan of the first floor as regards the prin- cipal rooms and the placing of the porches is excellent. The space allotted the service portion is much too small and the arrangement is not good, but weighing these matters against similar features in other plans, this point was not
thought sufficient to vitiate the other good qual- ities of the plan. The second floor is one of the best submitted. The rooms are of good size, thor- oughly ventilated and the arrangement en suite of pairs of rooms on each end, with connections to bath rooms and to the sleeping porches, is most satisfactory. The waste of space in cir- culation is small and the treatment of the second floor corridor is such as to shorten its apparent length, as far as possible.
While the Jury thought there were a number of perspectives of at least equal merit from the point of view of rendering, they felt that this factor should not weigh in making a judgment and because this competitor shows a perception of charm and imagination to an unusual degree, the Jury was unanimous in awarding this design first place on all counts.
SECOND PRIZE, Design No. 224: This de- sign was awarded the second prize for substan- tially the same reasons that the first prize was awarded to Design No. 204.
The placing of the house on the property is good and the architecture of the building is excellent. The Jury admired the treatment of the one-story wings extremely, although they regretted a certain heaviness in the dining porch detail, and felt also that the sleeping porch is too narrow. The position of the first-story toilet is undeniably bad, because of its conspic- uousness and because it opens on the dining porch. The plan of the entrance hall is unusual and susceptible of extremely interesting treat- ment, possibly with arches over the entrance to the stairs and the entrance to the dining porch. The connection from the pantry to the front door and also to the dining porch is extremely good, the kitchen arrangement is good and the closets on this floor are sufficient. On the second floor the Committee felt that the proportion of space devoted to each of the principal rooms is correct, and that the arrange- ment of the bath rooms is satisfactory. The rear and side elevations are good, as are the details of the main entrance and the wing.
Of all the designs submitted there is perhaps none which so fully complies with the spirit of the competition as regards material and cost.
THIRD PRIZE, Design No. 49: The principal consideration which influenced the Committee in making the award of third place to No. 49 is the originality shown in the informal handling both of the plot and of the building itself. The house is extremely well placed on the property; the garden scheme is imaginative and interesting and the grouping of the garage with the house is a pleasant feature. By further development of
A HOUSE TO COST TWELVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS
5
the scheme the garage could be entered under cover afforded by an arcade. The position of the house conforms fairly well to the Commit- tee's opinion as to the ideal location. The ex- terior shows an admirable adaptation of English precedent to our materials. The Jury thought that the two weak spots in the exterior were the introduction of a rather unnecessary gable over the amusing double arched entrance to the garden, and the treatment of the sleeping porch, which would cut the East gable badly; but the simple, domestic, almost playful charac- ter of the design was sincerely admired. The plan is of a quite different type from most of those presented, and the proportionate spaces allotted to the dining room, the living room and study are good, as are the locations of these rooms with consideration to air, outlook and surroundings. The kitchen is small, but the other service portions are of sufficient size to care properly for the domestic activities. The second floor arrangement shows rooms of irregular shapes, but with a proper proportion of space to the probable requirements of the family for whom the house is designed.
FOURTH PRIZE, Design No. 86: The design placed fourth, in rendering is disappointing, but a careful study of the elevations and of the details convinced the Jury that the house would build better than is indicated by the perspective. The sleeping porch, always a difficult problem, is well managed. The arrangement of the servants' quarters on both the first and second floors is admirable, although the disposition of space on the first floor is not so happy as in many other cases, and the Jury felt that it was unnecessary to reduce the size of the den to permit a service passage from the pantry to the front entrance. The layout of the property is satisfactory and in general the scheme shows a careful consideration of all points and a just balance of the several factors.
MENTION DESIGNS
The Jury felt that the Mention designs were so nearly equal in merit that it would be un- desirable to attempt to place them in order, and felt likewise that all show qualities of one kind or another of great interest, and that a failure to appreciate the relative importance of all factors was the sole reason for any one of them not having been ranked higher.
Design No. 115: The competitor submitting this drawing shows a knowledge of his architec- ture and a power in classic Colonial which is un- equaled by any other contestant, and the Jury greatly regretted the fact that neither the first nor the second floor plan, is up to the standard
exhibited in so many of the other designs. This competitor has placed his house in the front of the lot with a garden at the rear, affordingan out- lookoverthegardenfromonlyoneof theprincipal rooms (the library, which is the smallest of the three), and on the second floor from the dressing rooms and bath rooms only. The plot plan in it- self is one of the best submitted, and had it been completely revised so that the principal rooms could have faced both to the South and the garden, the design would unquestionably have been considered for one of the prizes. The division of the space in the second story into four small bedrooms of equal size is manifestly incorrect, and the balancing of a living room and dining room of equal size in the first story does not seem to the Jury proper or appropriate. The Jury has gone thus far into the reasons for its refusal to give this drawing higher standing, because of its very great liking for the architec- ture of the building as a whole, and because of its regret that this should have been nullified by the facts as above stated.
Design No. 195: The architecture of this de- sign especially impressed the Jury. They found practically nothing to criticise in the exterior excepting that the design shows a quality of stone rather than of wood. The plot plan is fair, but the forcing of the plan to meet the requirements of exterior is objectionable. The separation of the breakfast porch by the thin- nest possible screen from a service porch open- ing on so formal a garden is not admired, nor is the division of space in the first story into a living room and a dining room of equal sizes considered good. The service part is well managed in the first story, but the Committee felt that the house demands a possible second servant's room, and did not feel that the main bedrooms are as good as is necessary for a house of this size.
The presentation of these drawings was most masterly, especially in the rendering of the elevations and perspective.
Design No. 44: In this house again the Jury found the elevation to be superior to other points. The quaintness and charm of the ex- terior were very cordially admired, although the North elevation shows a multiplicity of motives which is disturbing, and the head room in the bedroom No. 4, bath room and maid's room is entirely insufficient. The disposition of the house on the lot is only fairly satisfac- tory. The property has been deliberately cut in two, and while the treatment of the exterior is such as to permit of an amusing handling of the garden close to the building, the property as a whole has not been used to the fullest ad-
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
vantage. The details throughout are admirable and would indicate that the house could be developed fully as well in reality as it appears in the perspective.
Design No. 226: The architecture of this house is of a character quite different from that of most of the drawings submitted and the effort made by the author to get away from the formal and stereotyped motives was appreciated and commended. The details of the building as well as its elevations were admired, with the exception of the treatment of the sleeping porch and the open porch below, which are, in the opinion of the Committee, quite too light and frail to be properly coordinated with the archi- tecture of the balance of the building. The North elevation with the inadequate door and dissymmetrical treatment does not show the proper balance necessary to good design. The plot plan is good, but the location of the entrance door and path is not satisfactory, especially since the service yard is in full sight of a person entering the property.
Design No. 241: This design has an exterior architecture as pleasing as any in the competi- tion, but the disposition of the house on the lot, while unusual, was considered by the Jury as not properly utilizing so limited a space, since the garden would necessarily be crowded and difficulties would arise in adjusting natural grades to the conditions indicated. The author has endeavored to include too many units in the plan, with consequent loss of space and loss of value in each. This applies equally to both floors. The single servant's room without a bath room is manifestly inadequate for a house of this type, nor is it possible to reach the attic in the manner indicated.
The things which especially pleased the Com- mittee in this plan are the delightful archi- tecture and the capable manner in which the most was made of details of a simple and admirable type.
Design No. igg: The architecture, both as in- dicated by the perspective of the garden side and by the elevations as shown on the detail sheet, is unusual, interesting and admirable. The treatment of the property is good, assum- ing that no vehicular entrance is necessary, which seemed to the Jury a fair assumption. The details, both as to exterior and interior, are ex- cellent, and, except for what the Jury considered a very important feature, the outdoor sleeping accommodations, the plan is in many respects the best submitted. The Jury does not consider an upper deck proper outdoor sleeping accom- modations, but otherwise the competitor has
fully recognized in plan the requirements for what was stated to be in the program "The av- erage American family of taste and refinement." The service portion is especially good, and one of the two maid's rooms is sufficiently large to accommodate two persons, a desirable feature not commonly found in the plans. The second floor has an excellent principal bedroom, two fair-sized bedrooms for children, and a good guest bedroom. The enlargement of the hall in front of the staircase in the second story relieves the house from any cramped appearance, and the locations of the bath rooms are good. The Jury liked the exterior, but especially com- mended the plan.
Design No. 194: The perspective shows a house of agreeable proportions and admirable shape, and had the competitor treated the rear of his building with the same restraint shown in the front he would have achieved a far more suc- cessful result. The porch at the rear of the living room and the garden porch should not, in the opinion of the Jury, have been added at all; they are obviously included to secure more space in the second story, which should have been done by better planning. The treatment of the sleeping porches is the best, both as to archi- tecture and plan, which appears in the compe- tition, and the Jury felt that the treatment of the sleeping porches indicated on these drawings is the correct solution of what has hitherto been a very difficult problem. Such porches are coming to be practically rooms with a large proportion of openings and a waterproof floor, and this competitor was one of the few who appreciated the fact.
The arrangement of the plot plan with the garage at the rear of the garden, and the sug- gestion of garden treatment, is admirable, while the use of the garage as a terminal feature is excellent. The plan of the drive is bad — it unnecessarily cuts up the property on all sides, and would make dust and noise in the dining room, breakfast room and living room.
Design No. 193: The plot plan of this house shows a very interesting utilization of the grade conditions, which permit the competitor to de- press his entrance drive so that the house may be entered from vehicles under cover in the rear without interfering with the vista across the lawn. Possibly a reception room in the base- ment might have improved this feature. The main floor plan is good, the service portion well developed, and the principal rooms of agreeable character. In spite of the irregular form of the first floor plan it is not the opinion of the Jury that the effect would be disagreeable. The exterior is in general good, with the excep-
7
tion of the treatment of the large window on the staircase with a key block of disproportionate scale. The side and front elevations are good, especially with reference to the sleeping porches, and the detail of the exterior is well managed. The detail of the dining room is not considered to be in harmony with the character of the building and is exceedingly disappointing- to the Committee.
The Jury extends to the contestants in the White Pine Architectural Competition its sin- cere congratulations upon the high architectural standard attained by the majority of the de- signs. Many of the schemes not awarded either Prize or Mention are sufficiently interesting
to warrant study. It is, therefore, gratifying to learn that a selection of these is to be pub- lished in The Architectural Review in a late fall number.
As a whole the Competition brought forth a collection of drawings which will make an interesting contribution to the general subr ject of planning and designing small wood houses.
AYMAR EMBURY II "1
WILSON EYRE Jury :
CHARLES BARTON KEEN > of
JOHN RUSSELL POPE Award
ALEXANDER B. TROWBRIDGE J
"PRESIDENT'S HOUSE" AT WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA.
This house was used by President Madison during his visits to White Sulphur Springs. Practically all the old Southern watering-places were built in this manner, the occasional two-story building connected by long one-story ranges, with a piazza so constructed that one could be always under cover. It was, perhaps, from these groups that Jefferson derived his scheme for the University of Virginia. The ranges were never more than one room deep, so that through ventilation was insured, and most of the rooms were not connected, family accommodations being provided by two-story buildings, or by small detached one-story buildings containing three or four small rooms side by side. The dining-room and recreation rooms were in the central building. The architectural interest of what is known to most people as purely a pleasure resort led to the selection of White Sulphur Springs for the Judgment, and not the least pleasing function of the Jury was the examination of this old work, dating as it does from 1760 to 1820, and including many varieties of early wooden architecture.
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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A HOUSE TO COST TWELVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS 17
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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28
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
A WHITE PINE HOVSE
MENTION, Design No. 194
Submitted by Benj. Schreyer, New York, N. Y.
A HOUSE TO COST TWELVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS 29
A WHITE PINE HOVSE
MENTION, Design No. 194, Detail Sheet
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
MENTION, Design No. 193
Submitted by C. M. Foster and W. M. Smith, New York, N. Y.
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THE WHITE PINE SPECIFICATION BOOK
CONTAINING
CLASSIFIED RECOMMENDED USES FOR WHITE PINE IN HOUSE CONSTRUCTION AND WHITE PINE STANDARD GRADING RULES
SINCE the painstaking architect is under continual pressure for time in which to perform his various daily duties, it may not be amiss to remind him that the use of the WHITE PINE SPECIFICATION BOOK, recently sent to his office, is most simple, and the infor- mation disseminated most valuable. There are only three rapid references to be made to insure concise and comprehensive use of the book. First — the General Explanatory Preface should be read, then Instructions for the Use of this Book, which in turn refer to Classified Recom- mended Uses for White Pine in House Construc- tion. In these three briefly covered subjects is embodied all that is necessary to make this manual a practical reference book on White Pine —all other subject matter being supplemental thereto; and through the foregoing simple pro- cedure the busy architect can obtain the facts necessary to specify definitely the grade of White Pine lumber suitable for any given use. If, however, there be a desire to study care- fully the White Pine Grading Rules, the book contains complete information on the entire subject.
In the compilation of the WHITE PINE SPECIFICATION BOOK, it was realized that any- thing less than full and complete information covering a subject so involved as lumber grades would be inadequate, superficial, and perhaps even misleading. For this reason this SPECIFICATION BOOK purposely has been made a most fully detailed resume of the subject, de- signed to supply the architect with complete and dependable data which can be absolutely relied upon, not forgetting a most carefully prepared cross-index to insure quickest possible reference.
With the care exercised in its preparation, it is our hope and belief that the book will be really prized in the drafting room for its effi- ciency and in the specifications department for the accuracy of its information.
As the book has been "Compiled for Archi- tects' Use in Specifying White Pine Lumber," if there be any architect's office which has not received it, may we be notified, that our over- sight may be corrected?
WHITE PINE BUREAU,
MERCHANTS BANK BUILDING,
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA
The subject of the fourteenth Monograph will be "The Bristol Renaissance," showing examples of domestic architecture in Rhode Island. Descriptive text by Joy Wheeler Dow, Architect
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
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Colonial Cottages -
New England Colonial Houses -------
Farm Houses of New Netherlands ------
Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies - - - -
Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts -----
Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley - - - -
A Suburban House and Garage
Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in Connecticut
Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland -
Three-Story Houses of New England
Early Wooden Architecture of Andover, Massachusetts
Old Houses of Newburyport, Massachusetts - - - -
32
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury II Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier Richard Arnold Fisher
rrffffffffffffffffffffrf
An Archite ct ural
MONO GRAPH 0/2
"Renaissance
^Prepared for 'Publication by
HuJfeUP Whitehead formerly Editor
of The Architectural Re cord
and The Brickb u iJder
1®
THE DE WOLF-MYDDLETON HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. Detail of East Front. RUSSELL WARREN, ARCHITECT.
Built in 1808 by Hon. William De Wolf. Situated on the Papasquae Road to Bristol Neck. Now the home of the Misses Mvddleton.
PI
ARCHITECTURAL
NL
MONO GRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHTECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AN) ITS A/ALABLITY TOW AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. Ill
OCTOBER, 1917
No. 5
THE BRISTOL RENAISSANCE
By JOY WHEELER DOW
Mr. Dow is a natir'e of Greenwich Village, and a descendant of Thomas Dow — "Ye Wheelwright of Ipswich." As an architect, naturally, he was attracted by the Genre Architecture of America, to which he has devoted much study. He believes that a story should be woven, by the imagination, into every architectural creation. He believes that we have as excellent and distinctive a Renaissance development as has England, France, Spain or Italy, albeit a development largely of wood. Besides many magazine articles and the story "Miss Polly bairfax," Mr. Dow is the author of "American Renaissance,'
EDITOR'S NOTE.
also the Revised Golden Rule. —
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN A. BUCKLY AND THE AUTHOR
THE title for this number of the White Pine Series of Architectural Mono- graphs respectfully refers to a short but brilliant art movement in Bristol, Rhode Is- land, during the interregnum following the grand epoch of Washington and his contempo- raries, but before the banal, transitional times inaugurated with General Jackson to the Presi- dency in 1829. It is usual to call all architecture erected in this country during this interregnum, "Early Nineteenth Century Work"; but it has seemed to me that an architectural development at once so characteristic, so suffused with local color as to make it dissimilar to any other con- temporaneous work, yet so excellent all the time, as was exploited by Russell Warren, archi- tect, his apprentices and co-workers in Bristol, is quite worthy of a classification by itself. It was, indeed, a new school of Renaissance that fla- grantly strayed from the rules of Vignola and the Italian authorities, yet preserved the dra- matic note — the story-telling note — without which no architecture can succeed, and with which all is forgiven, like —
"St. Augustine in his fine confessions Which make the reader envy his transgressions."
The Bristol Renaissance was brought about by a great influx of wealth to Bristol, the profits of two highly remunerative commercial enter- prises (or Mwcommercial, if you prefer) known respectively as privateering and slave-trading. It made L'Afcadio Hearn sad, when he visited Martinique, to note the abysses of decay and death out of which sprang the orchids and other exquisite flora of the island. And that was only vegetable dissolution of no very great conse-
quence. How would it have affected him had he meditated upon those fetid cargoes of be- trayed blacks stowed in ships which once plied their trade between Africa and this country. How does it affect us now, used as we are to the harrowing details of present-day war, to be told that out of this unholy traffic in flesh and blood grew many of the charming Bristol houses?
But let us not look upon an unavoidable cir- cumstance too gloomily, nor yet uncharitably. Have you ever tried to grow vegetables in your garden? Does not your experience controvert the exaggerated idea of the Socialist about the fertility of the earth? Have you not come to believe that the man with the axe, standing be- fore his rude cabin, vignetted on the five-dollar bills, has arrived at about as high a state of civilization and comfort as he can, unless, in- deed, he goes in for a little genteel privateering and slave-trading — in gentler words, a little robbing of Peter to pay Paul? And how may we, who go into ecstasy over the irresistible mag- netism of these Bristol houses, — who covet the carved details of their doorways, their parapet rails with eagles and other ornament, their en- trancing garden walls and gates, their interior graces, the elliptic stairways, the refined cornices and wainscots, — ever hope to possess anything in the way of a home half as satisfying, unless we have resources besides an axe and two willing hands, unless the necessities of other people make this dream of life possible for us? If it has to be — why, then, all right; only we much prefer that circumstances beyond our control divert the efforts and earnings of others to our gain, rather than our own planning and cupidity.
Never mind; the Samuel Mclntyre of Bristol
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
DOORWAY ON HOPE STREET, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. Typical of the Bristol Renaissance.
— Russell Warren — did his part, and, I imagine, got very little of the plunder. John McComb received scarcely a draughtsman's salary for de- signing New York's beautiful City Hall which everybody raves over. A painting by Troyon of two very ordinary milch cows recently fetched some fifty thousand dollars at an art sale. Well, the City Hall is like a cubical Troyon. It has three dimensions, and should have been worth to the city inestimably more than if it were a mere veneer of pigment upon canvas for the Metro- politan Museum. McComb's honorarium for this piece of work alone should have been — a competency. Why is it that so many great archi- tects have fared so meanly? Why have their very names been obliterated from their work, while the work itself becomes more and more celebrated?
I do not know that Russell Warren was quite so much of a dilettante as was his contemporary, Samuel Mclntyre, in Salem; that he was a mu- sician as well as an architect: but he had the same impeccable taste, the same intuitive refinement, the same psychology which made it a cardinal principle of his atelier to express with clean and
aromatic White Pine as much family devotion, sacrifice and bienseance — which alone make life worth living — as possible. He could not help it if some of his nouses afterward became the scenes of tragedies (as Alice Morse Earle once wrote me they did), or that the owl fiacres of Paris and Vienna are no busier upon question- able errands than have been those of Bristol. Wealth brutalizes the same as does poverty; only, I should say, more swiftly and surely.
M. Gabriel, the architectural talent of Louis XV, who produced the Pompadour theatre at Versailles, — constructed of White Pine and other woods for acoustic effects, — may have been a very devout and exemplary person, although in the pay of a dissolute king. Russell Warren gave to Bristol chaste and honest architecture, thereby imparting to the town the indefinable charm of its home atmosphere, as well as most of its historic value — two material assets which have become evanescent in many of the older cities and villages of New England in the path of a ruthless commercialism. Let us be thank- ful that Bristol remains intact — a show town of the old regime.
Unlike other show towns, however, the life of
DOORWAY, CORNER OF UNION AND HIGH STREETS, BRISTOL. RHODE ISLAND
THE BRISTOL RENAISSANCE
Bristol does not focus about its common, but ranges up and down Hope Street, an incompara- ble highway affording unexpected glimpses of the water of Narragansett Bay at every cross street, and ending in a marine prospect scarcely inferior to that of a drive out of Naples. If you go down to the wharves close at hand, you will spy across the water two very imposing estates — the De Wolf-Myddleton and De Wolf- Mudge, respectively. They are on the Papas- quae road to Bristol Neck, another drive of no less enchantment. It is pretty, also, over at Mount Hope — only, don't stop there: for that would mean social extinction. As the vergers of the cathedrals of Europe are fond of pointing out to you the little inaccuracies of the mediaeval builders, without prejudice to the wonderful structures themselves, only lending additional interest thereto, I will tell you that the two great columns of the water front of the De Wolf- Myddleton house have square capitals fitted upon round shafts, but which are up so high from the platform of the portico, that undoubt- edly, it was hoped, nobody would notice them. They tell you that "Captain Jim De Wolf" — the most unscrupulous and successful of his contem- poraries— planned to build a young Trianon on
DORCH 6; RHODE
6 HOPE STREET. ISLAND.
DOORWAY, CAPTAIN SPRAGUE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND.
the west side of Bristol Common; and I have seen lengths of building stone half buried in the grass there, that tradition says were to face the foundations of the main pavilion. His semi- rural manse just off Church Street, erected in 1803, was, however, where he lived at the time he fitted out the privateer Yankee, that terror to the commerce of Great Britain, but a gold-mine in prize-money to many an American sailor. From here he used to journey all the way to Washington to attend Congress, in a family state coach. When I visited the "Captain Jim" house, now many years since, some sinister influence seemed to be silently at work. Perhaps, it is only fitting for its legend, that a dramatic conflagra- tion should have occurred in the last act.
One hundred years ago, the amplification of the cupola motive was carried to excess in Rhode Island, all prototypes being finally eclipsed by the Norris house at Bristol. The cupola came within three feet of covering the entire roof: and yet the Norris house is particularly nice with its double parapet rail. The Villa Doria Pamphili at Rome has an amplified Rhode Is- land cupola; but will you contend that the pro- portions of this villa are as successful as those of
THE DE WOLF-MYDDLETON HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. Detail of West Front and Entrance. RUSSELL WARREN, ARCHITECT.
THE BRISTOL RENAISSANCE
the Norris house, even if it be considered the finest of Roman vil- las, and was erected by Pope Innocent X for his nephew, Prince Pamphili. We should refuse to be Raspu- tined in matters of art, though friends betray their apprehension in exclaiming, "My dear, my dear, you have — courage!" It does take courage to compare a wooden Colonial ex- emplar with any one of the Italian palaces of the Renaissance, and more courage to insist that the former has the better lines and proportion. Ver- balizing the name of the Russian monk, or instancing the influ- ence that Svengali exerted over Trilby, is
Detail of West Front. THE DE WOLF-MYDDLETON HOUSE, BRISTOL, R. I.
sufficient, however, to visualize the only ne- mesis there is to dread. The splayed lintels of wood placed over the windows of so many of the Bristol houses, however, in imitation of construc- tive masonry, are a distinctly false note of design; but Russell Warren was not re- sponsible for this, be- cause it was done all over Rhode Island be- fore his time. Even the stately mansions in the neighborhood of Benefit Street in Providence did not escape. The window heads of the De Wolf- Colt house are legiti- mate, although I never approve of such lofty windows dominating (Continued on page 10)
THE DE WOLF-MYDDLETON HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. Water Front. Russell Warren gave to Bristol chaste and honest architecture, thereby imparting to the town its indefinable charm of home atmosphere.
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an admirably proportioned doorway with Co- lonial transom and side-lights, as is shown by illustration below. I was told by Colonel Colt that the late James Renwick, architect, always
De Wolf-Colt house is far more successful on the exterior than it is in the interior. Surmounting the cornice is the characteristic Bristol parapet rail, broken by raised sections at regular inter-
THE DE WITT-COLT HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. Built in 1810. It has a remarkable attic portico.
commended this elevation, and thought that the shallowness of the portico — shallow for its great height — enhanced a certain successful effect that otherwise could not have been attained. The
vals, — to dignify the panels, I suppose, — and unlike any other rails of the Colonial school.
The most beautiful parapet rail of the Bristol Renaissance is the one which crowns the cornice
THE BRISTOL RENAISSANCE
ii
SIDE ELEVATION AND GARDEN.
THE MORICE-BABBIT HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. The house is flush with the sidewalk, its garden rail a continuation of the front wall. Built by Mr. Morice in the early nineteenth century.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE NORRIS HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. Date about 1810. Celebrated for its exaggerated amplification of the Rhode Island cupola motif until it covers, practically, the entire roof of the building.
THE CABOT-CHURCHILL HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND. "House with the Eagles."
THE BRISTOL RENAISSANCE
of the Cabot-Churchill house (House with the Eagles). The four eagles, one poised over each corner, were carved out of wood, according to tradition, by sailors of the intrepid Yankee, of which Captain Churchill was sometime master. A century's vicissitudes have not fazed them. The Morice house, standing just over the way, could have no rail, because of the introduction of a flattened gable and lunette window into its
have no idea what use could have been found for quite so many dependencies. These are the things, however, which bespeak each one help- ing to drag the "coach" up-hill, instead of add- ing his own weight to the toil and fatigue of the straining team. They bespeak rising betimes and helping with the fires, the wood-chopping — helping with the breakfast. Yes, the kitchen is the engine-room of the ship of life, and demands
Detail, House on Hope Street. CARVED WOOD CAPITALS.
Detail, Parker-Borden House. HOUSES IN BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND.
hip roof; and the front door opens not into an imposing hall, which one might naturally expect, but into a tiny entry from which a corkscrew staircase "goes up like lightning," as a carpenter would say, after the manner of the old witch- houses in Massachusetts — the Capen house at Topsfield and the Saltonstall house at Ipswich. But there is no house in Bristol which sounds the dramatic home note with a truer ring than does the Morice house, the domestic offices of which extend to the rear, seemingly, in endless sequence — laundry, dairy, coal-bins, woodshed, tool-house, smoke-house maybe — I am sure I
our keenest solicitude, so very little carelessness here may upset the plans of a lifetime. Unless an architect has this breakfast feeling, I doubt if he will ever succeed with the plan of a dwell- ing-house.
I am not afraid to say it, at a time, too, of the strictest censorship, that a selfish, fallacious, don't-miss-anything-in-life philosophy is indi- rectly responsible for seventy-five per cent, of the ill-advised architecture that is erected, which is a pity the more when the draughtsmanship that is taught in our schools is so painstaking and good.
THE PARKER-BORDEN HOUSE, BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND.
THE CIVILIZATION OF COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND REFLECTED IN WHITE PINE
By LAMONT ROWLANDS
^ice-President, The C. A. Goodyear Lumber Company, Chicago, Illinois
THE cultural longings of a people express themselves in the fine arts; their achieve- ments in literature, painting, sculpture and architecture record what manner of men they are, and reflect the true state of their civili- zation.
Art has been defined as "man's expression of his need for the beautiful." So fundamental is this need that there are traces of it from the very beginnings of man's struggle upward: true evi- dence that he is fashioned in the image of God, for nothing is more ennobling and more uplift- ing than the striving for the beautiful. And, in turn, nothing has so great a moral influence on a people as the truly beautiful in literature, art and architecture.
For this reason the architecture of Colonial New England — and the dominant part that White Pine played in it — is of more than pass- ing interest. New England represented the highest cultural achievement among the Col- onies. It was not the richest territory, the cul- ture of the individuals may have been no higher than in other sections, but conditions were more favorable to the cultural development of the community. It was more homogeneous, being settled almost entirely by the English, whereas the middle Colonies embraced a mixture of races —English, Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French; it was more thickly settled than the southern Colonies, which were also almost entirely Eng- lish.
The architecture of Colonial New England is not, however, a slavish following of English precedents. It was tempered by the sojourn of the Puritans in Holland and by the changed conditions of their environment in the new country. It is a curious fact that historians have only recently begun to trace the influence of other than English institutions on Colonial in- stitutions, although other influences than Eng- lish have always been apparent in the architec- ture of the period.
The part that White Pine played in the archi- tecture of New England was not altogether acci- dental. The men who settled there came from parts of England where wood construction was almost universal. They were familiar with wood — they knew how to use it; and so natu- rally in their new surroundings they turned to wood, although stone and clay were to be had in every settlement.
What joy must have been theirs to find such a wood as White Pine! — abundant on every hand, readily yielding to their rough tools, quickly providing in their first log cabins both shelter from the weather and protection from the savages.
There is something about White Pine that in- spires. It has always had a fascination for men who handle it. Of no other wood do lumbermen speak with such admiration — almost reverence. "Good old White Pine" — there's a lot of real sentiment bound up in that phrase.
Following the log cabin stage came the be- ginnings of American architecture, based on precedents brought from overseas, yet full of originality, full of expression of the strong Puri- tan character, and admirably adapted to their needs. The new country made its impress on Colonial architecture just as it did on Colonial literature. Necessity and utility were the domi- nant influences.
Nevertheless there is a rugged beauty in those early White Pine houses and churches that truly expresses the Puritan's love of home and rever- ence for God. Recall some of the old New England houses — the sturdiness, the fearlessness, yes, the faith and hopefulness they express. Se- vere, to be sure; crude, perhaps — yet pure in line, well balanced and well proportioned — above all, simple and dignified, and built by an honest craftsmanship to endure; despite their short- comings, so fundamentally correct architectu- rally that they are to-day an inspiration to ar- chitects who are once again trying to develop a typical American architecture.
The second period of Colonial architecture began with the first quarter of the eighteenth century, when the economic development of the Colonies had brought affluence to many families in New England. Men now had time to think of the finer things of life, and possessed the means to acquire them. The new country had been subdued, it had been made safe, necessity and utility were no longer the governing con- siderations. In this period, which continued until the early part of the nineteenth century, when American architecture degenerated to the ignoble depths from which it is only now rising, were built those stately mansions and those noble churches which still stand in all parts of New England.
The Georgian style influenced the builders of
>5
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
this period. Once again the architecture of Eng- hand is drawn on, but, as in the earlier days, adapted rather than reproduced. Instead of the severity of the earlier buildings we find a con- scious effort to adorn the exterior. Ornamental details add a grace and charm hitherto almost entirely lacking. The Colonists have become more worldly, the sternness of the pioneers has softened — the indomitable spirit of the Fathers remains, but under happier conditions it ex- presses itself in a happier vein; and while the new architectural style is no longer simple, it still retains the dignity of the old.
The Georgian style in England was for the most part executed in stone, but the builders in New England held to the material with which they were thoroughly familiar. Their White Pine was especially adaptable to its intricate details. With infinite patience and love for their craft they wrought those beautiful doorways, delicate mouldings, splendid cornices, and grace- ful columns that still excite our admiration. Their interiors, too, they embellished with their admirable panelling, stairways and doorways, and their exquisite mantels and mouldings.
If we had no other record of Colonial New England than its architecture we could still trace its material and social progress. In an unbroken line, the succession of homes from the crude farm-house of the earliest period to the more pretentious mansions of the later period tell the story of the economic development, the struggle with the Indians and the daily life of the fore- fathers. The churches tell us of their divine aspirations, and represent their spiritual life. Together the houses and churches truly express the purity, the simplicity, the sternness, the strength of character, the unconquerable will, the love of home and love of God of the Pilgrim Fathers, "the greatest moral force the world has known"; step by step they unfold the mas- tery of the new country, the material progress, and the development of the social life, culmi- nating in the era of prosperity, culture and refinement at the close of the Colonial period.
Fortunate, indeed, that this story was recorded in so durable a material as White Pine. What good fortune for us that the forefathers found such a wood awaiting them on "the stern and rock-bound coast." And what a lesson to us in the selection of woods for home-building!
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, No. i. Colonial Cottages
Vol. I, No. 2. New England Colonial Houses
Vol. I, No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands - •""."."
Vol. II, No. i. Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies -
Vol. 1 1, No. 2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts
Vol. 1 1, No. 3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley
Vol. 1 1, No. 4. A Suburban House and Garage -
Vol. II, No. 5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in
Connecticut .-_
Vol. 1 1, No. 6. Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Vol. Ill, No. i. Three-Story Houses of New England - - - -
Vol. 1 1 1, No. 2. Early Wooden Architecture of Andover, Massachusetts
Vol. 1 1 1, No. 3. Old Houses of Newburyport, Massachusetts -
Vol. Ill, No. 4. A White Pine House to Cost |i2, 500.00 -
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury II Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier Richard Arnold Fisher Report of Jury of Award
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ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
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Vol. Ill
DECEMBER, 1917
No. 6
THE EARLY DWELLINGS OF NANTUCKET
Bv J. A. SCHWEINFURTH
Mr. Schiveinfurth was born in central New York. He practiced architecture in Cleveland, Ohio, and for some years lias been located in Boston. Massachusetts. Of him the late William E. Chamberlain, architect, of Boston, said, "He is a master of the fourth dimension," and the late Frank E. Kidder, architect, of Den- ver, Colorado, ". . . a master of the light and pathos of our craft." — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN A. BUCKLY
ON the diamond-leaded panes of the win- dows in a certain ancient manor house in Old England, one reads this inscription:
GOD
BY THIS MEANS
HATH SENT
WHAT I ON THIS
HOUSE HAVE SPENT
and: -r -r
ALL PRAYSE BE UNTO HIS
NAME THAT GAVE ME
MEANS TO BUILD THE SAME
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This is accompanied by a couple of screws of tobacco and several pipes — indicating that to- bacco did it.
On this quaint old island of Nantucket, all that is left to indicate the source of the one time wealth which built the fine old houses and man- sions, are the numerous weather vanes bearing a whale, "right" or "sperm," which appear in the most unexpected places, giving an unmistakable "local color" to many a very interesting vista. There is, also, the characteristic "Captain's Walk" — a simple balustraded platform sup- ported on posts resting on the sides of the gabled roofs, built to obtain a view of incoming and outgoing vessels. For in those days a whaling cruise often lasted years, and the homecoming was a matter of the very greatest interest to all. If one looks through the collection of the Nan- tucket Historical Society, and studies certain musty old volumes in Nantucket's most ad- mirably conducted Public Library, there will
gradually emerge certain historical facts explain- ing the peculiar character which distinguishes the Colonial work here, from that existing any- where else.
Nantucket was from its earliest days an At- lantic outpost far from the mainland. Its peo- ple, who were mostly English, from their very isolation became an independent, self-sufficient folk, almost a law unto themselves. More than one commission was sent from the mainland to set them right with their Colonial Governors who claimed authority over them. Quakerism was brought over from England, and from that time on the history of Nantucket is the story of the rise and fall of the Quakers. These people, so named according to Fox, the eminent English missionary of their sect, because at the mention of their Maker's name every one should tremble, were at first a simple folk, making much of personal liberty and man's natural rights, which, however, did not keep them from owning slaves both red and black; nor, while strongly advo- cating temperance, prevent them from taking in- toxicating drinks. Adopting forms of speech designed to be a protest against caste, they did not protest against such caste. "While they ruled, it was like unto the days of Noah — all Quakers were safe within the Ark, and all out- siders were drowned in a Sea of Sin."
Many joined their church because they paid no salaries to their preachers, and their meeting- houses were of the simplest style, free from all ostentation, as were their laws; the dues, there- fore, were light, and these characteristics natu- rally were reflected in their simple, plain archi- tecture. It is this simplicity of form, this ab-
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
sence of small and enriched detail, together with a simple but well-proportioned mass, with a mas- tery of the "fourth dimension," — things which did not cost a great deal of money, but which did require some expenditure of thought, — that im- press one to-day as he wanders through the weed- grown streets, which are bathed in such brilliant sunlight as one gets only on a sunny day at sea; for this island is anchored thirty miles out at sea, with the Gulf Stream only sixty miles away. Standing on the boisterous beach at 'Sconset looking over the tumultuous breakers toward the East, the nearest land is Spain.
tain rule-of-thumb following of Greek precedent, influenced by hands and hearts which have builded many ships; a certain tightness, of ship- shape-ness; newel posts, rails, etc., suggest the crude but strong and rugged work of the ship's carpenter. They look as if they had weathered many a salty storm and stress, and yet inexpen- sive— there is no ostentatious display. As Qua- kerism declined, and fortunes began to be made rapidly in whalebone and oil, the wealthy "Sea Captains" built more imposing mansions, such as the two porticoed houses on Main Street at the corner of Pleasant Street — two veritable
TWO HOUSES IN MAIN STREET, NANTUCKET.
The one nearer, the Kent House, is, all things considered, one of the best of the small houses in Nantucket, with typical doorway; it has the clean-cut, chaste effect of Greek work, and is totally devoid of all effort. The body of the house is a beautiful warm gray, the finish white; it is remarkably well kept up by a very appreciative owner.
The accompanying illustrations give clearly a suggestion of the strong clear light and deep transparent shadow on sun-flecked clapboards, cornice and doorway of many of the houses. There are the simplest expedients adopted to obtain these shadows — for example, one often finds over a door or window a seven eighths of an inch board projecting about four inches, often with no bed mould, giving just the right pro- jection for an effective shadow. There is a cer-
classic temples in white pine — one in the Greek, the other in the Roman feeling.
In Nantucket's palmy days it ranked third in the list of the wealthiest towns of Massachu- setts— after Boston and Salem. Her churches, "built out of full pockets and with willing hearts," were well filled with solid wealthy men. The Unitarians were said to be "so wealthy that they could have built their churches of mahog- any, and gilded them all over."
THE EARLY DWELLINGS OF NANTUCKET
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE MARIA MITCHELL HOUSE IN VESTAL STREET, NANTUCKET.
Erected in 1790. Birthplace of the great astronomer — one of the famous women of America. This shows a good example of the "Captain's Walk" on the roof.
'DUTCH CAP" HOUSE IN MAIN STREET, NANTUCKET. Known as the "Bucknam House."
THE EARLY DWELLINGS OF NANTUCKET
These were the times when Nantucket counted in the affairs of the great world. Its bold sea- men, its enterprising and skilful merchants and whale hunters brought to it fame and fortune. Earlier in its history it had sent to England with a cargo of oil, etc., the two vessels, the "Beaver" and the "Dartmouth." Loaded with tea, they sailed on the return voyage to Boston, where was held the historic "Boston Tea Party." All but a very few chests of tea were thrown
Square a few steps down a quiet weedy little lane, there nestles a discreet doorway with the legend "Somerset Club" over its chaste portal. In the rooms of the Nantucket Historical So- ciety, among the relics testifying to this Island's past greatness, one may read the very interesting Log books of the bold whale hunters. These are often quaintly illustrated — sometimes with the number of whales taken on the day of entry, each drawn out in solid black. A few extracts
HOUSE ON ACADEMY HILL. Known as the "Captain Roland Gardner House."
A brilliant white house with deep green blinds and surrounded with very dark green foliage, giving a very opulent color effect.
overboard. The remaining ones were taken by the Captains to Nantucket, and disposed of ad- vantageously and with some discretion. This is the tradition as set forth by some of the descend- ants of these "Sea Cap'ns," sitting about the huge coal stove set in a circular sawdust arena, protected by a gas-pipe foot-rest, in the center of the "Captains' Room" in the ancient Rotch Building at the lower end of the Town Square. Just opposite is the very exclusive Union Club, which boasts of its works of art. And across the
from the Sea Journal of Peleg ("Pillick") Folger will give an illuminating sidelight on the char- acter of these men. It will be inferred that "Pil- lick" was what is known in our times as a "good sport" — quoting consoling or congratulatory texts, according to whether the day was a profit- able one or not.
''July ist. Nantucket bears N.E. 324 miles. We had a good breakfast upon meat and doboys & we are all merry together. A
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THE EARLY DWELLINGS OF NANTUCKET
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slippery kind of breeze — only we wish we could get some spermaceti."
'July 8th. This day we spy'd Spermacetis & we kill'd one. If we get whale enough we may be able to go home in a fortnight. 'Death Summons all men to the silent grave.' "
'July gth. Lat. 36-18 Longt. 73-0. Noth- ing remarkable this 24 hours only dull times and Hot weather & no whales to be seen. Much toil and labour mortal man is
And after hard weather and no whales:
"And so one day passeth after another & every Day brings us nearer to our Grave and all human employments will be at an end."
This Island during its long career suffered many disasters at home as well as in its ventures on the far seas. On a fine midsummer day in the year 1846, as usual, the coopers, spar makers, riggers, sail makers, and iron smiths were making
THE DYER HOUSE, No. 9 MILK STREET, NANTUCKET.
This is one of the most interesting houses in the town and is remarkable for its color and proportion. In rambler rose season there is a mass of crimson and green against a background of pinkish gray with white finish. This house is owned by some very appreciative "off-islanders" and has been kept up with a great deal of loving care.
forced to endure & little profit to be got out of it."
"and we struck a large Spermaceti and killed her ... and we hoisted her head about 2 foot above water and then we cut a scuttle in her head, and a man got in up to his Armpits and dipt almost 6 Hogsheads of clear Oyle out of her case besides 6 more out of her Noddle. He certainly doth but the right that mingles profit with delight."
harpoons, lances and knives, the cordage factories turning out ropes and rigging — all noisily ply- ing their trades — the busy wharves alive with the loading of stores and unloading of cargoes of oil, and the huge drays rumbling over the cobbles with their great casks of sperm oil or huge bun- dles of whalebone bound for the commodious warehouses. Now the great bell in the Old South belfry booms out an alarm; the great fire which is to mark the decline of the Town's pros- perity is raging. The intense heat from the burning burst the casks and hogsheads of oil, and their fiery contents spread a burning flood
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
DOORWAY IN QUINCE STREET, NANTUCKET.
The body of the house is a light gray with white finish. The door is of the most vivid emerald green with a brass latch; the lattice supporting a rambler rose bush and with a golden door- mat on a rose pink brick sidewalk makes a riot of brilliant color.
over the harbor. In twenty-four hours the flames swept clean an area of thirty-six acres in the center of the Town, impoverishing more than two hundred families.
After this blow, from which the Town never recovered, the use of 'lard oil for illuminating began to be popular, and the recently discovered mineral oils of Pennsylvania brought a flood of oil which completely submerged the whale oil industry. So the business of whaling, in which so much of the capital of the people was invested, declined rapidly. Tl.c more enterprising men left for the mainland — some for California in the Gold Rush of '49. The last whaling ship left the port in 1869. In time, a stranded ship and a poor old widow were quoted as fit emblems of this quaint old seaport town.
Its population of real Nantucketers of about three thousand is swelled in a good season by from seven to ten thousand "off-islanders," among these being many seekers after health; its peculiar breezes which blow all day long, its sea air and its mild and fairly stable temperature of not over 82°, while on the mainland the ther-
mometer reaches 100° and over, make it a fa- vorite retreat for nervous invalids and seekers after sleep and rest.
The residents say that many of the fine houses were taken apart and transported by schooners to the mainland, and there re-erected — some landing in the vicinity of New York City. The white pine used almost exclusively in these houses is said by some to have come from Maine, which is not far away, by others to have grown on the Island; and they point to huge rotting stumps sometimes unearthed in certain wet places about the Island.
Most of the doors used were of but two panels — and sometimes one — the panels being in one piece often over twenty-five inches wide. In the Maria Mitchell house there is a white pine door three feet wide and six feet high and about one inch thick, painted white, made up of two pieces, one piece being twenty-seven inches wide, stand- ing perfectly free from warping, and fitted with fine wrought-iron strap hinges, and a massive polished mahogany latch and fittings, giving to this white door an air of elegance, and all no doubt the work of some good old ship carpenter.
PORCH OF ONE OF THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY HOUSES OF NANTUCKET.
Showing peculiar cornice with heavy consoles simply sawed out of white pine planks.
THE EARLY DWELLINGS OF NANTUCKET
DOORWAY, CORNICE, ETC., OF A LITTLE HOUSE ON ACADEMY HILL, NANTUCKET.
While the photographer was proceeding without haste to "get" this house, the owner, in carpet slippers and shirt sleeves, ap- peared, and with some show of feeling inquired: "Now what is the matter of this house? All you fellows are photographing it and drawing it and sketching it and measuring it. What is it?" "It" was the moulded pilasters, the finely proportioned doorway, the cornice with its inexpensive but effective sawed tongues, and the lintels over the windows.
The sashes in this house are of white pine a scant inch in thickness, with muntins one inch wide enclosing panes of glass about six inches wide by eight and three-eighths inches high; the doors, in general, being about two feet four inches wide, and fifteen sixteenths of an inch thick, of two panels in height, — so it will be seen no pine was wasted.
The interior partitions were usually not sup- porting partitions, the floors being carried by heavy beams mortised into heavy girts, corner posts, etc., which were exposed and painted. The partitions were, therefore, mere curtains, being made of unplaned seven eighths inch pine boards, eight to ten inches wide, with two or three inches of space between each, set vertically and nailed at floor and ceiling. In this was worked the door frame and then it was lathed and plastered on both sides, making a perfectly durable partition for such low-studded rooms — not over two and three eighths inches thick, and withal very rea-
sonable in cost, compared with our massive two by four stud partition in these days of reckless waste. The plastering is uncommonly hard and durable. Though economical in most ways, the builders of those early days were lavish in the use of bricks, the chimneys usually being large and massive; and in the basement of old houses one often sees curious methods of brick arching and vaulting, the mortar used appearing to be a sort of light clay, crumbling to the touch, but having been serviceable for over a hundred years. Nantucket's streets are quiet now. Many of its best houses are owned by "off-islanders" from far- away prosperous cities, who occupy them only in the vacation season. The hum of the busy shops is heard no more — and the deep rumble of the heavily laden dray with its huge hogsheads of oil bumping over the cobbled streets has given way to the rattle of the beach wagon with its summer visitors, passengers bound for the bathing beach or the melancholy ride across the somber moors, to where the huge rollers, after a journey of three thousand miles across the stormy Atlantic, break on this bleak and barren shore.
Entrance Porch.
THE FOLGER HOUSE IN CENTER STREET, NANTUCKET.
PORCH OF THE MIXTER HOUSE ON ACADEMY HILL, NANTUCKET.
This shows, besides some peculiarly grooved detail, the remarkable decorative effect of Eng- lish ivy, which flourishes well in Nantucket, and day lily leaves against a clear warm gray clapboarded house. The white pine clapboards have a suggestion of a bead on their edge.
A NEW FACTOR IN WHITE PINE
SERVICE
How long can you keep up the standard of ar- chitectural interest in the White Pine Mono- graph Series?
Is there enough White Pine lumber left to war- rant this effort to promote its use?
Does the Monograph Series produce actual sales of White Pine?
Architects have asked these questions continu- ously since the inception of the Monograph Series three years ago. Let us answer them here, in order that the policy which animates our work may be better understood.
Fifteen Monographs have been issued. Each one has given the architect photographic evidence, never before published, of the good taste and craftsmanship of our forefathers as home-build- ers. They built their houses of White Pine. True, this wood was in their back-yards, but they chose it, not so much for its accessibility as because of its inherent merits. That they made a wise selection from the wide choice of woods before them is proved by the pictures which we have presented in this Series.
Houses throughout New England, New Nether- lands and along the eastern shore of Maryland, built during the later part of the Seventeenth Century and the Eighteenth Century, have been illustrated by photographs made especially for the Monograph Series. So thorough has been the work to date that there naturally arises this first question as to the future source of data that will be of equal interest and value to the archi- tect.
It is very gratifying to announce that the end is nowhere in sight. The states of Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Ver- mont contain much work which has hitherto re- mained unshown to the profession. The lower Delaware, the Mohawk and Genesee Valleys are filled with wood-built houses of high architec- tural merit. The towns of Marblehead, Litch- field, Providence and Newport have examples of domestic architecture erected centuries ago which are universally applicable to present-day prob- lems. Add to these examples of buildings, classi- fied geographically and chronologically according to periods, the "close-up" study of comparative details by means of accurate measured drawings, and it would appear that the Monograph Series
could promise to keep up its architectural inter- est for some time to come.
That we are right in assuming that we have aroused an interest in the White Pine Mono- graphs is evidenced by the three thousand four hundred and ten requests for title-page and index of the first and second volumes, furnished to architects who contemplated binding their copies for permanent service and use.
The second question, "Is there enough White Pine lumber available to warrant our effort to promote its use?" was forcibly answered by Mr. Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser in Volume II, Num- ber 5 of the Monograph Series. He stated that "it would be absurd to argue that the supply of White Pine timber is as great as it was years ago or that the White Pine manufacturers could long supply the United States with its entire lumber requirements. But for the many uses in house construction for which White Pine excels there is unquestionably an abundant supply for genera- tions to come." The statistics and figures given by Mr. Weyerhaeuser to prove his statement should be welcomed by the architectural profes- sion, who have been under the false impression for some years past that White Pine was scarce and very expensive, and so have been specifying substitute woods in its place, notwithstanding that they have always considered White Pine the best of all soft woods.
The continued availability of White Pine is more than a matter of statistics, convincing as they are. As one source of supply is cut over, new sources of supply develop. While they are more remote in point of miles, the development of transportation makes them less remote in point of time. All the sources supply the same White Pine, which is indigenous to a strip which has cli- mate and soil as constant factors. It is a great mistake to assume that the New England White Pine, from which such old landmarks as the Fair- banks House were built, is not the same White Pine as is available to-day, the same in natural characteristics, and in all the factors which make White Pine an excellent wood.
Does such literature as the Monograph Series produce actual sales of White Pine?
Do the Goodrich road markers, dotting the whole country, produce actual sales of Goodrich Tires?
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
How can John Wanamaker and Marshall Field afford to provide rest rooms and day nurseries in which never a purchase is solicited?
How can a leading manufacturer and refiner of railway lubricants afford to sell, not so many gallons of grease to American railroads, but merely contract to keep every piece of rolling stock properly lubricated for a given period?
Why is it that the Griffin Wheel Company no longer sells wheels but wheel service on a mileage basis?
The answer to all these questions is the same: There has been a rapid evolution in American business of recent years, to the great advantage of the consumer, and to the equal benefit, al- though less easily perceived, of the seller. If the lumber manufacturers have been backward in this development, they are none the less willing to acknowledge and subscribe to its worth right now.
The White Pine Monograph Series is simply one evidence that the lumber manufacturers have caught step with the times. They realize that no longer is it their function merely to sell White Pine, a tangible commodity. They realize that no longer is it enough that White Pine, because of its intrinsic qualities, does deliver on the job.
They know that to-day their function is the de- livery to the consumer, to his agents and to his professional advisers of all the White Pine ser- vice which it is their privilege to supply. They know now that White Pine itself is merely a com- modity-alibi for a far-reaching service.
As related to the consumer's professional ad- visers, the architectural profession, White Pine service means not alone the crisply cut mould-
ings, the weather resistance, the ability to hold paint, nor any of the many other qualities in- herent in the wood itself, which make up the White Pine service delivered on the job.
As related to the architect, the fullest measure of White Pine service must go back of that. It must include all the help the manufacturers can offer to the architect in selecting the grades of the commodity which will best suit his particular purpose, and in seeing that he is shown how to assure the fact that his needs are carried out by the building contractor and the retail lumber dealer. This service they have tried to deliver through the White Pine Specification Book, con- taining Classified Recommended Uses for White Pine in House Construction and White Pine Standard Grading Rules, and they are constantly striving to make service just as integral a part of their finished product as the grain of the wood itself.
Furthermore, White Pine service must include inspiration before the job. The cordial reception with which these Monographs have been met from all classes of the architectural profession proves that they are in a measure delivering in- spiration. In the accomplishment of that, this third question is answered, for inspiration before the job is just as much a part of that service which the manufacturers sell as a board of White Pine itself. They are glad to acknow- ledge their complete realization that to-day they are not merely offering White Pine, but a definite service, one part of which is the product known as White Pine. With this confession in mind, they beg of you to regard the Monograph Series as something for which they desire your heartiest cooperation, not only in use but in criticism, as they do of White Pine lumber itself.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, No. I. Colonial Cottages
Vol. I, No. 2. New England Colonial Houses
Vol. l,No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands - -
Vol. 1 1, No. i. Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies -
Vol. II, No. 2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts
Vol. II, No. 3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley
Vol. 1 1, No. 4. A Suburban House and Garage -"-.---
Vol. 1 1, No. 5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in
Connecticut ----
Vol. II, No. 6. Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Vol. 1 1 1, No. i. Three-Story Houses of New England -
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Early Wooden Architecture of Andover, Massachusetts
Vol. II I, No. 3. Old Houses of Newburyport, Massachusetts -
Vol. 1 1 1, No. 4. A White Pine House to Cost $12,500.00 -
Vol. I II, No. 5. The Bristol Renaissance
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury II Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier Richard Arnold Fisher Report of Jury of Award Joy Wheeler Dow
I
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An Architectural Monograph
°" M ARE LE H E AD «
Its Contribution to Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century American Architecture
&
"WlthTextby "WILLIAM TRVMAN MLDRICH
^Prepared for publication by Duffel I TWh\teheadformerly£ditor ofThe<51rchitectural ^ecorcf and The Br/ cKb uilde r
1)2 "Madifon^e. NewYorK N. Y.
THE LEE MANSION, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS. Entrance Porch Detail.
Formerly the home of Col. Jeremiah Lee. This house is now in the possession of the Marblehead Historical Society, and is filled with mementos of historical value.
T&WHITE, PINE,
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
ABI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES CJ WHITE PINE AND ITS /VALABLITY TODAf AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. IV
FEBRUARY, 1918
No. 1
MARBLEHEAD
ITS CONTRIBUTION TO EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE
By WILLIAM TRUMAN ALDRICH
Mr. Aldrich, a member of the firm of Bellows and Aldrich, was born in Washington, D. C. After his gradua- tion from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he went to Paris, where he received the Architecte Diplome par le Gouvernement. Upon his return to America, he worked with Stone, Carpenter and Wilson, of Providence, and with Carrere and Hastings, of New York. In the midst of active practice, he is able to devote much time to the work of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, of which he is a Trustee. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN A. BUCKLY
FROM the time of the earliest settlement in 1629 the townsmen of Marblehead, Mas- sachusetts, have shown qualities, in times of hardship and stress, of a very high order. Wars, sickness, fires and storms have all at vari- ous times sorely tried this little community and have developed a people justly distinguished for their fortitude and courage. The daily familiar- ity with danger and suffering of the men in the fishing fleet made a splendid training for the part they were to play in the wars of the Revo- lution and of 1812, and the pride in this tradi- tion of service was nobly sustained by the later generations in the time of the Civil War. Nor are the men of to-day one bit less patriotic and willing to do their share. Out of all proportion to its size and wealth has been Marblehead's contribution to the store of early American his- tory and legend, and the names of many of its men and women are part of the country's best heritage.
Salem is but four miles away and of course has somewhat eclipsed in popular interest its smaller neighbor, and the splendor of its Colo- nial architecture of the early nineteenth century has appealed to the imagination of architects and laymen more strongly than the humbler dwellings of the near-by town. But there is a tremendous amount of material to be found on the hilly, rocky peninsula of Marblehead, not only to satisfy the seeker for picturesqueness and
literary associations, but also for the study of early American architecture. While the penin- sula which is called Marblehead is about four miles long and from two miles to a mile and a half wide, the town itself, where almost all the old buildings are to be found, is perhaps two miles long by half a mile wide and extends along the harbor side. The site is very hilly and irregular and the coast-line very rocky. So the streets must needs wander about in a most de- lightfully casual way, and the houses must face every which way and the yards both back and front are necessarily restricted and form most charming terraces and gardens. The same char- acteristic steep streets descending to the water and tiers of houses rising above one another that have given Genoa and Naples and Quebec so much of their charm are here repeated on a smaller scale. The houses, while they are all free-standing, as befits this sturdy and indepen- dent people, are nevertheless built closely to gether for their mutual comfort and neighborli- ness. The irregularities of site have resulted in a greater variety of plan in many of the houses than can be met with in most of our New Eng- land communities, where the town sites are al- most uniformly flat.
As seen from the harbor or from the causeway that connects Marblehead Neck with the main- land, the silhouette of the town presents a picture unrivalled in this country for beauty of sky-line.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Abbot Hall, with its exceedingly graceful spire, was admirably designed and placed as a climax to the rising lines of the town. The shipping in the harbor (Marblehead is probably the most ac- tive yachting centre in the country), the trees, and the wonderful variety of roofs and chim- neys, all together make charming patterns within the long, harmonious contours of the hills.
like the House of Seven Gables in Salem, or the Cooper-Austin house in Cambridge, which im- mediately attracts the visitor's attention as an example of the earliest period of Colonial. By far the greatest number of dwellings date from the period of Marblehead's greatest prosperity, the middle of the eighteenth century.
The Revolution took a heavy toll of Marble-
A HOUSE ON THE SEA FRONT, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
Back of this austere old house appears a bit of Marblehead's harbor, which is one of the finest along the New England shore.
There is no New England town which shows so many old houses in a single coup d'oeil.
The most prevalent type of house is the wooden clapboard one with gable or gambrel roof and generous brick chimneys. Even the more pretentious houses on Washington Street are of wood; in fact, there are only five or six old houses to be found that are built of brick. While there are several houses dating from before 1700, there is not one whose exterior aspect remains in a form typical of the seventeenth century, and not one
head's resources in wealth of men and money, and we find few examples of the later period of Mclntyre and after.
Although the houses near Abbot Hall and on Washington Street are large and in a sense pre- tentious, and the Lee Mansion is one of the finest mansions in New England of its period, in gen- eral it is the homes of people of modest and humble circumstances that leave the most per- manent impress on the memory of the observer. Even the richer houses are almost entirely de-
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
A HOUSE ON STATE STREET, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
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; ' ' ' ' : ' ' ' ' * ' ' ' ' ' ' ; M I '• I! M I M I II •
THE BOWEN HOUSE, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS. One of the oldest houses in the town. It is situated on the corner of Mugford Street near the Town House. A glimpse is afforded of the irregularity of the land.
MARBLEHEAD
void of carved ornaments and any elaboration of detail. In a word, austerity is the distin- guishing characteristic of building in Marble- head.
But it must not be thought that bareness and monotony are the necessary accompaniments of this very democratic simplicity so expressive of what we like to think is or was the best side of American character. I believe nowhere will there be found more varieties of gables, cornices
boast of exceedingly effective cupolas and the Col. Jeremiah Lee Mansion is embellished with a pediment on its main facade. Otherwise the roofs of Marblehead are of a soul-satisfying sim- plicity; even dormers are a great rarity, the few there are being later additions, with the exception of the house on Mechanic Street shown in the il- lustration on page 8. These three rather heavily moulded dormers in the gambrel roof are prob- ably of the same date as the house. There are,
THE KING HOOPER HOUSE, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
Formerly the residence of "The Honorable Robert Hooper, Esq.," one of the wealthiest merchants of New England before the Revolution. "King" Hooper, as he was called, lived in princely style for those days. Some of the highest dignitaries of the land were entertained in the large banquet hall in the third story.
and doorways, or better examples of interior fin- ish and panelling.
The gambrel roofs vary in angles from very steep and narrow to certain examples of low, wide gambrels, where one wonders how the flat- ter pitches can be kept from leaking. In the same way a designer may find precedent for gable roofs from twenty degrees all the way up to sixty degrees inclination. There are very few hipped roofs. The two Lee houses both
on the most interesting old Governor Bradford house in Bristol, Rhode Island, three dormers in a gambrel roof that are almost identical in size and detail with the Marblehead examples, and both houses are of about the same date.
The verge boards up the rakes of the gables and gambrels are narrow and kept close in to the clapboards with only a slight moulding at the edge of the shingles. This lack of raking cor- nice or projection gives a distinction to all the
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MARBLEHEAD
HOUSE ON WASHINGTON STREET, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
HOUSE ON TUCKER STREET, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Doorway HOUSE ON FRANKLIN STREET, MARBLEHEAD,
MASSACHUSETTS.
It appears that the hall wainscoting cap has been repeated on the pilasters on the outside of the main entrance.
roofs which is lost by any designer who departs from it.
The older cornices are simple as can be, and are without any decorative feature; but later there is a fascinating variety of moulded cor- nices with dentils and modillions all worthy of careful study. What a lesson this town teaches in the value of cornices of small projection and few members.
Clapboards cover the walls of almost every building, but we find several instances of wood boarding cut to imitate stone in a simple rus- ticated pattern, on all sides as on the Lee man- sion, and only on the front as on the King Hooper house. Corner boards are the rule, varying from four to eight inches in width.
The exterior window trims vary greatly and are of great interest. In many cases the second- story trims are charmingly composed with the bed mouldings of the cornice. Often the first- story windows have little cornices of their own. The very satisfying quality of the window sashes and blinds is due to careful thought by some one
in years gone by, and they can be most profit- ably studied by modern designers.
The Doric order was evidently invented for Marblehead, as all but two or three of the front entrances are adorned with it in the form of column or pilaster. The two Lee houses flaunt the gay Ionic, and on Franklin Street there are two extraordinary doorways of the early nine- teenth century flanked by delightfully quaint pilasters of a curious composite type, tapering downward to their plinths. Especially interest- ing, too, is the enclosed entrance porch on a house in Lookout Court, with its elliptical fan- light, reeded pilasters and grooved ornaments. So many of the houses are built on the sidewalk line that there are many interesting examples of recessed doorways with the steps in the recess. The illustration shows an excellent early nine- teenth-century one. Most characteristic are the various treatments of outside steps made neces- sary by the steep grades met with everywhere.
The interiors of these alluring houses are fully as interesting as the exteriors. No good Ameri- can should fail to see the truly exquisite rooms and the wonderful staircase of the Lee Mansion,
Entrance Porch.
HOUSE ON WASHINGTON STREET, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
MARBLEHEAD
'3
Doorway.
GENERAL JOHN GLOVER HOUSE, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
Built in 1762. The home of the famous Revolutionary general.
which is without a peer in this country. Nor should he fail to see the King Hooper house, to appreciate the wholesome beauty of the second- period panelling and fireplaces of this fine ex- ample.
There are other buildings in town of special interest — the old Town House, the Powder House of 1750, and the old North Church, each worthy of a visit, as is the burial-ground, to remind us of the frailty of us humans and of the fact that our forefathers used to make better lettering than we do.
By all means, gentle reader, visit Marblehead, and you will profit greatly thereby; spend at least a day if a layman, and at least a week if you are an architect. Read up in Mr. Road's History the stories of Mugford the brave sailor who captured the British transport "Hope" when in command of the American schooner "Franklin," of Agnes Surriage and Sir John Frankland, of Gerry and Storey, of the gallant General Glover and his regiment, whose soldiers,
according to tradition, rowed Washington across the Delaware River on that famous wintry night, December 25th, 1776. Read the real story of Skipper Ireson, that much maligned seaman, whom Whittier immortalized in the same poem in which the women of Marblehead are unjustly given the role of avenging furies. Poor Ireson! He was given the ride on the rail in the tarry and feathery coat, but not by the women of Marblehead. The perpetrators of this outrage were fishermen of the town whose indignation had been aroused by the stories of the crew of Ireson's schooner, who had forced him against his will to abandon the other craft in distress. Ireson's crew were at fault and shifted the blame to their skipper when the story came out. Learn how completely American a Massachusetts town has been and always will be. Just imagine — the curfew tolls every evening at nine and the boys and girls celebrate Guy Fawkes day every No- vember fifth with bonfires and a procession!
Entrance Porch.
THE COL. WILLIAM R. LEE MANSION, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS.
Like the Col. Jeremiah Lee Mansion, this house is also sur- mounted by a cupola. The parlor was elaborately decorated by an Italian artist.
HOUSE IN LOOKOUT COURT, MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS. Detail of Entrance. The elliptical fan-light and reeded pilasters give to this very old house a distinct architectural character.
The While Pine Monograph Series THIRD ANNUAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
PROGRAMME FOR A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
OUTSIDE FINISH TO BE OF WHITE PINE
PRIZES AND MENTIONS Design placed first will receive Design placed second will receive Design placed third will receive Design placed fourth will receive Six Mentions
$750 $400 1250 $100
Jury of Award
Claude Bragdon, Rochester Wm. Adams Delano, New York Hugh M. B. Garden, Chicago J. Harleston Parker, Boston Howard Sill, Baltimore
All Architects and Architectural Draftsmen are cordially invited to compete
Competition closes at 5 p.m., Wednesday, May i, 1918
Judgment, May 77 and 18, 1918
THE great interest shown by architects in the two Competitions conducted by the White Pine Monograph Series has prompted us to hold a Third Competition this year, in spite of the unfavorable conditions prevailing throughout the country. After due consideration, it was felt that this Competi- tion, while not interfering with any patriotic ac- tivities of indi- viduals, might find some with the leisure to give to its study who at another time would be debarred, and so a distinct contri- bution may be made to our ar- chitectural prog- ress.
As a foreword, we may recall to the designer some of the benefits to him which result from his entrance into such a Competition :
In the exercise of his skill in solving the prob- lem and in presenting such solution in an attrac- tive and convincing form, he is contesting with his peers, both by brain and by hand, thereby gaining strength for his private professional practice as truly as the athlete trains himself by the physical competition.
In the definite knowledge of the merit or rela- tive merit of the result. In private practice the client is usually the ultimate judge. In one case a meritorious solution may be turned aside by some whim, while in another a scheme of inferior merit may meet an enthusiastic reception. In this Competition the high professional standing
SURVEY OF THE PROPERTY.
of the Jury gives assurance that the relative rat- ing of the contestants would have the concur- rence of the profession at large, or at least would not be dissented from in any marked degree. A fairly true mirror is held up in which one may see his architectural face.
The advantage to the authors gained by the pub- lication of the best designs. Ar- chitects have often informed us of the clients who had come to thsm from having seen their work, not- withstanding the fact that the work seen was not at all such as the clients would wish to se- cure for them- selves. What im- pressed them was that a good solu- tion of certain conditions had been found, and the inference was gained that there were prob- ably other good solutions in that architect's head. It is with this thought in mind that we have taken a problem which is in itself less common in practice than those heretofore chosen.
Much of an architect's practice is likely to in- clude the less usual problems where his ingenuity and grasp of the essentials are called into play. Therefore we have allowed the client to intro- duce in his own language the following:
PROBLEM: "Here is a survey I have had made of my plot of land by the lake, on which I want to build a White Pine house, for use during the six open months of the year. With the information which I shall give you, you will not need to visit the property. The lake runs north and south. The shore is hilly and fairly well wooded, also somewhat rockv.and you will see that
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
my own plot has those characteristics. My site is on the east side near the no th end, and contains a blunt point from which a view is obtained looking sou h- west, down the lake for seve.al miles; the prevailing breeze is from that direction. The scenery ac oss the lake is also of interest. One approach is by boat, and you will see indicated the place where 1 have collected stone for a dock foundation, and you may have in mind the general appearance of a boat-house to be buil later, to contain a moto -boat, and to have a landing for row-boats, with perhaps a small tea-house
0 lookout shelter connected with it. This is not to be built now, and I me.ely mention it because of its prom- inent position on the property. Just back of my site is a load which runs through a typical American com- munity, and I wish my house to be appropriate to that village, and not to partake too much of the cabin or so-called bungalow design from the mere circumstance that it is on the lake.
"I do not want to spend more than $5000 for the house. If the size and number of rooms which I con- sider necessary indicate a larger house than it is pos- sible to build for that amount under normal building conditions, you may suggest dual use of certain of the rooms. 1 might say, however, that Mr. Jones told me that his house, built in the neighborhood of my site, contains 38,000 cubic feet and cost approximately what
1 have to spend.
"I need a good-sized living-room, not smaller than 1 5' x 24', with a fireplace large enough for big logs, and a dining-: oom, connecting, if possible, with a porch where meals could be served. I would also like to have a small room for books, guns, fishing tackle, etc. If the contour of the land where you suggest placing the house will permit of a room for billiards, etc., without too much excavation, I would like it. I do not object to having two or more levels in the floors.
"My family consists of my wife, two children, a boy (fourteen) and a girl (ten), and myself. We are seldom without guests, and plan to keep 'open house/ so we would like to have five bedrooms, which may be small if well ventilated, and at least two bathrooms. Also additional accommodations for servants. We would have no objection to having sleeping quarters on the ground floor. A sleeping porch is essential. The ser- vice portion should have a kitchen, either a porch or a small sitting-room, and of course plenty of closet room.
"Although the house will be used during the open months, some arrangements for heating must be made — either sufficient open fireplaces or space provided for a small heating apparatus.
"The outside finish of the house is to be of White Pine; everything else I leave to you. By outside finish I mean siding and corner boards; window sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and mouldings, etc., not including shingles. Plastering is not neces- sary in all the rooms and we shall attend to the wall covering ourselves.
"I have marked the place where a foundation for a garage has been started, but that will not be completed now. It may, however, have some bearing on the en- trance from the road."
IT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW: A pen-and-ink perspec- tive of the subject at % inch scale clearly indicating the character of the exterior finish. Plans of the first and second floors at y% inch scale, blacked in solid, with the dimensions of each room given in good-sized figures. Two elevations at ^ inch scale. A cross sec- tion at % inch scale showing all heights. A key plot plan at small scale showing what is in the contestant's mind as the desirable development of the entire prop- erty. Detail drawings at ^ incn scale of special feat- ures and of the fireplace side of the living-room. Profiles of the exterior details at 3 inch scale, in suf- ficient number to present the subject adequately and attractively. Graphic scales must be shown in all cases.
JUDGMENT: The Jury of Award will consider first: The architectural merit of the design, and the in-
genuity shown in the development of the plans to meet the client's needs as he has stated them; second: The fitness of the design to express the wood-built house; third: The appropriateness of the design to the given site and the skill shown in indicating the possible fu- ture development of the entire site.
Excellence of rendering of the perspective, while de- sirable, will not have undue weight with the Jury, in comparison with their estimate of the contestant's real ability if otherwise shown.
The Jury positively will not consider designs which exceed 38,000 cubic feet, or which do not conform in all other respects to the conditions of the Competition.
PRESENTATION: Drawings are to be shown on two sheets only. Each sheet is to be exactly 23 x 30 inches. Plain border lines are to be drawn so that the space inside them will be exactly 21^x27^ inches. What- man or similar white paper is to be used. Bristol board or thin paper is prohibited, and no drawings are to be presented mounted. All drawings must be made in BLACK ink. Diluted black ink is particularly pro- hibited. Color or wash on the drawings will not be permitted. All detail drawings are to be shown on one sheet. It is especially required that the perspective be accurately plotted. There is to be printed on the drawings as space may permit: "DESIGN FOR A WHITE PINE HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEA- SON." The drawings are to be signed by a nom de plume or device. On the sheet containing the floor plans, in a space measuring 4x5 inches, enclosed in a plain border, is to be printed the contestant's calcula- tion of the total cubage.
COMPUTATIONS: The cubage shall be figured to include the actual contents of the house, computed from the outside of all walls and foundations and from the bottom of excavation or from the bottom of floor beams in any unexcavated portion and to the average height of all roofs. Open porches and sleeping porches where projecting shall be figured at one-third actual cubage.
The cubage will be carefully checked by an architect and a contractor.
DELIVERY OF DRAWINGS: The drawings are to be rolled in a strong tube not less than 3 inches in diameter, or enclosed between stiff corrugafed boards, securely wrapped and sent to RUSSELL F. WHITE- HEAD, EDITOR, 132 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y., to reach him on or before Wednesday, May i, 1918. Drawings delivered to Post Offices or Express Companies in time to reach the destination and to be delivered within the hour set for final receipt will be accepted if delayed by no fault of the Com- petitor. Enclosed with the drawings is to be a sealed envelope bearing on the outside the chosen nom de plume and on the inside the true name and address of the contestant. Drawings sent by mail must be at the first-class postage rate as required by the Postal Regulations.
RECEIPT OF DRAWINGS: Designs will be re- moved from their wrappers by the Editor, who will place a number upon each drawing and the corre- sponding number on the enclosed sealed envelope for purposes of better identification. The envelopes will not be opened until after the awards have been made.
THE PRIZE DESIGNS a-e to become the property of The White Pine Series of Architectural Mono- graphs, and the right is reserved by this publication to publish or exhibit any or all of the others.
PUBLICATION OF DESIGNS: The Prize and Men- tion drawings will be published in the Augusf, 1918, number of the Monograph Series, a copy of this issue being sent to each competitor.
Where drawings are published or exhibited the con- testant's full name and address will be given and all inquiries icgarding his work will be forwarded to him.
RETURN OF DRAWINGS: Unsuccessful contestants •Will have their drawings returned, postage prepaid, direct from the Editor's office.
An Architectural Monograph
PROVIDENCE Its Colonial Houses
JVOHMAN M I SHAM 'Prepared for publication by uffell TWh'iteheadformerly&Jltor 'of TheS^rchilectural 'Record and The ttricKb uilder 1)2 •MadfonXtfc. NewYorK N. Y.
COLONEL JOSEPH NIGHTINGALE HOUSE.
Detail of Front. 1792.
P1NL SERIES^
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHTECTURAL USES CF WHITE PINE AND ITS /MMLABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
Vol. IV
JUNE, 1918
No. 3
By NORMAN MORRISON ISHAM, F.A. [.A.
Other contributions to the literature of Colonial architecture by Mr. Ishatn include, "Early Rhode Island Houses," "The Homeric Palace," etc. He has practiced architecture in Providence since 1892 and has been instructor in architecture in Brown Unit'ersity and head of the architectural department of the Rhode Island School of Design. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN A. BUCKLY
NEARLY every man and boy in eighteenth- century Rhode Island turned, early or late, to blue water. Sailor or fisherman, sea captain or merchant, they all drew their liv- ing or their wealth from the ocean, and even the great cotton spinning industry of the early nine- teenth century was sustained, in its beginnings, by fortunes made on the sea.
The wealth which this traffic brought to all the older ports of the Colonies was reflected in their building, and Providence, as a busy harbor, has a heritage of Colonial houses which, if it is not so well known as that of Salem or Ports- mouth— indeed, it is scarcely known at all out- side of Rhode Island itself and imperfectly there — may still claim to rival that of the others and, in some ways, to surpass it.
The town was settled on the slope of a high, steep hill, and at the foot of the hill a straggling street, following the shore of the river. This, the present North and South Main Street, still exists. Here stood the houses of the early town, with one room only, or with two rooms side by side and a great stone chimney at the end of the building toward the hill. A dwelling of this kind still forms a part of the eastern end of the Pidge house, on North Main Street, the end at the right of the front door.
Across the river was a narrow neck of land, quite marshy, even an island at some stages of the tide, along which went the Indian trail to the Narragansett and the Pequot countries.
There were no houses on this western bank till the opening of the eighteenth ceniury, when
the quaint cottages of the preceding age of farm- ers began to give way, from age, fire and change of fashion, to the finer, more classic dwellings of the now predominant trading class.
One of the survivors of these early dwellings of the newer type is the Christopher Arnold house, on South Main Street, built about 1735. It has a central chimney against which the stairs in the narrow entry are placed. There is a room on each side of this entry, while behind the chimney is the kitchen with a smaller room at each end. The doorway is the oldest in Provi- dence, as, indeed, the house is the oldest now standing on the "Towne Street." The almost Jacobean character of the rosette and the flower on its stalk was probably carried over from the carving on the older furniture. The overhang in the gable is noticeable. This may have been brought about in the same way as the similar overhang in the house which once stood next to this on the north — by building up on the end cornices of a hip-roofed house. That is to say, Providence once had its quota of the hip roofs of the early part of the century, like those still to be seen in Portsmouth and in Newport.
Another house of about 1740, also with a gable overhang, is the Crawford, further north, on the opposite or east side of the street. This has a very remarkable door with large, bent-over leaves above the caps of its pilasters, and the curious bending up of the back band in the mid- dle of the lintel, a characteristic of early work which seems to be a reminiscence of the school of Sir Christopher Wren. Doors like this are rare.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
The only other I know is in Hadley. They are derived from some of the bracketed Eng- lish forms.
The central chim- ney plan which has just been described remained in fashion almost up to the Greek Revival, though the houses grew larger, lost their quaintness and acquired more dignity. Dwellings of the type were built even after 1800. The plan was no longer the tip of the fashion, however. The second quarter of the century, especially the years just before 1750, and, of course, even more the years just before the Revo- lution, when the money from privateering in the Old French War was flowing into the town, saw the rise and spread here, as in the rest of New England, of the central-entry type of plan — that in which a long hall runs through the
CHRISTOPHER ARNOLD HOUSE.
South Main Street.
Circa 1735.
house from front to back, with two rooms on each side. Most of the houses of this kind in Providence are of brick; the wooden house of early date on that plan is not com- mon. At any rate, it has not survived in any numbers. It is to be seen in its glory, for Rhode Island, in Newport and not in Providence. The great house at the corner of North Main Street and Branch Avenue may be of this date, as may the Olney tav- ern at the corner of Olney Street, once Olney's Lane; but, as a rule, the houses seem simply to have been a larger and finer grade of the central-chimney scheme, with more elaborate interior woodwork which is often very excellent.
There was little building in Providence dur- ing the Revolution — there was too much distress
PIDGE HOUSE.
North Main Street (Pawtucket Avenue), View from Southwest. East End, circa 1700; West End, circa 1745.
PROVIDENCE AND ITS COLONIAL HOUSES
in the community for that. The British were at Newport a large part of the time, and the whole colony was an armed camp. When once the struggle was over the town came into a period of great prosperity. Before the war it had been the smaller place, New- port the larger and more important as well as the more wealthy. Now the British occu- pation had ruined Newport and Provi- dence forged ahead. The earlier trade, which had provided the wherewithal to build houses like the Crawford and the Arnold, was with the West Indies. Now the East Indies were levied upon, and the trade with them and China employed a fleet of ships and enriched many merchants, some of whom succeeded in
Detail of Doorway.
CRAWFORD HOUSE, SOUTH MAIN STREET. Circa 1740.
holding what they ac- quired in this lucra- tive traffic while others had the opportunity of musing on the fickleness of fortune. The houses of this time are often three stories in height, though two is still the common number, and after 1815 the three- story house is rarely built. The rooms are much larger and higher in the greater three- deckers, and in all dwellings the distance "between joints" in- creases considerably. There is generally a garden door on one side, sometimes with a porch, and the projecting porch on the front comes into fashion. Some- times the porch has tall columns, and the piazza with the same "colossal orders" is not unknown. About 1800 — earlier in brick houses — a new
CAPTAIN GEORGE BENSON HOUSE.
North Side of Angell Street. Now the Grosvenor House. Circa 1786.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
BURROUGH HOUSE.
North Side of Power Street. Circa 1820.
BOSWORTH HOUSE.
East Side of Cooke Street. Circa 1820.
PROVIDENCE AND ITS COLONIAL HOUSES
arrangement appears in the plan. The central- entry type just described had generally only two chimneys, one between the two rooms of the pair on each side of the entry, or hall, as we should call it. The new plan put a chimney in the outer wall of each room. This brought the fireplace nearly opposite the entrance to the room from the hall and left two walls free of windows and even of doors for the furniture. These houses are often three stories high, but the majority are of two stories. The finest wooden specimen of the great
Colonies, a great credit to its unknown designer, stands on a lot a little to the north of that on which John Jones Clark, the other partner in the firm of Clark and Nightingale, had already built a large three-story house, long ago de- stroyed by fire. It was the last word in monu- mental housework in its day. It marks the end of a period, too, for almost everything that comes after it is lighter in detail and presents no such appearance of weight and character as this. The house has a fine front porch with the
JASON WILLIAMS-CROUCH HOUSE.
North Side of George Street. Circa 1800.
three-storied mansion with the central entry and interior chimneys is the house which Colonel Joseph Nightingale built in 1792 (frontispiece and illustration on page eight) on the east side of the new thoroughfare, called Benefit Street, which ran along parallel to the Main Street about half way up the hill, and which received its name because it was to be a great relief to the congested old village on the waterside. If the street is crooked it is because it had to re- spect the old family burial grounds — one of them still exists — which lay in its path.
This magnificent dwelling, the best wooden house in Providence and one of the best in the
usual brown-stone steps and platform, all in front of a central mass which projects slightly from the main body of the faqade. The door has a toplight and sidelights, one of the earliest instances of the use of them. Over the porch is a Palladian window, while the window over this again, in the third story, is plain like the others on that floor. Above the cornice of the project- ing central motive is a pediment the tympanum of which is filled with glass. There are heavy bevelled quoins at the corners, and the windows have them also, with rusticated voussoirs in their flat arches above which are moulded cor- (Text continued on page w)
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
nices. The main cornice is very well profiled and is in good proportion to the whole height. Even the fronts of the Palladian modillions are carved.
The roof is hipped, as is the case with all the houses of this type, and is surmounted by a small curb which is roofed with gables, of which that in the front, at least, has a glazed tym- panum. The balustrade of the main roof has regular balusters with top and bottom rails and posts capped with well-shaped urns. The upper roof has a balustrade of Chinese pattern; that is, with plain sticks between the rails, intersect- ing in a pattern.
The house was originally square with three rooms on the north side of the entry. The addi- tions on the south are later. There was prob- ably a garden door here as there was in the Clark house, perhaps with a porch, too, as Clark had.
Another firm of merchants was Snow and Munro. Snow had a town house which stood on Westminster Street, but which is now removed to a much less dignified street behind its old location and has become a store-house after en- joying the high estate of a laundry. It is still an imposing wreck, although raised in the air and shorn of its front door, its chimneys and its balustrades.
An even more interesting house was that which Snow built for his country home, out on the Cranston road, about two miles from the Great Bridge, from which all distances were reckoned in Providence. This had very light detail, with tall slim columns for its front porch, which was of the whole height of the house, and others, equally tall, for the piazzas, of which there was one on each side of the building. It fell into disuse and was pulled down some years ago.
To go back a little, when Captain George Benson retired from the firm of Brown, Benson and Ives, he built the house which stills stands at the top of the hill on the north side of Angell Street and which ranks among the two-story houses of the town at the end of the eighteenth century as its contemporary, the Nightingale, does among those of three stories. Here is the porch on its brown-stone platform, and here is the garden door also. The influence of the steep hill on the treatment of Providence houses is well illustrated, too. We shall see it again, later, in the Dorr house (illustrated at top of page fifteen). The balustrade on this roof is of the regular
baluster type, a characteristic of all these larger houses.
Another Providence merchant, Edward Dex- ter, built on George Street the house now on Waterman Street, owned by Dr. Day. The building was sawed in two and each half moved up the hill, separately, to the present location, where they were reunited. Any one who is skep- tical— the moving took place within the memory of men now living — may see the saw-cut in the entablature of the porch.
In this house, built in 1799, we find pilasters used to support the gable at the cornice level in the center of the facade, a treatment of which there is but one other example in Providence. The corners of the house have the ordinary quoins. The windows are surmounted each by an entablature and pediment. The balustrade here differs from those previously described in having alternate blocks of balusters and solid panels. The balusters come over the windows, the panels over the piers.
It will be noted that the house is of the exte- rior chimney type — that is, the fireplaces are on the outer walls of the rooms — with the usual rather flat hip roof. One cannot help seeing, too, the delicacy of the detail, the lightness of it all as compared with that of the Benson house.
Another four-room exterior-chimney house, of somewhat simpler type, is the Diman house on Angell Street, built by Ebenezer Knight Dexter in 1800 or 1801. The sun parlor and the porch are, of course, modern. The old doorway had been removed, and that now in place was taken from a beautiful summer house which once stood in the old garden.
Of the simpler dwellings one very interesting example is the Bosworth house on Cooke Street, a straightforward solution of its problem, with excellent proportions and quiet detail, much of which is concentrated upon the doorway, which, with its rusticated elliptical arch and jambs, is a recognized type among Providence entrances.
An even simpler house standing on Power Street, very near the Bosworth, is the Burrough house, with its monitor roof and still another type of doorway quite common about 1820.
These Providence doors are sometimes criti- cized as too much alike, because we do not have here the elaborate late porches of Salem. Porches, it is true, are not common here. They
PROVIDENCE AND ITS COLONIAL HOUSES
1 1
HOUSE ON SOUTH STREET.
View from Northwest. Circa 1810.
PADELFORD HOUSE.
South Side of Benevolent Street. Circa 1815.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Doorway. HOUSE ON CHESTNUT STREET.
Providence, Rhode Island.
exist, as the photographs of this article show, but they are few in number. The reproach, however, comes from lack of observation. There are many types of doorway, all interesting, and the different examples of each type vary more than might be supposed.
There are doors without the orders, though they are not common. The Williams-Crouch house has almost the only really classical one, and that is not early. It has merely the archi- trave, with crossettes, the frieze and pediment, but these elements are very simply and beauti- fully combined.
Then there are the doors with the orders — columns or pilasters. The oldest of these — it is one of the oldest in the Colonies — is that in the Arnold house. I know of nothing just like it, though a leaf and rosette of the same type occur in the interior of a house in southern Rhode Island. This type ruled till after 1800 and lingered in a modified form till 1820 or 1825. The early examples have an entablature above the lintel, with or without a pediment. Gener- ally the order has a pedestal with a panel the top of which is curved. As a rule, there are glazed lights immediately over the door and these were sometimes of bull's-eye glass — that is, were cut from the centers of crown glass sheets. A door at the top of Constitution Hill had these
— the last specimens in Providence — till a fire destroyed them a few years ago. The back band of the architrave is, in these oldest doors, turned up in the center of the frieze. Later the frieze follows Palladio and takes the cushion form.
After a time the round toplight with fan tracery comes into use, and the entablature is done away with over the door opening, while it remains above the columns or pilasters, and the arch is thus allowed to come up into what would be the tympanum. This entablature over the pilaster is sometimes very elaborate, as in the two instances on Arnold Street.
Another doorway, on the same street, has brackets over its narrow panelled pilasters. Over all is the usual entablature and pediment. There is one doorway similar to this on Arnold Street, and one on North Main, but neither is as good. These seem to be the only examples of a rare and very interesting type.
On the corner of Benefit and Bowen streets stands the house built by Sullivan Dorr in 1810 or 181 1, and now owned by Mrs. Sayles. (Illus- trated at top of page fifteen.) It varies some- what even from the late line of Colonial work
Doorway. CHRISTOPHER ARNOLD HOUSE.
South Main Street. Providence, Rhode Island. (Illustration of full elevation at top of page four)
PROVIDENCE AND ITS COLONIAL HOUSES
Doorway and Tracery.
DODGE HOUSE. GEORGE STREET
Providence, Rhode Island.
which we have been following, but, perhaps for that very reason, it is of great interest.
The house consisted, originally, of a main block which had a central motive and two short wings. The present addition to this is readily discerned in the photograph. Attached to one side of this main body was an ell to which, in turn, were joined the sheds and, further on, at right angles, the stable and carriage house.
As the block faced south the length lay east and west, that is, against the slope of the hill. The problem was to adjust the various parts of the house and its dependencies to the rather steep grade. This was done with great skill. The house was set well above the street and a high wall of cut granite, pierced by a flight of steps at the gate and crowned by a wooden fence, was built to retain the level of the garden terrace in front of the main part of the building. The floor of the main house and that of the ell are on the same level, but the underpinning of the house is high, while that of the ell is very low, so that the courtyard level is above that of the garden and is reached by a flight of steps through the fence which separates the two. The hill was cut away to allow this court to extend as well as to gain a place for the stable group, which is backed up against the slope, so that its second story is but little above the ground on the uphill side.
The porch of the house is very striking, with its clustered columns made to represent Gothic piers and the delicate cusped work in the archi- trave. Equally interesting — indeed, more so — is the translation of the staid Palladian window into terms of clustered columns and cusped orna- ment. The effect on the whole is excellent, a commentary on what good proportion will do for a design.
The coves in the cornice are of composition, highly ornamented with an incised pattern. The balustrade, too, is worked out in a manner which is different from the ordinary and which accords with the house. The centerpiece cannot be orig- inal.
In all these houses. we can see that the stan- dard of workmanship was very high in Provi- dence; as it was, indeed, in all Rhode Island. The details, too, are generally very correct and well designed. There is evidence all through the work in the city that skilful and painstaking workmen wrought upon the building of its homes. What they have left behind them ranks high in the architecture of the old Thirteen Colonies.
Doorway. SOUTH SIDE OF ARNOLD STREET.
Circa 1800. Providence, Rhode Island.
EBENEZER KNIGHT DEXTER HOUSE.
North Side of Angell Street. Now the Diman House. Circa 1800.
SULLIVAN DORR HOUSE, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.
Circa 1810.
GROWTH AND SERVICE
By A. I. KELLOGG
Mr. Kellogg may, perhaps, be called the Dean of White Pine Salesmen. In his association with White Pine as the District Representative, Weyerhaeuser Sales Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Kellogg receives daily ei'idence of the service this remarkable wood is rendering. As a result, White Pine lumber has, very evidently, won his high regard and real affection. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
THE object of life is growth; the purpose of life is service. The character and quality of a service rendered are the measure of its value. Both growth and service are inseparable expressions of the Law of Life and demonstrate the perfect cooperation of the forces operating in obedience to the command of Him who made.
Growth is that expression of the Law of Life controlling or governing the expanding physical development of every living organism, forcing it toward, or into, that state, or condition, of physical maturity qualifying it to render the definite, specific service it was created to per- form in protecting, sustaining and maintaining human life. It is nature's means to an end, — the end being the uses of service.
Service is fulfilment of the Law of Life ex- pressed in the action of use. It is that conform-
ity to the established order which, impelling man to action through the factor of need, has made possible the intellectual growth and progress of the human race since it began approaching its ultimate objective, — an objective foreseen of the Great Architect when He gave man dominion over all things and decreed that: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
In exercising his privilege of dominion, man has gathered experience, accumulated knowledge, overcome the obstacles in the path of his prog- ress, discovered the uses to which each organism is best adapted, utilized the contents of nature's storehouse, developed processes for their conver- sion into commodities useful to man; established methods and practice; evolved a mighty system of trade and commerce and multiplied his oppor- tunities and powers to serve the peoples of earth. And in the doing of all these works man has,
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
consciously or uncon- sciously, conformed to the law made and provided for that specific purpose, — the Law of Life which guides, directs, shapes and moulds man's intellectual growth and progress to the end that he may labor within the orbit of his greatest usefulness and render intelligent service to his fellow men.
Growth, a vital factor in all activities of men, is clearly illustrated in the development of the lum- ber industry from the days when the broadaxe and the whipsaw were the only means of production up through the various stages of progressive im- provements in the pro- cesses of manufacture to the great sawmills of the present day, electrically equipped and driven. And there stands out, sharply defined against the back- ground of history, the close relationship existing between the settlement and growth of America and the development and progress of the lumber industry, which, more than any other factor, made our national growth possible. Indeed, the growth of the industry has kept exact pace with the needs of a growing nation and force- fully illustrates the truth that "improvement
A. I. KELLOGG.
is the order of the age." And our forests of White Pine! How faith- fully have they rendered the definite, specific service a wise and loving Father created them to perform! The products wrought of their noble bodies have sheltered and protected the lives of men beneath the roof-trees of homes both great and humble; provided the cheering warmth of hearthstone fires; nurtured the spirit of peace and contentment and fostered and pre- served the morals of home and of country, influencing the thoughts and decisions of men and breeding that courage of conviction which gave birth to the Declaration of American Independence and the im- mortal words of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address; made possible the rapid settle- ment of America and the welding of her peoples into a mighty nation whose mission it is to fight the battles of human- ity in order that the principles upon which she is founded may be preserved to our posterity.
Forests of America, and the men of vision and courage whose intelligent, lifelong services made these forests available to man, I salute you !
The nineteenth Monograph will be devoted to the publication of the Pri^e and Mention designs in the Third Annual White Pine Architectural Competition, with the report of the Jury of Award
Subjects of Previous Numbers of
THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL
Vol. I, No. i. Colonial Cottages . . . .
Vol. I, No. 2. New England Colonial Houses ------
Vol. I, No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands
Vol. 11, No. i. Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies -
Vol. 11, No. 2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts -
Vol. II, No. 3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley -
Vol. II, No. 4. A Suburban House and Garage -..----
Vol. 1 1, No. 5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in
Connecticut
Vol. 1 1, No. 6. Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland -
Vol. Ill, No. i. Three-Story Houses of New England
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Early Wooden Architecture of Andover, Massachusetts
Vol. Ill, No. 3. Old Houses of Newburyport, Massachusetts
Vol. Ill, No. 4. A White Pine House to Cost |i2, 500.00
Vol. Ill, No. 5. The Bristol Renaissance
Vol. Ill, No. 6. The Early Dwellings of Nan tucket -----
Vol. IV, No. i. Marblehead
Vol. IV, No. 2. Some Old Houses on the Southern Coast of Maine
MONOGRAPHS
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury II Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier Richard Arnold Fisher Report of Jury of Award
Joy Wheeler Dow . A. Schweinfurth William Truman Aldrich C. Howard Walker
f
AnArchitectural
MONOGRAPH
on, a, WHITE PINE HOUSE
FOR.THE VACATION SEASON
Competitive Drawings
With report of the Jury of Architects
Claude Bragdom Wm^ldams Delano
HughMGGarden: J Harleston Parker
Howard Sill
I)
Prepared for publication by
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of The^rchitectural Record
and The ttricKb uilder
1)2 'MadfonXile. NewYorK N. Y.
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FIRST PRIZE, Design No. 161
Submitted by Richard M. Powers, Boston, Mass.
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES <T WHITE PINE AM) ITS /MMLABLITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL W3DD
VOL. IV
AUGUST, 1918
No. 4
REPORT OF THE JURY OF AWARD
THE THIRD ANNUAL WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION FOR A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
Judged at the Biltmore, New York, N. Y., May 18 and ig, 1918
THE PROBLEM: "Here is a survey I have had made of my plot of land by the lake, on which I want to build a White Pine house, for use during the six open months of the year. With the information which I shall give you, you will not need to visit the property. The lake runs north and south. The shore is hilly and fairly well wooded, also somewhat rocky, and you will see that my own plot has those characteristics. My site is on the east side near the north end, and contains a blunt point from which a view is obtained looking southwest, down the lake for several miles; the prevailing breeze is from that direction. The scenery across the lake is also of interest. One approach is by boat, and you will see indicated the place where I have collected stone for a dock foundation, and you may have in mind the general appearance of a boat-house to be built later, to contain a motor-boat, and to have a landing for row-boats, with perhaps a small tea-house or lookout shelter connected with it. This is not to be built now, and I merely mention it because of its prominent position on the property. Just back of my site is a road which runs through a typical American community, and I wish my house to be appropriate to that village, and not to partake too much of the cabin or so-called bungalow design from the mere circumstance that it is on the lake.
"I do not want to spend more than $5000 for the house. If the size and number of rooms which I consider necessary indicate a larger house than it is possible to build for that amount under normal building conditions, you may suggest dual use of certain of the rooms. I might say, however, that Mr. Jones told me that his house, built in the neighborhood of my site, contains 38,000 cubic feet and cost approximately what I have to spend.
"1 need a good-sized living-room not smaller than 1^x24', with a fireplace large enough for big logs, and a dining-room, connecting, if possible, with a porch where meals could be served. I would also like to have a small room for books, guns, fishing tackle, etc. If the contour of the land where you suggest placing the house will per- mit of a room for billiards, etc., without too much excavation, I would like it. I do not object to having two or more levels in the floors.
"My family consists of my wife, two children, a boy (fourteen) and a girl (ten), and myself. We are seldom without guests, and plan to keep 'open house,' so we would like to have five bedrooms, which may be small if well ventilated, and at least two bathrooms. Also additional accommodations for servants. We woujd have no objection to having sleeping quarters on the ground floor. A sleeping porch is essential. The service portion should have a kitchen, either a porch or a small sitting-room, and of course plenty of closet room.
"Although the house will be used during the open months, some arrangements for heating must be made — either sufficient open fireplaces or space provided for a small heating apparatus.
"The outside finish of the house is to be of White Pine; everything else 1 leave to you. By outside finish I mean siding and corner boards; window sash, frames and casings; outside doors, door frames and casings; outside blinds; all exposed porch and balcony lumber; cornice boards, brackets, ornaments and mouldings, etc., not including shingles. Plastering is not necessary in all the rooms and we shall attend to the wall covering ourselves.
"I have marked the place where a foundation for a garage has been started, but that will not be completed now. It may, however, have some bearing on the entrance from the road."
THE series of competitions instituted by the WHITE PINE ARCHITECTURAL MONO- GRAPHS, while frankly part of a campaign to popularize the use of white pine, has never- theless the ulterior and more altruistic objects of raising the standard of domestic architecture; of discovering and encouraging new talent, and of providing for the prospective house builder a point of departure, at least, in his enterprise. The
whole thing is part of a larger movement on the part of the manufacturers and the building trades generally, — a movement which is a hope- ful sign of the times, for it is educative in the broadest sense of the word.
The third Annual Architectural Competition elicited two hundred and four sets of drawings. The programme called for a different type of house from those previously demanded, and the
4
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
general failure on the part of most of the com- petitors to perceive this is the outstanding fea- ture of the competition. The solutions, taken as a whole, indicate an almost painful absence of direct, synthetic, logical thought. The competi- tors showed a disposition to evade the main issues and stress things non-essential; they over- taxed their fingers and under-exerted their brains; in general, they failed in honesty. Never- theless, out of so many solutions, it was possible to select a sufficient number to justify the White Pine Bureau in its admirable effort.
As in all such competitions, there was a wide diversity of conceptions and style, and the com- mittee endeavored to show such catholicity of taste as should do justice to these divergent views. It was forced to exclude some sincere and thoughtful efforts on account of a perhaps small but significant indication of a blind spot in the brain, as it was also forced to admit certain others in spite of evident obliquities of intellec- tual vision. The judges persisted at their task until all were in substantial agreement, their only serious differences of opinion being the re- sult of a difference of point of view as to what particular aspect of the whole matter should be emphasized.
THE FIRST PRIZE of $750 was awarded to Design No. 161, by Richard M. Powers, with full knowledge that the decision would, per- haps, be criticized as having been swayed by the really wonderful adroitness and aesthetic feeling manifest in the rendering. The judges feel, how- ever, that their collective conscience is clear of this charge, because, while the rendering is un- deniably beautiful, it is also undeniably true. The house itself is simple; direct and logical. It has an unmistakable wood character, it occupies its point of land as though it had a right there. Moreover, it is clear from the plan and from the scale elevations that the other views would be quite as satisfactory as the particular one chosen, a thing which can be said of very few of the designs submitted. The author has shown an indifference, almost amounting to perversity, for certain economical considerations with regard to the number and construction of the chimneys, and this almost lost him his chance of a prize. His effort to get fireplaces in every bedroom, a thing not called for, expected, or even desired, has led him into structural complications of a wholly unnecessary kind; the judges took the view that in actual execution adjustments and eliminations could be made which would leave the general conception intact. This solution ex- hibits a high order of ability in planning, design- ing and rendering. The presentation calls for
the very highest commendation. It is rare that artistic skill of such a quality is combined with such practical good sense as is shown by the floor plans. Most of the practical solutions were painfully deficient in any sense of purely aesthetic values, while the "snappy" drawings too often served only as cloaks for flagrant ar- chitectural sins.
THE SECOND PRIZE of $400 was awarded to Design No. 1 32, by Otto Faelten and Donald Robb. This design composes charmingly and fits the site to admiration. It has just the right character, being neither too rustic nor too formal to comply with the conditions in this respect. The plan is excellent, although it is of a type which would lend itself more naturally to a pro- gramme less restricted in the matter of expendi- ture. Compressed within the limits of the cubage called for, it is too contracted, particularly in its service part. The absorption of the authors in the purely aesthetic aspect of the problem has led them to sacrifice practicality and sound construc- tion here and there. The end gable of the main roof has no sufficient support; the floors of the open sleeping porches coming over the dining room and living room are bad, as is the flat roof on the long dormer. These are matters of which the artistic temperament is always highly impa- tient, but they are of the greatest moment to people who live in the house. Many of the com- petitors showed a disposition to sin flagrantly in similar directions. They did not attack their problem honestly and directly, but approached it from the point of view of the camoufteur in- tent upon deceptions.
THE THIRD PRIZE of $250 was awarded to Design No. 23, by Olaf Shelgren. The author of. this design did not yield to the temptation to be picturesque, and therefore avoided many of its pitfalls. The result is a design somewhat bleak and bare, but admirably honest and straightfor- ward. This particular design proved a storm center in the deliberations of the committee, one member contending that it was the only solution which deserved any prize at all, on the ground that none of the others could be built for $5000. An analysis of the programme, however, reveals the fact that any plan which comes within the required cubage is eligible for a prize, and that while the economic aspect of the whole matter is never to be lost sight of, it is, after all, only one of several factors. In the last analysis it is perhaps the judges' "estimate of the contestant's real ability" which scores most heavily. TheThird Prize design stands high on the first two counts insisted upon in the programme: "The ingenuity shown in the development of the plans to meet
A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
run
"" . THE SOVTH ELEVATIOK
DESIGN f~
A WHITE PINE HOUSE FOR. , THE WCATION SEASON
SUBMITTED By ( ( 0'
THE F1R.EPLACE SIDE OF THE LIVING RM
FIRST PRIZE, Design No. 161, Detail Sheet Submitted by Richard M. Powers, Boston, Mass.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
the client's needs as he has stated them," and "The fitness of the design to express the wood- built house." In meeting the third condition it is less successful, for it has no really vital rela- tion to the given site, of which the perspective gives no suggestion. The recessed piazza with the overhang supported only on slender posts would be unhappy in execution, — almost like a mouth with a missing tooth. The sleeping porch is not expressed on the exterior with sufficient frankness. It would have been better to have made a single feature of the two superimposed porches. The roof is admirably simple and the single chimney a great economical advantage. The honesty of the whole thing, and its respect for the client's interest and wishes, are in sharp and pleasing contrast with the bulk of the solu- tions submitted. The plan is compact and well arranged, though the maids' rooms are too small, even for a small house.
THE FOURTH PRIZE of $100 was awarded to Design No. 100, by Russell Barr Williamson. This is frankly of that Western school of which Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright is the most popular exponent, and Mr. Louis Sullivan the originator. This type of house, though somewhat outre to Eastern eyes, has distinct merits, both from the point of view of practicality and picturesqueness. It does not deserve all of the cheap jokes passed upon it by its detractors. People who live in these houses insist that they do not feel as though they were living in a sleeping-car. If we do not want the architectural tree to die of dry-rot, we should welcome these alien grafts, however wild and wanton their growth or however strange their bloom. This Fourth Prize house fits its site to admiration. The plan is distinctly good, the occupants would have, in Irvin Cobb's im- mortal phrase, "no more privacy than a gold- fish," but that is only our happy American way of living openly. Let us be glad that we have so little to conceal. The house suggests all kinds of profound readjustments — in clothes, in furniture and other human accessories — but the commit- tee, with every disposition to change their psy- chology imaginatively in order to be at home in such a house, could not bring themselves to the point of desiring to sit in front of the living room fireplace.
MENTION DESIGNS
THE Mention designs naturally consist of such as failed, for one reason or another, to get into the winning class. They had their individual advocates on the committee, who one by one were overruled. The following commentary is based upon no order of precedence of one over another:
No. 4, submitted by E. J. Maier and T. E. King, has a charm and originality not easily to be denied. It seems to be in sympathy, however, with a different sort of landscape than the one prescribed. It is too mannered for a vacation house on such a rugged site. The plan, while possessing admirable and unusual features, has grave faults. It would have been better to have thrown the living room and the loggia together. The dormers in the wing are too small, both from an aesthetic and from a practical point of view. The sleeping porch should be accessible from the hall, or, at any rate, from the largest bedroom. The separation of the guests' bedrooms from those of the family is the finest feature of the plan. The rendering deserves especial commen- dation, even in a competition in which the stan- dard in this particular is extraordinarily high. It was the often-expressed regret of the judges that some of the thought and skill which went into the presentation had not been directed toward the more important matters of arrange- ment and design.
No. 86, submitted by Paul R. Williams, shows a good grasp of the elements of the problem. It fits the site charmingly, is neither too free nor too formal, but the Palladian feature of the din- ing porch and the most unhappy dormers of the roof impair the beauty and unity of an otherwise interesting design.
No. 84, submitted by Jerauld Dahler, shows a nice feeling for the essentials of a design, but is somewhat too symmetrical and formal to con- form to the spirit of the place. It is urban in feeling and would look better on a level site — as shown — than on the slope of a hill. The author has overstressed that part of the programme which suggests that the design be appropriate to a village as well as to the country. In plan the floor of the sleeping balcony, coming as it does over the living room, shows a disregard for the fundamentals of direct and sound construction in this type of a house.
No. 112, submitted by Antonio di Nardo, ex- ceeds the cubage on a careful recomputation, and according to the terms of the programme should therefore receive no consideration whatever, but the design, plan and presentation are all so good that it forced itself upon the consideration of the judges with a power which could not be denied. In a spirit of regret, but in fairness to the other competitors, the judges cannot give it anything more than this passing word of praise.
No. 1 1 8, submitted by T. C. Pomphrey and W. R. Ralston, is interesting and important chiefly on account of its authors' departure from the other contestants in the matter of location. The house is placed far down the hill ; in fact, on
A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
the beach. This undoubtedly has its advantages, which are made the most of, but such a location would involve expensive and unnecessary fills on the shore side, or else grades too steep to be prac- tical. The two covered porches divide the design unpleasantly and possess no outweighing advan- tage.
No. 124, submitted by Milton Rogers Wil- liams, also exceeds the cubage, but the judges on that account could not deprive the other com- petitors of such an admirable example of beauty and restraint as this design shows. Neither No. 112 nor No. 124 exhibit any particular regard for the peculiarities of the site.
No. 165, submitted by L. E. Welsh and J. F. Yewell, makes a truly beautiful picture, but there are grave faults in it, when carefully considered with regard to construction and livableness. The sleeping porch is — to put it brutally — absurd from a practical standpoint. One would get more air and light in any of the bedrooms than in such a sleeping porch. The weight of the second story rear wall and of the main roof come directly upon the ceilings of the hall and gun room. Structural difficulties of this sort can of course be dealt with, but where they are incurred for the sake of mere picturesqueness, they cannot be justified.
No. 167, submitted by J. H. Phillips, is seduc- tively simple and picturesque in the perspective, but the plan has been contorted and the other elevations show that the author had in mind the winning of the competition on these points at the sacrifice of other considerations. The roof lines of the rear are complicated to a degree and in certain respects the plan, the elevations and the section fail to correspond.
ALTHOUGH the duties of the jury cease at this point, there remain a few of the designs relegated to the discard, which, by reason of some special excellence, plead for a word in passing.
No. 3, submitted by Hubert G. Ripley, is won- derfully presented, but its architecture is too pre-
tentious to conform to the spirit of the pro- gramme. No. 1 54, submitted by Porter W. Scott, would have been better if the author had frankly abandoned every attempt at "constructed archi- tecture" in the porches and let the simple spirit of the rest of the design have its way there as well. He has failed to reconcile convincingly these two elements in his design. The rendering of Nos. 3 and 1 54 are among the best submitted. No. 127, submitted by J. T. Thomson and J. P. Wilson, is in this particular the most remarkable submitted, with the exception of the First Prize design. It owes so much of its appeal to its elaborate system of stone walls, steps and gar- dens— is, in fact, so largely a thing of masonry rather than of wood, that it could not receive the consideration to which it was clearly entitled on other less essential counts. No. 108, submitted by Edwin J. Schmitt, Jr., is remarkable for its rendering. The style is hard and unbeautiful, but original and strong. No. 123, submitted by Arthur W. Coote, had its advocates for a high place, by reason of the qualities exhibited in the Third Prize design; but the combination of wood and stone is clearly unhappy, besides being un- necessary, and the whole design, though full of merit, is not, after all, convincing. Nos. 105, 174 and 175 are all of the same general type — a good type enough, but rather strained in their particu- lar relations. The authors (Harry L. Skidmore, Eugene D. Monticello and Charles F. Mink, respectively) should rather have sought out a free solution instead of trying to adapt their new libretto to an already popular tune. No. 178, submitted by Carl Bradley and Herman Brookman, is well planned and designed, but the chosen scheme is too ambitious for this type of house; that is, there is too little regard for econ- omy.
CLAUDE BRAGDON "1 WM. ADAMS DELANO Jury HUGH M. G. GARDEN I of ]. HARLESTON PARKER Award HOWARD SILL
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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SECOND PRIZE, Design No. 132, Detail Sheet Submitted by Otto Faelten, New York, N. Y., and Donald Robb, Boston, Mass.
A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
CV^AG'E
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MAIN HOU5E- 2r? FLOOK S 768
KITCHEN WING 4913
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COVERED MJfAGE 533
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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FOURTH PRIZE, Design No. 100, Detail Sheet Submitted by Russell Barr Williamson, Kansas City, Mo.
A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
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FOURTH PRIZE, Design No. 100 Submitted by Russell Barr Williamson, Kansas City, Mo.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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MENTION, Design No. 84, Detail Sheet Submitted by Jerauld Dahler, Washington, D. C.
A HOUSE FOR THE VACATION SEASON
CUBAGL MAIN HOUSE.(EXCAVATED) 2rx38'X26' 2672S
WINGS (DNEXCAVAItl) aOsii'XWXl?^ 6616
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DESIGN FOR A WHITt PINE HOUSE TOR THE VACATION SEASON
MENTION, Design No. 84 Submitted by Jerauld Dahler, Washington, D. C.
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THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
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DESIGN FOR A WHITE PINE HOUSE
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DESIGN No. 178 Submitted by Karl Bradley and Herman Brookman, New York, N. Y.
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DESIGN No. 108 Submitted by Edwin J. Schmitt, Jr., New York, N. Y.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, No. i. Colonial Cottages
Vol. I, No. 2. New England Colonial Houses
Vol. I, No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands -
Vol. II, No. i. Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies
Vol. 1 1, No. 2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts -
Vol. 1 1, No. 3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley -
Vol. 1 1, No. 4. A Suburban House and Garage
Vol. 1 1, No. 5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in Connecticut ---------
Vol. 1 1, No. 6. Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Vol. 1 1 1, No. i. Three-Story Houses of New England - - - -
Vol. Ill, No.2. Early Wooden Architecture of Andover, Massachusetts
Vol. Ill, No. 3. Old Houses of Newburyport, Massachusetts -
Vol. III,No.4. A White Pine House to Cost $12,500.00 ...
Vol. Ill, No. 5. The Bristol Renaissance --,-----
Vol. 1 1 1, No. 6. The Early Dwellings of Nantucket -
Vol. IV, No. i. Marblehead
Vol. IV, No. 2. Some Old Houses on the Southern Coast of Maine
Vol. IV, No. 3. Providence and Its Colonial Houses - - - -
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury II Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier Richard Arnold Fisher Report of Jury of Award
Joy Wheeler Dow . A. Schweinfurth William Truman Aldrich C. Howard Walker Norman M. I sham
An Architectural
MONO GRAPH onEat-ty
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ouses o
Prepared for publication £y
tyffell TWhite/ieadformerly£c/i'tor of The^Architectural Record and The "RricKb uilder J)2 MadifonXVe. MewYorK N. Y.
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THE MILLER HOUSE, LUDLOWVILLE, NEW YORK. Detail of Doorway.
JULIAN A. BUCKLY
1872-1918
JULIAN A. BUCKLY
JULIAN A. BUCKLY, ARCHITECT, THE ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES, DIED IN BOSTON ON JUNE 24, 1918. HIS CAREER OF CONSPICUOUS ARTIS- TIC ACHIEVEMENT UNFORTUNATELY WAS TERMINATED IN THE MIDST OF INVALUABLE SERVICES TO THE AR- CHITECTURAL PROFESSION.
BY HIS TALENTS AND TRAINING MR. BUCKLY WAS ESPECIALLY FITTED FOR HIS CHOSEN WORK. HE HAD A LONG AND VARIED ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCE IN SEVERAL OF THE BEST OFFICES OF BOSTON, PITTSBURGH, BALTIMORE AND NEW YORK. HIS INTER- EST IN PHOTOGRAPHY BEGAN VERY EARLY IN HIS OFFICE EXPERI- ENCE, AND, REALIZING THE ARTISTIC POSSIBILITIES OF THE WORK, HE FINALLY DECIDED TO DEVOTE HIMSELF EXCLUSIVELY TO MAK- ING PHOTOGRAPHS OF ARCHITECTURAL SUBJECTS. HIS SERVICES WERE SOUGHT BY ARCHITECTS OF NATIONAL REPUTATION AND HIS WORK HAS BEEN FAMILIAR FOR YEARS TO FOLLOWERS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL PRESS.
BUCKLY'S PICTURES, IN ADDITION TO BEING BEAUTIFULLY COM- POSED, ALWAYS BROUGHT OUT THE ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST OF THE SUBJECT. HIS WORK FOR THE MONOGRAPH SERIES EXHIBITS THIS QUALITY TO A MARKED DEGREE. ONE CAN TURN THE PAGES OF PAST NUMBERS AT RANDOM AND SEE IN HIS PICTURES A HAPPY FACULTY OF COMBINING RARE PICTORIAL QUALITY WITH AN AR- CHITECTURAL STORY. NONE BUT AN ARCHITECT WOULD HAVE MADE THE PICTURE OF THE HOUSES ON FRANKLIN STREET IN THE MARBLEHEAD NUMBER; ONLY AN ARTIST COULD HAVE MADE THE PICTURE 'OF THE OLD ABBOTT FARM-HOUSE IN THE ANDOVER NUMBER.
HIS SENSE OF COMPOSITION AND VALUES AND HIS UNERRING FAC- ULTY OF BRINGING OUT THE ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY OF HIS SUBJECTS HAVE GIVEN TO HIS WORK OF RECORDING OLD HOUSES AND TO THE CONTEMPORARY WORK OF HIS CLIENTS THE UTMOST INTEREST AND CHARM. HE WAS A MASTER OF THE TECHNIQUE OF HIS ART.
THESE QUALITIES IN HIS WORK WERE BUT A REFLECTION OF THE MAN HIMSELF. HE WAS MODEST IN THE EXTREME ABOUT HIS WORK AND HIS CHARM OF MANNER AND HELPFUL INTEREST IN THE WORK OF ARCHITECTS MADE HIM A WELCOME VISITOR IN MANY OFFICES.
IT IS WITH GREAT REGRET THAT WE RECORD THE FACT THAT BUCKLY'S WORK IS DONE, AND IT IS WITH DEEP SORROW THAT WE REALIZE THAT A GENTLE FRIEND AND A FINE ARTIST HAS PASSED AWAY.
Tfi&WftlTL PINE,
ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
ABI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHIXCTURAL USES CT WHITE PINE AND ITS AVAILABILITY TODAY AS A STRUCTURAL WGDD
Vol. IV
OCTOBER, 1918
No. 5
EARLY WOOD-BUILT HOUSES OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
By CARL C. TALLMAN, A. i. A.
The early architecture of the New England States has long been studied with interest and to the advantage of present-day design; that of Central New York, while just as interesting, has but recently received the attention to which its charm entitles it. Mr. Tollman, a lifelong resident of Auburn, has made the old houses of this -vicinity his special study. — EDITOR'S NOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR
IN the year 1828, prior to which time almost all of the post-Colonial buildings in Central New York had been erected, — for the Greek revival had then begun to assert itself, — a gentle- man from Scotland, one James Stuart, accom- panied by his wife, passed through this section upon the first leg of a three-years' tour covering most of the parts of the United States then inhabited.1 To the author Mr. Stuart's narration of stage- coach episodes and his description of the vil- lages of Central New York seem to create an atmosphereof theearly days which hardly could be equalled by a present-day writer. Ninety years ago the villages must have pre- sented a chaste and dignified appearance, unspoiled by motley groupings of almost all the known styles
of architecture and "carpentecture" which in later years were planted heterogeneously amidst the unassuming post-Colonial structures. Probably the simple character of the villages was not greatly disturbed by the Classic revival, which held sway until about 1845, although the de-
so-called improve-
1 "Three Years in North America," by James Stuart, lished in Edinburgh, 1833.
Pub-
signers of that period aimed at more pretentious edifices. Their work, however, failed to possess that subtle charm which the earlier builders had managed to incorporate in their structures. It is not necessary to dwell at length upon the horrors that succeeded the decline of the Greek revival and the lack of appreciation of the old work
which became mani- fest when "modern"
ments were intro- duced. Suffice it to say that from the au- thor's observations the post-Colonial build- ings of Central New York have suffered more at the hands of "progress" than have those in any other sec- tion of the country.
Let us then go back to the early days, tak- ing our seats upon the stage at Utica in com- pany with our narra- tor:
From 30tb of August to 1st of September, 1828. From Utica to Auburn.
"We found the stage partly filled before we prepared to take our seats, — half an hour before sunrise, — and did not reach Auburn2 until nearly
1 The distance from Utica to Auburn is seventy-five miles.
MAP OF CENTRAL NEW YORK. Showing James Stuart's Route.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
sunset. The morning was very hot, but we had some welcome showers in the fore- noon, after which the heat became much more tolerable, the road indifferent, and frequently not in the best line; but our charioteers drove pretty steadily at the rate of seven miles an hour. Therewere many wooden bridges over creeks, — the name given to small rivers in this country, — and
the rapid driving of our cumbersome machine down the hills to those bridges was at first rather appalling; but the drivers got on so fearlessly, and at the same time seemed to have their horses so well in hand, that we very soon thought our- selves as safe as in an English stage coach. Our route led us through a good country, diversified with hill and dale, and considerable hollows, — mucji excellent land, all cleared and settled within the last thirty or thirty-five years. We passed
HOUSE AT VERNON CENTER, NEW YORK
many thriving vil- lages, — towns we should call most of them: New Hartford, Manchester, Vernon, Oneida, Lenox, Chit- tenango, Manlius, Jamesville, Onondaga, Marcellus, and Skane- ateles, adjoining a lake of the same name. The valley of Onon- daga is exceedingly beautiful, and the town neat and clean looking, with a hand- some opening and piece of fine sward in
its centre. We were in the neighborhood of two small settlements of Indians.1 In one place, the children of the Indians followed the stage a long way to get a few cents from us. Everything has a thriving appearance in this district — crops good — and we have also to-day seen many patches of buckwheat. Farm-houses, generally with a por- tico, piazza, or balcony on one side, and a few locust trees or Lombardy poplars about the
1 Onondaga Indian Reservation.
REAR PORCH.
HOUSE AT VERNON CENTER, NEW YORK.
Photograph by Owen F. Scott
EARLY WOOD-BUILT HOUSES OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
buildings, and in all cases large orchards at this season laden with fruit. Near the house, and sometimes in the orchards, is the burying-ground of the family, marked by the erection of a few grave-stones.
"We breakfasted at Vernon, seventeen miles from Utica, this morning, and had even more than an abun- dant American break- fast set before us. Onondaga is the usual place for dining on this journey; but a party of militia on duty there had, I presume, partaken of our dinner; for we were told that we must wait for some time. This we were unwilling to do; and, having got a lunch of cheese and bread, we delayed our chief meal until we reached the coffee-house hotel at Auburn.
"Auburn itself is situated on the outlet of the Oswesco1 Lake, conveniently for manufactures,
1 Owasco.
WARD Sennett, Cayuga County
and is a thriving place, with a popula- tion of about 4000. It might have been the Auburn of Gold- smith, but for its nu- merous manufacturing establishments, and for its being the situation of one of the two great state prisons of the State of New York. There are printing offices, and various newspapers here, as at all the vil- lages; one of the pa- pers devoted entirely to religious discussion and intelligence.2 There are several hotels; one of them, a splendid-looking house, contains about 200 beds.
"Nowhere in this country has there been a more complete change since the revolution, than in that part of it where we are now travelling, in point of general improvement of population, and the comforts of living and travelling." Continuing with the diary:
2 Auburn Theological Seminary was founded in 1818.
lillllj
SOULE HOUSE, New York. Built 1814.
HOUSE ON WEST SIDE OF SKANEATELES LAKE, NE\\
Built circa 1818.
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
HOUSE AT ELBRIDGE, ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK. Built circa 1815.
r
HOUSE, 544 SOUTH MAIN STREET, GENEVA, NEW YORK. Built by Dr. Mandeville, 1800-1818.
EARLY WOOD-BUILT HOUSES OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
From 2nd September to 9tb September.
"Soon after our visit to the Auburn prison,1 we left the very comfortable family hotel at that village in the stage for Ithaca, at the head of the Cayuga Lake, in order to have a look at the vil- lage of Aurora, on the eastern side of the lake, and to see a little more of the lakes than we should if we had adhered to the direct western road, which passes the outlets or northern ends of those lakes. The lakes are parallel to each other, about thirty-three or thirty-five miles
houses, but a number of detached, clean-looking, and apparently comfortable small villas, inclosed in courts, or spots of garden ground ornamented with a few weeping willows or locust trees.
"We passed many good farms, some of them recently brought into cultivation, on which the usual processes of house-building, and inclosing by strong wooden rails, were in progress.
"Ithaca is a very flourishing village, the centre of several great roads, with a population of be- tween 3000 and 4000, and buildings in rapid progress.
THE MILLER HOUSE, LUDLOWVILLE, NEW YORK.
I
long, and two miles broad; our route is by the eastern side of the Cayuga Lake to Ithaca, and thence by the western2 side of Seneca Lake to Geneva on its northern extremity.
"We proceeded by the western road as far as the outlet from Cayuga Lake, where there is a wooden bridge remarkable for its length, above a mile, and thence by the east side of the lake to Aurora, which is charmingly situated on rising ground above the lake, and is considered an eligible place of residence, on account of the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and cheap- ness of the necessaries of life. The village does not consist of a connected street, or rows of
1 Auburn prison built 1817.
1 Mr. S. is in error here. A subsequent reference to the vil- lage of Ovid shows that the route was on the eastern side of Seneca Lake.
"We pursued our journey on the 5th towards Geneva. The only village we passed on our way to Geneva was Ovid, with its handsomely situated church, and fine piece of green turf be- tween the church and hotel. The American vil- lages are generally announced to you by the spires of their churches peeping through the trees.
"The situation of Geneva on a terrace above the lake is very delightful, as well as command- ing, and the village, containing some good houses, and a population of 2000 or 3000, seems an agreeable place of residence, more cheerful looking, and the landscapes and views more pleasing, than any of our resting places since leaving the vale of the Mohawk.
"Early on the yth September, we proceeded to Canandaigua, on the lake of the same name,
THE PHELPS HOUSE, NORTH MAIN STREET, CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK. Detail of Side Elevation. Built circa 1813.
1
THE GRANGER HOUSE, NORTH MAIN STREET, CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK. Front Elevation. Built circa 1816.
1O
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
sixteen miles distant from Geneva, through a very fertile district; it is considered the most beautiful village in the State of New York; pop- ulation about 3000. It rises gradually for above a mile from the lake, with an extensive opening for the public buildings in the centre of the street. I am not sure, if I admire the situation more than that of Geneva, but the style of the houses is decidedly superior. There is more appearance of their having been designed and set down with taste than I have ever observed elsewhere. In short, advantage has been taken
ever. Second, where their charm has been ap- preciated,— and consequently their original ap- pearance preserved free from serious alterations, —the early houses stand out as examples of domestic architecture worthy of becoming the source of inspiration for modern home-build- ers. Instances of such appreciation are to be seen in Canandaigua and Geneva perhaps to a greater extent than in other villages and cities, although here and there throughout the territory are to be found scattered examples which have been spared. No architect — in fact,
TWO HOUSES ON MILL STREET, ITHACA, NEW YORK. The one on the right was moved to its present location recently to clear original site for a business block.
of the ground, and of its relative situation with the lake, to place them on the fittest spots. They are generally separate and distinct dwelling- houses, their exterior painted perfectly white, and they recede from the street of the village, the sides of which are shaded with trees, inclosed in neatly laid out gardens. Some houses are large, and too good to be denominated villas."
Having caught a glimpse of the country and the principal villages as they appeared ninety years ago, let us rapidly retrace our journey in order to observe the present condition of the old houses. A careful survey to-day points out two facts very clearly. First, where roofs have been maintained reasonably weather-tight the old buildings invariably are found to be as sound as
no layman, if he possesses an interest in such matters, and it is evident on the whole that the layman's appreciation is continually increasing — should miss the opportunity of visiting Ge- neva and Canandaigua when he is in their vicin- ity. No guide is needed to point out the delightful old houses in these towns, but in the remainder of the territory the tourist must travel many miles always with his eyes wide open, — for the interesting examples of early architecture are not always apparent to the casual observer. The interest of such a tour, however, is not con- fined to architecture, for the country in the vicinity of the Finger Lakes, with its combina- tion of natural scenery and well-developed farms, is wonderfully beautiful.
EARLY WOOD-BUILT HOUSES OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
ii
THE THOMAS BEALS HOUSE, NORTH MAIN STREET, CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.
Built circa 1815.
HOUSE ON SOUTH MAIN STREET, GENEVA. NEW YORK. Built in 1820 by Charles A. Williamson
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
The oldest houses are to be found mostly on or near the original turnpike. Colonel William- son (whose house at Geneva is illustrated herein) is authority for the following in reference to the road from Utica, via Cayuga ferry and Canan- daigua, to the Genesee River at Avon: "This line of road having been established by law, not less than fifty families settled upon it in the space of four months after it was opened." Though the road was probably laid out in 1794, it seems not to have been constructed for some time, for in June, 1797, Col. Williamson repre- sents the road from Fort Schuyler to the Genesee as little better than an Indian trail. It was,
main road east and west follows the old turn- pike the greater part of the distance, but from Chittenango to Auburn the present state road lies to the north of the old route, passing through Syracuse, which in the days before the Erie Canal was but a small hamlet reached by a spur of the old road from Onondaga. Upon the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, villages naturally sprang up along its banks. The early architec- tural development in these villages, however, lacked the charm of the earlier work along the turnpike.
The author will not attempt a classification, or division into periods, of the many variations
THE DR. CARR-HAYES HOUSE, GIBSON STREET, CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK. Built 1826.
however, so far improved subsequently, that on the 3oth day of September, 1799, a stage started from Utica and arrived at Genesee in the after- noon of the third day, and from that period it is believed that a regular stage has passed between these two places. In the year 1800, a law was enacted by the legislature of the State for making this road a turnpike. The work of construction was commenced without delay, and completed in a short time.
The work illustrated herein has been selected mainly from that part of the country which lies near the old turnpike, following Mr. Stuart's deviation around Cayuga Lake. To-day the
of style which are to be found in this terri- tory. As a result of the diversified origin of the early settlers, one sees evidences that the early builders were inspired by Colonial buildings in various older settlements nearer tidewater, from New England to Maryland and Virginia. While buildings of frame construction predominate, many old stone and brick structures, with white pine trim, are to be found.
The author hopes that the few examples herein illustrated will help to bring about a closer study of the early buildings of Central New York, so that their story may be added to the records of Colonial and post-Colonial research.
EARLY WOOD-BUILT HOUSES OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
THE BALDWIN HOUSE, SOUTH STREET, AUBURN, NEW YORK.
Built circa 1838.
THE BOODY HOUSE, ROSE HILL ON SENECA LAKE. Opposite Geneva, New York. Built circa 1835.
HOUSE AT VERNON, NEW YORK. Detail of Doorway.
WHITE PINE--AND WHERE TO USE IT
i
INTRODUCTION
This article introduces a series designed to help the architect in the proper use and specification of White Pine. The results »f an investigation vie conducted clearly indicate that such a series will be of real service to the profession.— EDITOR'S NOTE.
THE changed conditions which have come about in American life have brought new responsibilities to all of us. We have ceased to be a nation of "wasters." Thrift and economy have taken the place of squandering and extravagance; and by all the signs of the times we shall never again return to_the profli- gacy of our national youth.
There have, from time to time, in this country been spasmodic efforts toward "conservation"; but the new times are putting a new construction on the meaning of this principle. We are now beginning to understand conservation in its broader and truer aspect.
Take the lumber industry, in which every ar- chitect has a direct interest. Lumber manufac- turers, whether justly or unjustly, have been accused of wasting a great essential national re- source. It is only recently, however, that conser- vationists have turned their attention to the equally extravagant waste through the improper use of lumber. The keen eye of the analyst has found the "user" as culpable as the manufac- turer. .
Yet there is nothing to be gained by recrimi- nations, unless out of a frank discussion of the facts there may come a cooperation between the users and manufacturers of wood which will enable this vital natural resource to render its most efficient service to the nation.
Obviously the burden in the proper direction of the intelligent use of lumber falls on the manu- facturer, rather than on the user, for with the manufacturer lies the responsibility of delivering full value and service in the product which he sells.
No one is really to blame for the misuse of wood, for it is only recently that a sufficient fund of experience with various kinds of woods has accumulated to show us their proper — and im- proper— uses. As it would be impossible, in the scope of this series of articles, to cover the entire range of woods in the markets to-day, we shall necessarily confine the discussion to the proper use of White Pine.
We feel that we need hardly explain our mo- tives in frankly considering with the architects the proper and intelligent specification of White Pine. For more than three years we have, through the Monographs, presented the merits of this wood in a straightforward, frank and honest manner, with no desire to have White Pine used
where another wood might give better service, or where a cheaper wood might give as good ser- vice.
That in the past we have perhaps not been specific enough, was forcibly brought to our at- tention through the answers which came to us in response to a questionnaire which we sent to a thousand architects last spring.
It was apparent from these responses that there is still a confusion in the minds of many architects as to whether or not Idaho White Pine has the same qualities as the White Pine of New England and the Lake States; — that many archi- tects are still having difficulties in getting White Pine when they specify it; — and that they are still specifying White Pine in general terms which are meaningless both to the contractor and the lum- ber dealer, such terms as "clear, kiln dried, mer- chantable grade of White Pine, free from large and loose knots, sap and other structural de- fects,"--"No. i" or "No. 2 White Pine" — or sim- ply, "Clear White Pine."
Practically all the White Pine in the market to-day comes from the Lake States and Idaho, and the future supply must come almost entirely from the ample forests in the latter region. The fact, however, that this White Pine comes from Idaho does not mean that it is not true White Pine. This subject was thoroughly discussed in an article in Vol. II, No. 3, of the Monographs. In that article there appeared the following state- ment of Mr. Howard F. Weiss, who at that time was Director of the United States Forest Prod- ucts Laboratory and who is recognized nation- ally as an authority on all subjects pertaining to wood:
"The White Pine (Pinus strobus), grown years ago in the New England States and in Pennsylvania, analyzes botanically and in other particulars the same as the White Pine to-day being cut in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, other than the slight differences that result from the changed climatic and soil conditions in the widely separated territories in which it is grown. Also does Idaho White Pine, though botanically called Pinus montic- ola, analyze almost identically like the White Pine of the New England States, Pennsyl- vania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the climatic and soil conditions of Idaho here again in some slight degree differentiating it from the White Pine of the East and of the
i6
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Middle West. In other words, for practical use the White Pine of the New England States, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michi- gan and Idaho is so similar that it can be used interchangeably with very satisfactory re- sults."
Why there should be a "scarcity" of White Pine in the territory in which it can be economi- cally distributed — and that means the whole country, with the exception of the Pacific Coast and Southern States — is beyond our comprehen- sion. The supply is ample; and all through the White Pine territory there are wholesale yards with comprehensive stocks, from which the local dealer can economically buy in less than car-load lots such items as he may not have in stock, and get prompt deliveries.
True, there are some dealers who for one rea- son or another do not carry White Pine and who trade on the general notion that there is no more of the "good old-fashioned White Pine"; but that is no reason why any architect who wants White Pine — and will be insistent — cannot get it. In every locality there is at least one dealer who wants to be of real service to his community. If your contractor does not know such a dealer, the White Pine Bureau is at all times ready to be of assistance in finding him.
The specification of the proper grade of White Pine — in order to get just the grade which will answer the requirements most economically, without the needless waste of money and of a natural resource — is necessarily a complex prob- lem. This subject was thoroughly covered in the White Pine Specification Book which was sent to all architects last year, and if it were consistently used there would be no occasion for the am- biguous and extravagant "blanket clauses" which
still find their way into specifications to-day. It is nothing short of extravagance to specify "clear" White Pine where a lower grade will an- swer the purpose fully as well and be consider- ably less in price.
It is now obvious, however, that a short cut is needed by which the information contained in the Specification Book can be readily and easily incorporated in the architect's specifications. To supply this short cut we shall in the succeeding issues of the Monographs present three sets of specifications, stating by standard manufac- turers' grades the proper uses of White Pine in house construction; this presentation will natu- rally also be applicable to other forms of con- struction.
These specifications will conform to the three cost factors that enter into the erection of every building and on which the Specification Book was founded:
CLASS i. Houses of the highest grade where Quality is first and Cost a second- ary consideration.
CLASS 2. Houses of medium grade where Quality and Cost are being equally considered.
CLASS 3. Houses of cheap construction where Cost is first and Quality a secondary consideration.
Following this data, the series will be con- tinued by a discussion in detail of the experience which has established the superiority of White Pine for those uses for which it has been recom- mended. It will, therefore, be the purpose of these articles to consider fairly and honestly the proper use of White Pine from the standpoint of the architect and his client.
Subjects of Previous Numbers of THE WHITE PINE SERIES OF ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS
Vol. I, No. i. Colonial Cottages ---
Vol. I, No. 2. New England Colonial Houses
Vol. I, No. 3. Farm Houses of New Netherlands -
Vol. II, No. i. Houses of the Middle and Southern Colonies
Vol. II, No. 2. Domestic Architecture in Massachusetts ...
Vol. 1 1, No. 3. Early Houses of the Connecticut River Valley -
Vol. II, No. 4. A Suburban House and Garage -----
Vol. 1 1, No. 5. Old Woodbury and Adjacent Domestic Architecture in
Connecticut
Vol. II, No. 6. Colonial Architecture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Vol. 1 1 1, No. i. Three-Story Houses of New England -
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Early Wooden Architecture of Andpver, Massachusetts
Vol. Ill, No. 3. Old Houses of Newburyport, Massachusetts -
Vol. 1 1 1, No. 4. A White Pine House to Cost |i2, 500.00
Vol. 1 1 1, No. 5. The Bristol Renaissance
Vol. I II, No. 6. The Early Dwellings of Nantucket -
Vol. IV, No. i. Marblehead ---
Vol. IV, No. 2. Some Old Houses on the Southern Coast of Maine
Vol. IV, No. 3. Providence and Its Colonial Houses -
Vol. IV, No. 4. House for the Vacation Season - - - - -
Joseph Everett Chandler Frank Chouteau Brown Aymar Embury II Frank E. Wallis Julian Buckly Richard B. Derby Report of Jury of Award
Wesley S. Bessell Charles A. Ziegler Frank Chouteau Brown Addison B. Le Boutillier Richard Arnold Fisher Report of Jury of Award Joy Wheeler Dow J. A. Schweinfurth William Truman Aldrich C. Howard Walker Norman M. Isham Report of Jury of Award
AnArchttectural
MON GRAPH
Prepared for publication by Whi
hltehead formerly&litor The^rchitectural 'Record and The "EtricKb uilder 1)2 -MadfonXVe. NewYork N. Y.
THE GENERAL STRONG HOUSE, VERGENNES, VERMONT.
Vol. IV
A BI-MONTLY PUBLICATION SUGGESTING TE ARCHITECTURAL USES <T WHITE PINE AND ITS /MMLABLITY TODAf AS A «STRJJCTURAL \M3DD
DECEMBER, 1918
No. 6
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN VERMONT
By GEORGE S. CHAPPELL
Again we are fortunate in having in Mr. Chappell another close student of the domestic architecture of the Colonists. After graduating from Yale, Mr. Cltappell continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts until 1902. Since then he has been prac- tising architecture in New York, for a time in partnership with Charles Ewing and at present independently. — EDITOR'S XOTE.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KENNETH CLARK
CURIOUS and interesting indeed is the invariable accuracy with which the architecture of a particular locality mutely spells its history. Not less engaging is this historic aspect when its lesson lies not on the surface but deeply buried in the meshes of circumstance which must first be explored before arriving at glimmerings of the truth. Such is the case with the fair Green Mountain State. The architectural history of Vermont is yet to be written. It exists, doubtless, not only in the noble houses which have been preserved, but likewise in the town records of many a valley village, — records, praise be, which are gradually being crystallized into useful collections by the beneficent agencies of various societies of por- tentous and dignified titles, such as the "Society for the Preservation of New England Antiqui- ties." But, as yet, the historians have said little specifically of the charming towns west of Con- necticut which, by leaps and bounds, are attain- ing a national pre-eminence as foci of rest and recreation for thousands of brain-fagged ur- banites.
Other sections of what we may properly call our Colonial country have had, each, their scribes. The coast towns, without exception, accessible by main railway lines and the more alluring water routes, have long stood as mile- stones on the itinerary of the zealous draughts- man, the prying historian and, last but by no means least, the man behind the camera. Who, among the architectural profession or in the splendid brotherhood of kindred souls to whom our old houses are precious, vital things, can
look back with aught but keenest pleasure to the occasional visit of that rare character, Frank Cousins, whose valuable records of Salem, Ports- mouth, Newburyport and Marblehead were invariably illumined by his quaint anecdotes and observations? The very accent of the man went with the pictures, and his point of view and method of what I can only tactfully term "distribution" were in wonderfully refreshing contrast to the cock-sure briskness of many a brick merchant, refrigerator vendor or miscella- neous patent-pusher who, in normal times, form an unending line at the outer portals of an office.
"Are these pictures for sale, Mr. Cousins?" I asked him, at our first meeting.
His reply was preceded by a look of gentle surprise and reproach which I shall never forget.
"No, Mr. Chappell . . . no, — they are not for sale. I am merely showing them to you. I will leave them here. I know you will enjoy them, and I give them to you. You will note that they are numbered. Keep what you find most interesting, — later, perhaps, if you wish to make me a present, you may mail me a check. What a lovely mantel that is in the Peabody house! I had to bribe Mrs. Peabody with two baskets of Northern Spies before she would let me photograph it," etc.
In Dutch Colonial, Long Island and New York, along the Georgian River James, in Charleston and Savannah, — up and down the coast have ranged the recorders of our historic past, — but of Vermont we find nothing. It is, then, with a peculiar elation that I have under- taken this little monograph, with something of
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
THE OLD CONSTITUTION HOUSE, WINDSOR, VERMONT.
HOUSE AT MIDDLEBURY, VERMONT.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN VERMONT
5
the feeling of a humble explorer, a traveller into "green fields and pastures new" in our frag- mentary world of architectural letters.
The mass impression, the total result, is per- haps the most trustworthy gauge of value by which to standardize an appreciation. In many cases this is extremely difficult. New England Colonial architecture, in the general sense of the term, runs a wide gamut of expression from the early iyth century survivals — in many ways the most absorbingly interesting of our relics — to the late i8th century period whose delicate life
colonies, waged for years a most desperate struggle for her political existence. Planted be- tween the great and vague grants of the Colonies of New York and New Hampshire, the green hills and valleys between the Connecticut and the Hudson were a veritable no-man's-land, con- stantly in dispute, constantly changing hands ac- cording to who drew the last map or last had the ear of the King's Council, and, consequently, con- stantly neglected. While thriving towns were being built in the defined areas of Massachusetts and Connecticut, the wildernesses of the interior
THE GENERAL STRONG HOUSE, VERGENNES, VERMONT.
was finally crushed out by the heavy hand of the Greek revival. Each type and phase must be considered and appraised separately, for they are distinct links in the chain.
In Vermont, however, we find a striking homogeneity of architectural expression, an al- most unvarying type which makes it possible to judge the value of this little known contribu- tion by a single standard.
This brings me, by a very devious route, I must confess, to the thought expressed in my initial paragraph, namely, that this very homo- geneity must perforce have its reason in the actual history of the State. Nor is this reason far to seek or hard to find. We forget, perhaps, that Vermont, more than any of our original
were left to the Indians and the animals. It was not until 1724 that the first white settlement in the present State of Vermont was founded at Fort Dummer, south of Brattleboro. The real tide of emigration did not set in until 1760, be- tween which period and the outbreak of the Revolution a bitter controversy was waged be- tween the hardy pioneers who had pushed into the forests, and the more calculating governors of the coastal communities who saw in such ex- ploration only an enlargement of their own boundaries. So acute did this quarrel become that Governor Tryon of New York formally placed a bounty of £150 on the head of no less a person than Ethan Allen, who, later, at Ticonderoga, blazed his way to a glory which
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
has sufficiently dimmed the luster of his former powerful antagonist.
Throughout the entire Revolutionary War. Vermont fought nobly as an independent, un- official group of settlers, and it was not until 1791 that she was finally formally admitted into the Union, — a belated recognition which, in the light of her splendid history and services, we should not hesitate nowadays to term "a raw deal."
Be that as it may, here is the plain explana- tion of Vermont's singleness of style in her early architecture. Of the very earliest, the iyth
dwellings, the period of the sturdy Georgian detail of Deerfield and Longmeadow, was still too early for the fluctuating, battledore-and- shuttlecock existence of the struggling colony. Vermont came into full architectural being just after the transition in styles had been effected which parallels interestingly what has happened recently in New York City and, in lesser degree, throughout the entire United States. In a word, the first Adam craze was on,: — perhaps not the very first, but leaving the great original out of the discussion, the first architectural Adam was certainly the great popular style of the'
HOUSE AT WINDSOR, VERMONT.
century and early i8th century type, there is practically none. It was not until the State was recognized and established that its staunch citi- zens began to build the dignified homes which we find in the lovely villages of Rutland, Wind- sor, Middlebury, and Vergennes.
The architectural derivation is as clear as the historical reasons for it. One has but to turn the pages of Asher Benjamin's delightful "Country Builders' Assistant, fully explaining the Best Methods for striking Regular and Quirked Mouldings" to see the hand of time pointing with no uncertain finger at the skilful carpenter of Greenfield whose name is writ large over the entire State of Vermont.
The period subsequent to our first stark
new State. It was between 1773 and 1798 that Robert and James Adam published the splendid series of engravings of their undying monuments to a phase of English architecture which stands for the utmost delicacy and refinement of Britain as clearly as Louis Seize indicates the culture of France. This was the fount from which Asher Benjamin drew his inspiration. His vessel was no royal tankard, but the water it held was pure. Far from being a servile copyist, he translated the proportions of cornice and column from terms of stone to wood with a niceness of judg- ment and delicacy of appreciation of the mate- rial he was working in that has earned him an undying and enviable place in the architectural history of America.
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10
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
Strange, how history repeats herself! The Ritz hotels, the Stattler hotels, the many new apartment houses on Park Avenue, in New York, — everywhere we are rushing to Adam, it is a fad, a phase, a transitory enthusiasm, but it will leave charm- ing results behind it. If I were asked to coin a modern expression for the early architecture of Vermont, I should say they did "wooden Ritz" — and I think I should be understood.
It is a sophisticated art, but an art still sound and vigorous. Canons of judgment in these matters are peculiarly personal, and my indi- vidual rating of our na- tional periods gives first place to the earlier, more na'ive structures in which the broader elements of mass and propor- tion, fenestration and austere profile seem to fall
Cornice Detail.
THE WAINWRIGHT HOUSE, MIDDLEBURY, VERMONT.
into a harmony that is inevitable and was, prob- ably, unconscious. Ver- mont is not without her examples of this chaste style, as in the old Con- stitution House in Wind- sor, illustrated on page 4, built in 1777, and hap- pily restored with a rev- erent regard to the an- cient law of severity.
More characteristic by far, however, are such bits of pure Adam detail as the charming door of the Sherman Evarts House, also in Windsor, illustrated on page 12, or the ingenious inter- laced frieze on one of the stately residences of Middlebury, known as the Wainwright House, which strikingly illus- trates the addition to a classic background of a motive which could be properly executed in wood, and wood alone. Less fortunate, but of singular interest in illus-
HOUSE AT CASTLETON, VERMONT.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN VERMONT
trating a subtle approach to the decadence of over- refinement, is the curious porch of the Meecham- Ainsworth House in Castleton, illustrated on page 13, where we see the ingenuity of the skil- ful workman combining three types of arches, the semicircle, the elliptical and the stilted, in a single motif. Far more than the usual refinement in design and proportion are found in the General Strong House at Ver- gennes, Frontispiece and page 5. Here General Strong lived while he and Macdonough were building the fleet which won the Battle of Lake Champlain.
In general, we may say of the Colonial architec- ture of Vermont that it was a true and dignified expression of the eco- nomic conditions of its period, nor can we ask more of any generation. In its studious devel-
Cornice
THE SHERMAN WINDSOR,
opment of classic orna- ment and general excel- lence of taste it goes far to rebut the quaint as- sumption of J. Norman, an earlier precursor of Asher Benjamin, who prefaces his hand-book with the encouraging statement that architec- ture should be univer- sally practiced, as it is "so easy as to be ac- quired in leisure times, when the Business of the Day is over, by way of Diversion."
I herewith formally pin upon Mr. Norman's breast a medal, proclaim- ing him to be the great originator of that vast army of home-builders who firmly believe that they planned their own houses and that the ar- chitect merely drew some white lines on blue paper putting on some figures and arranged the staircase so that it did not end in the living-room fireplace.
Detail.
EVARTS HOUSE, VERMONT.
THE SHERMAN EVARTS HOUSE, WINDSOR, VERMONT.
12
THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES
ENTRANCE DETAILS.
HOUSE AT MIDDLEBURY, VERMONT.
THE SHERMAN EVARTS HOUSE, WINDSOR, VERMONT.
ENTRANCE DETAILS. THE JOHONNOT HOUSE, WINDSOR, VERMONT. HOUSE AT CASTLETON, VERMONT.
THE FULLERTON HOUSE, WINDSOR, VERMONT. Entrance Detail.
WHITE PINE-AND WHERE TO USE IT
ii
SPECIFICATION CLAUSES FOR A HOUSE OF THE HIGHEST GRADE
WHERE QUALITY IS FIRST AND COST A
SECONDARY CONSIDERATION
Prepared by LOUIS ROBERT HOLSKE
Specification Writer for McKim, Mead &• White, Architects
In the introductory article to "White Pine— and Where to Use It," it was stated that a short cut was needed to help the architect to incorporate the information contained in the White Pine Standard Grading Rules Book into his specifications. It is hoped that the data presented in this article is in such form as to be not only of value, but also of practical use.— EDITOR'S NOTE.
THOUGH there is no universal form of specification for a given building, each architect having his own method of in- dicating the requirements as to material and workmanship, the White Pine Bureau offers the following Specification for White Pine, which may be incorporated into any form in current use. In working it out it has been borne in mind that to be of use to architects it must be as con- cise as possible. Clause A will be common to the specifications for the three classes of house. The application has been divided into three clauses, B, C, and D, for structural, exterior and interior uses respectively. C and D could readily be united in the interest of greater brevity. This, however, would be affected by the classification adopted by the architect in writing his specification. Some architects clas- sify everything in woodwork under Carpentry, others divide it into Rough Carpentry, Exterior Finish and Interior Finish, etc.
The fact has often been emphasized that "blanket clauses" are ambiguous and that their interpretation invariably adds appreciably to the cost of the structure. In spite of the fact that there are comparatively few instances where it is necessary to use absolutely Clear White Pine, architects often make the mistake of specifying "Clear White Pine" for all uses, where in many cases a lower grade would be more suitable and considerably less expensive. The client would have as satisfactory and as durable a house; the architect would gain pres- tige through creating a house which combines maximum quality with proper cost. Clear White Pine for sash, doors and blinds, however, does not come in this category, as sash, doors and blinds are products of factories and are cut from White Pine stock which yields the required amount of clear wood, although the nomen- clature of the grade from which it is cut is not
"Clear." This grade is known as "White Pine Factory Lumber" and is essentially for cutting- up purposes, or other shop uses where sections ot clear lumber are required.
There are three fundamental sets of White Pine Standard Grading Rules, one or more of which is familiar to all White Pine wholesale and retail lumber dealers throughout the United States. The architect should determine which of these three is applicable in the territory of the contemplated building before writing his specification. Any contractor or local retail lumber dealer should be able to give him this information. The architect can then specify the grades under whichever of the three sets applies. It may be found that White Pine is sometimes sold by lumber dealers under local names, although the dealer has purchased the lumber from the manufacturers under one of the three standard sets of grades. Every dealer must therefore know the grades as called for in the accompanying Specification, and there is no ex- cuse for any confusion or misinterpretation.
While White Pine is the wood par excellence for all construction uses, there may be, perhaps, a question as to the advisability of specifying it for general framing purposes. Clause B of the model Specification states the grades which should be used if it is decided to build of White Pine throughout. There are other structural woods, lower in cost and almost equal to White Pine, for sills, posts, girders, etc., but for studding and framing for doors and windows it is par- ticularly recommended. There is no shrinkage nor swelling, no warping nor twisting, in White Pine, and a door or window hung in a White Pine frame will not stick or bind, nor will the plaster crack. In these cases the slight extra first cost is more than offset by the future sav- ing in repairs.
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BINDING SECT. JUH 1 0 1966
NA The Monograph series, records
1 of early American architecture
M63
v.l-A
cop. 2
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY