Arts & Crafts

Adolph and Marion Ehrlich House // 1906

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Adolph and Marion Ehrlich House on Beech Road in Brookline’s Longwood neighborhood is a stunning blend of Arts and Crafts and Tudor Revival styles, popular in early 20th century Boston suburbs. The house was designed by the firm of Andrews, Jaques and Rantoul, for Adolph Ehrlich (1868-1952) and Marion Ratchesky Ehrlich (1877-1966). Adolph was born in Boston and at the age of 11, began work in the textile business. He climbed the ranks and became a partner in a clothing company before becoming a director of the Jordan Marsh Department Store Company from 1925 until his death in 1952. His wife Marion was heavily involved in social causes until her death, including the Louisa May Alcott Club, a settlement house in Boston for young, predominantly immigrant girls.

Gahm House // 1907

Buildings of New England1 Comment

Located in the Longwood neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, the Gahm House stands out not only for its size, but stunning details and architectural design. This house was designed in 1907 by the architectural firm of Hartwell, Richardson & Driver, one of the premier firms of the region at the time, who blended Arts and Crafts with Tudor Revival styles with a notable front entry. Joseph and Mary Gahm hired the firm to design their new home the same year the firm designed a bottling plant (no longer extant) in South Boston for Mr. Gahm’s business. Joseph Gahm was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, who emigrated to Boston in 1854 and initially worked as a tailor. In the early 1860s, Gahm opened a restaurant in Charlestown, by the late 1860s he added a small bottling operation to this business. The bottling business soon expanded to such an extent that he was able to give up the restaurant business and open a large bottling plant in 1888. He eventually moved operations to South Boston where there was more room for transportation and shipping capabilities. Their stuccoed house in Brookline is especially notable for the well preserved carvings at the entrance, which include: faces, floral details, lions, and owls perched atop the newel posts. What do you think of this beauty?

Charles P. Flagg House // 1899

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Located on Sewall Avenue in Brookline, Massachusetts, the Charles P. Flagg House exemplifies upper-class single-family housing built in the late 19th century that has been added onto and converted into multi-family housing to serve a growing city. Charles Partridge Flagg (1851-1911) was a real estate developer and head of the D. F. Flagg & Co., a wholesale liquor company his father started in Boston. He purchased the former Dexter property, subdivided the estate, and hired architect Julius A. Schweinfurth to design a home for his family. “Jule” Schweinfurth was long-associated with the firm of Peabody & Stearns of Boston, which in the late 19th century, was one of the premier architectural offices in the United States, but when he was not offered a partnership offer by his bosses, he established a new firm under his name. For the Flagg House, Schweinfurth blended the Shingle, Queen Anne, and Arts and Crafts architectural styles with a unique asymmetrical roofline, wide overhanging eaves with cross brackets and exposed rafter tails, consistent shingle siding, and a two-story polygonal oriel with domed roof at the corner. The Flagg House was moved forward on the lot to facilitate a rear addition and completely renovated in 2011, transforming it into a seven-unit condominium building with garage and elevator. This example of “gentle density” is exactly what communities should allow for, to preserve the character at the streetscape but provide additional housing.

St. John’s Episcopal Church of Sharon // 1902

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The small yet architecturally significant St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sharon, Massachusetts, was built in 1902 from plans by one of the premier ecclesiastical architects of the early 20th century. Episcopalians in Sharon began demanding their own house of worship in the late 19th century, and by the turn of the century, had funding to erect their own chapel. Boston-based architect, Ralph Adams Cram, of the firm Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, designed the building, which fits within the scale of the residential neighborhood it is located within. St. John’s is an example of Neo-Gothic Revival architecture, a style which Cram became known for, with a fieldstone base, three feet thick, and stucco gabled facade above with tripartite windows with diamond-cut colored glass. The chapel was expanded at the rear, but maintains its rustic charm at the street.

Old Sharon Sanatorium – Former Kendall Whaling Museum // 1891

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The old Sharon Sanatorium was built on former farmland in Sharon, Massachusetts, as a medical facility for the cure of pulmonary infectious diseases. The rural medical institution was designed in 1890 by the architectural firm of Longfellow, Alden and Harlow and completed a year later. The Sharon Sanatorium for Pulmonary Diseases opened formally in February 1891 with the purpose to provide affordable care for patients suffering from Tuberculosis and other pulmonary diseases. At the time, tuberculosis was a major health concern and treatment often included fresh air, so facilities such as this were designed with access to open air sleeping porches and forested surroundings. The Sharon Sanatorium was sited to catch the prevailing breezes on the side of Moose Hill, the second highest ascent between Boston and Providence. In 1916, the Sanatorium opened a Children’s Pavilion, which was reserved for children less than fourteen years of age suffering from tuberculosis. By 1938, the threat of tuberculosis was under control, and the Sanatorium began admitting patients suffering from arthritis and rheumatic fever until the facility closed in 1947. The Sanatorium integrated with the Boston Children’s Hospital in 1949 and soon after, the property was bought by Henry Plimpton Kendall (1878-1959), a wealthy entrepreneur and industrialist, for use as the Kendall Whaling Museum, showcasing his personal collection of paintings, prints, and tools of the whaling industry in New England. In 2001, the museum merged with the New Bedford Whaling Museum and today, the property is managed by the Trustees of Reservations as their Archives and Research Center.

Wrentham State School // 1910

Buildings of New England1 Comment

The Wrentham State School (also known as the Wrentham State Hospital) was authorized in 1906 as a school for the “feeble-minded”, and the campus is comprised of a few dozen buildings largely from the early to mid 20th century. The school was founded to house and treat developmentally disabled children and was the first in the state of Massachusetts to employ a standardized plan for wards and employee housing. A site occupied by farmhouses just north of Wrentham Center was selected and purchased by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The school officially opened in 1910 and brick structures were built to house students and workers. In its first year, 217 pupils were admitted to the facility, roughly half boys and girls. A majority of the early ward buildings were constructed in the early years of the school, with most designed by the Boston architectural firm of Kendall, Taylor & Stevens, who also designed many other similar facilities around the country in the early 20th century. Most buildings are examples of the Arts & Crafts and Colonial Revival styles built of brick. Today, the campus is comprised of roughly half, deteriorating historic buildings and half are used as part of the Wrentham Developmental Center, which continues the important (and under-funded) work of treating psychiatric and developmental disorders of patients.

Goodwin House // 1902

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This handsome house in the small town of Richmond, Vermont, was built in 1902 for F. H. Goodwin, a partner of the Richmond Underwear Company, which started in 1900. Goodwin’s brother and his partner were brought from Peekskill, New York to the small town of Richmond to create and manage a new industry to revitalize the town, a program funded by the citizens. F. H. Goodwin was hired as a manager of the company, and built this home in a blending of Shingle and Arts and Crafts styles, common in the early 20th century. The house was unique in that it was the first in town to be electrified as it was directly connected on the grid with the factory next door.

Former Richmond School // 1907

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This handsome brick building is located in the historic downtown of Richmond, Vermont, and was built at a time of rapid growth of the small community. Pupils in the town of Richmond originally went to school in small, one-room rural schoolhouses, with the Richmond Academy serving the main village. The old academy building was constructed in 1868 and taught classes from elementary through high school. The building was outgrown as the town grew in the first decade of the 20th century, necessitating a new, larger schoolhouse for the main village. This new school was constructed in 1907, apparently just as the right side and tower, which was expanded with the left half four years later in 1911. Blending Craftsman and Romanesque styles, plans for the school were drawn up by Vermont architect, Frank Lyman Austin. Another rear addition in the 1950s was constructed to meet increased demand until the 1980s when a new elementary school was built in town. Since 1989, the former Richmond School has been home to Richmond town offices. The building, while altered, is an important landmark of the town, showcasing a blending of architectural styles popular in the early 20th century.

The Larches // 1910

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

George Otis Draper (1867-1923) was born in Hopedale and attended MIT to prepare to help run the extremely successful family business, the Draper Corporation in town, which was experiencing a period of rapid growth and expansion of factories. With his position at the company, his wealth afforded him the ability to build a massive country estate known as The Larches. The shingled Colonial Revival style home featured a massive crenelated tower and appeared like a castle in the countryside. George O. Draper sold this home to his aunt Hannah Thwing Draper Osgood in 1909, and within a month, the home burned to the ground. She began construction on the “new Larches“, a shingled mansion with a stunning blending of Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles. The home was likely designed by Robert Allen Cook, who was based out of nearby Milford, MA. The property today is run by Crossroads Clubhouse, an employment and recovery center that offers people with mental health conditions opportunities to achieve their full potential.

Hopedale Village Cemetery Tool House // 1894

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

At the heart of the Hopedale Village Cemetery, this diminutive historic tool shed and office showcases that even for functional buildings set within a cemetery, high-quality materials and good design can enhance the landscape. The cemetery was laid out in 1845 in connection with Hopedale’s Utopian settlement, but expanded later in the 19th century as a formal landscaped cemetery in about 1887. The growth and investment of the cemetery coincides with the growth of the community as it prospered with the success of the Draper Corporation factories in town. Landscape architect, Warren Henry Manning updated the landscape here, with scenic vistas and hills, which followed the popular Rural cemetery movement of the 19th century. The cemetery contains many graves and mausoleums of the wealthy factory managers and benefactors of the community, which dot the sprawling landscape. In 1894, architect, Robert Allen Cook, designed this stone tool shed, which may have also contained a small office with cemetery records. The one-story, hip-roofed building features rough rubblestone walls with an eyebrow dormer centered on the façade, and has been preserved by the community for well over 100 years.