Shingle Style

Chester Guild Cottage // 1902

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One of the many stunning summer “cottages” built in the Cape Arundel summer colony of Kennebunkport, Maine, is this turn-of-the-century Shingle style dwelling built for Chester Guild of Boston. Chester Guild III was born into the wealthy Guild Family of Roxbury with his father being a successful leather dealer. Chester Guild spent summers with his family in Kennebunkport beginning in the 1890s, eventually had this cottage built in 1902. The Shingle style dwelling remained in the family for five generations and is very well-preserved, showcasing the hallmark elements of the ubiquitous coastal Maine architectural style.

The Billingsgate Cottage // 1892

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In 1892, this large summer “cottage” was built in the Land’s End section on the coast of Rockport, Massachusetts. The large summer residence was built for the Thatcher sisters of Roxbury and was named “The Billingsgate” after their mother’s maiden name, Billings. Caroline Billings Thatcher would summer here with upwards of her four other sisters, Lillian, Margaret, Mary, and Elizabeth, to escape from the city. The large summer cottage features a rubblestone first floor with stone columns supporting the shingled floor above. A large gambrel roof and dormers punctuate the façade and showcase the simplicity and elegance of the Shingle style.

Windswept Cottage // 1909

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The coastal towns of Gloucester, Manchester, and Beverly on the North Shore of Massachusetts often are known for their historic summer “cottages” but great examples can be found right here in Rockport! This is “Windswept”, the W. W. Blunt cottage, located in the Headlands section of town, just south of the harbor. Walton W. Blunt worked as the Treasurer and General Manager of the Boston Journal newspaper and resided in Boston, later purchasing multiple adjoining house lots in Rockport for a summer residence. The two-and-a-half story house was designed by a Rutherford Smith, who sought to utilize fieldstone found nearby for the foundation and chimneys and shingle siding above. Detailed descriptions of the new house were featured in a local newspaper in 1909 and mentioned tennis courts on the grounds, an apartment for servants, and a billiard room in the third floor. It is not clear when the house got its name, “Windswept”, but the name is just too fitting!

Commercial Cable Company Relay House // 1884

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This shingled house in Rockport may look like an ordinary 1880s residence, but it was actually built as an important piece of infrastructure! This is the Commercial Cable Company’s Relay House, built in 1884 to serve as a terminus to a transatlantic cable providing communication across the Atlantic Ocean. Up until 1884, a French company, the Atlantic Telegraph Company, was the sole provider of transatlantic telegraph cables. James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald, was dissatisfied was the 50 cents per word he had to pay for transatlantic telegraphs. Seeking to break ATC’s monopoly, he convinced millionaire John W. Mackay to create the Commercial Cable Company. That company put down two cables from Ireland to Nova Scotia with two other lines to the United States, one to Rockaway Beach, Long Island, and the other to Rockport. This building housed offices on the first floor and a billiards room for employees on the second floor with machine shop in the basement to service equipment. Cable operations continued from this building until 1935 when newer international communications made cable lines obsolete. The Relay House was converted to residential use, and while it has been altered, it still maintains its significance architecturally and historically.

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church // 1891

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Tucked away off Broad Street in the Danielson village of Killingly, Connecticut, you will find this charming and eclectic church building, long-occupied by the St. Alban´s Episcopal Church. Episcopalians began congregating in the town in the 1860s, and it would be in 1865, when an old academy building on this site was acquired and converted for use as an Episcopal church. By 1891, the relative prosperity of members of the church made it so a new church building was to be built on the site. Worcester-based architect Stephen C. Earle was hired to furnish plans for the new edifice which is eclectic with Victorian Gothic and Shingle style elements. The congregation appears to have either disbanded or merged with a nearby church as the building does not appear to be occupied. 

Point Allerton Life Saving Station // 1889

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The United States Life-Saving Service was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian efforts to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and ship passengers. It began in 1848 when the congress appropriated $10,000 to establish unmanned lifesaving stations along the New Jersey coast south of New York Harbor. That same year the Massachusetts Humane Society also received funds from Congress for lifesaving stations on the Massachusetts coastline. It was decided to establish a life saving service station at Point Allerton after 61-year-old Joshua James and his crew rescued 29 people from four vessels wrecked in the Boston Harbor during the great storm of November, 1888. The United States Corps of Engineers had this Queen Anne style life saving station built at the northern shores of town, overlooking the Boston harbor. Joshua James became the Keeper of the station at 62, seventeen years past the mandatory retirement age of 45 for a federal appointment with the new U.S. Life–Saving Service. The station is the best-preserved of 32 stations that once lined the Massachusetts coast (most have since been demolished or adapted to other uses). It is now operated as the Hull Lifesaving Museum.

Conant-Cushing House // c.1890

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Atop the Great Hill on Point Allerton in Hull, Massachusetts, this large summer “cottage” stands out for its unique architecture and siting overlooking the bluffs and Atlantic Ocean. The Shingle style house was built around 1890 by Edward D. Conant, a real estate agent and developer of Newton as his family summer home. The architect is not clear, but the house exhibits a unique four-story crenellated tower, giving the appearance of a castle from a distance. The house was later owned by Cardinal Richard Cushing (1895-1970) as his own summer residence. Cardinal Cushing served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing’s main role was as fundraiser and builder of new churches, schools, and institutions, and he helped then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy deflect fears of papal interference in American government if a Catholic became president. Kennedy grew up spending summers at his grandfather’s home in Hull (featured previously). The Conant-Cushing House remains significant even with 20th century renovations.

Bread Loaf Campus – Treman Cottage // c.1890

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This is the last building to be featured on the Bread Loaf Campus! For more early history and context of the complex, check out the post on the Bread Loaf Inn. By 1900, owner Joseph Battell’s enterprise exceeded the capacity of the original inn, and cottages were added to accommodate more guests visiting his new permanent home in the mountains of Ripton, Vermont. Special friends who summered regularly at Bread Loaf purchased lots with water and sewage rights, and with Battell’s assistance, built their own family cottages to spend their summers. This is Treman Cottage, a shingled beauty which appears to have been built for a friend (though I am not sure who), and has since become the faculty cottage on the campus. As we wrap up this series, here is an interesting fact about the mountain campus: All buildings here that are painted the ochre color were built during Mr. Battell’s lifetime (by 1915), with later buildings painted white.

Brookline Arts Center – Former Fire Station // 1886

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The Longwood area of Brookline, Massachusetts, is among my favorite neighborhoods to stroll and admire great old buildings. The area is home to many grand houses, churches and later high-style apartment buildings but this diminutive building is often overlooked at the edge of the neighborhood! The structure was erected in 1886 by the Town of Brookline as a new Chemical Engine House. The locally renowned architectural partnership of Peabody and Stearns designed the Shingle style fire station for the town, an important hire as the surrounding neighborhood was dominated by stately old homes in a suburban setting. Eventually, in 1965, the firehouse was closed and in 1968, the Brookline Arts Center renovated the building, where their programs have been continuously based in the years since. The brick and shingle building is maintained by the non-profit, preserving a significant piece of the town’s history for the public to enjoy!

Saunders Cottage // c.1900

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Charles Saunders, a carpenter, and his wife Annie Saunders, seemingly built and lived in this Shingle style cottage in the Ocean View summer colony of Rockport. The couple shows up in census records as living here in 1910 while in their 50s. The house likely dates to the 1890s and is a great example of the Shingle style for a middle-class residence. The house features a corner tower and a wrap-around porch with continuous shingle siding and columns. The property was deeded to a Lawrence Regester in 1924 when Annie sold the property after Charles’ death. The shingled cottage has remained in a great state of preservation for its existence!