Arts and Crafts

Adolph and Marion Ehrlich House // 1906

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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

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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?

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

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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.

Dr. Byron Brown House // c.1930

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Dr. Byron Freeman Brown (1902-1962) was born in Maine and was educated at Bowdoin College before moving to Boston for medical school. After he graduated, he married and accepted a position as a doctor at Milford Hospital, not far from Hopedale, Massachusetts. Dr. Brown and his wife, Veronica, had this cottage on Adin Street built around 1930. Distinguished by its stone veneer walls and steeply pitched red clay tile roof punctuated by dormers and symmetrical facade, the Dr. Brown House is a great example of a Colonial Revival style house with Arts and Crafts flair built in the inter-war period.

Braman-Cabot House // 1869

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This charming residence is one of a few hidden houses tucked away on Mt. Vernon Square in Boston’s Beacon Hill. The small enclave of four houses with a stable was developed in 1869 by the partnership of builder Daniel Davies and Grenville T. W. Braman, a businessman turned real estate developer in the mid-late 19th century. The residence pictured is today known as 3 Mt. Vernon Square, but was once a double-house that was rented to families by Braman before they were sold off to separate owners. In 1903, Philip Cabot (1872-1941), a member of the wealthy Cabot Family of Boston, purchased both 3 and 4 Mt. Vernon Square and had the homes combined to a single-family home for his family. It is unclear who was hired as architect, but the property was renovated with a new central entrance, full third floor faced with stucco replacing the former mansard roof, diamond-pane and blind arched windows, and a decorative metal or cast-stone panel inlaid in the facade. Philip was married to Lucy Fuller but filed for divorce in 1910 after she deserted him according to local papers, and in 1911, she married Winthrop Ames, of the wealthy Ames Family of North Easton, Massachusetts. Philip Cabot also remarried, and sold the house on Mount Vernon Square to Frank Washburn Grinnell, a successful attorney.

Onteora Park Library // 1906

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Built in 1906, the Library at the Onteora Park summer colony in Hunter, New York, is one of the many architectural treasures in the development. Designed by George A. Reid, the Canadian artist, architect, and summer resident of Onteora Park, the Tudor-style Arts and Crafts building was constructed in 1906 and opened to a collection of over 1,500 books and a full-time librarian during the summer season. Built of wood-frame construction with stucco exterior finish and adorned by half-timbering, the building has been lovingly maintained and preserved by members of the community for over 120 years.

Lyman School for Boys – Elms Cottage // 1906

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The former Lyman School for Boys was established in Westborough as the Massachusetts State Reform School in 1847, the first state-operated reform school in the country. Initially located on the eastern shore of Lake Chauncy and dominated by a single massive building, but its early history was plagued by conflict between inmates and administration. In 1885, legislative action authorized the Trustees to purchase and prepare a new site, the first in the state system to be developed on the dispersed cottage plan, the school thrived throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century until its eventual closure in about 1974. This cottage, known as Elms Cottage, provided rooms for the young men at the school, providing sanitary and well-appointed lodging as they were “reformed” to graduate and enter society. Each cottage was ruled by a cottage master and usually a cottage matron. This husband-and-wife team lived in a cottage apartment and was on duty 24 hours a day, often overseeing the young boys and strictly disciplining them, without much oversight. Many of the cottages and other buildings on the campus were demolished after the school closed, but the Elms Cottage, designed in the Arts and Crafts style, was restored.

Renton Whidden House // 1912

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One of the finest Arts and Crafts style “cottages” in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, can be found on Ivy Street as the Whidden House. The property here was developed by Renton Whidden (1859-1942), a real estate developer and politician elected into the Massachusetts House of Representatives, who purchased a house lot from Thomas B. Hall, who owned a house next door. Renton Whidden hired architect, Arthur Hunnewell Bowditch, to furnish plans for the large home, which was completed in 1912. The stucco house features a brick entrance with projecting roof off the front, a unique twin gabled facade, segmental arched dormers, and a Palladianesque window and balconette above the front door.

Harry W. Cotton House // 1905

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In 1905, George H. Cotton and his wife, Cora S. Cotton, purchased a house lot on Amory Street in Brookline and hired famed architect, William Gibbons Rantoul, to design this home for their son and daughter-in-law. George Cotton was a manufacturer of brass tubing and also the founder of the Belmont Springs Water Company and maintained homes in the Back Bay of Boston and in Belmont. His son, Harry W. Cotton, also worked for the American Tube Works and lived in this home with his family. The Cotton House is an architectural blending of Dutch Renaissance Revival and Arts & Crafts styles. The stucco siding and entry portico are in the Craftsman style, while the prominent Flemish gable on the central pavilion and round arched pediments for the dormers are in the Flemish mode.

Partridge House // c.1908

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Located on Amory Street in Brookline, this handsome Arts and Crafts style residence dates to about 1908 and while clearly Craftsman in style, does appear to follow the horizontality and form of the Prairie School of architecture, popularized by famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. While the architect of this house is unclear, we do know that the first owners were Mr. Frank T. Partridge and his wife, Edith Stevens Partridge. The stucco house features a horizontal belt course, shallow hip roof with broad eaves supported by brackets, and elaborate entry and porches. The colors enhance the architecture of the home perfectly.