Eclectic architecture

Maine State Building // 1893

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The Maine State Building is a one-of-a-kind landmark located in the Poland Springs Historic District of Poland, Maine, though it was not originally built in this location! The Victorian structure was built in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (aka the Chicago World’s Fair) as one of the State Buildings constructed by each U.S. state to highlight their history. Designed by Chicago architect Charles Sumner Frost, a Lewiston, Maine native and MIT graduate, the building was constructed of granite with a slate roof. After the close of the fair, the Ricker family of Poland Spring, purchased the building from the state. They had it dismantled, moved to Maine, and rebuilt on their resort, which brought even more visitors to their property. In Maine, it reopened in 1895 as a library and art gallery for their hotel guests. Along with the Norway Building in Norway, The Dutch House in Brookline (a personal favorite), the Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry) and World Congress Auxiliary Building (now the Art Institute of Chicago) in Chicago, the Maine State Building is one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World’s Fair, and the only State Building remaining. It has been lovingly preserved and operated by the Poland Spring Historical Society, who operate the building as a museum.

William Dexter House // 1899

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One of the best examples of the eclectic architecture designed at the of the 19th century in Norwood, Massachusetts, can be found on Beacon Street in the William Dexter House. Built in 1899 for William W. Dexter (1827-1911), who in 1852, married Harriet Blake, later settling in Massachusetts. Tragedy struck the family in 1871, when on the same day, his wife and daughter died; two days later, his sister-in-law, and six days after that, his other daughter Carrie died, all of bacterial infections. All that remained of the family was William and his only surviving daughter, Nellie. William remarried and built a blended family until his death in 1911. This house was built by Dexter, who worked as a contractor and painter, and George F. Bagley, a local builder. The complex form, rooflines, varied siding types, corner tower, and intact historic windows all add to its beauty. If only it had a historically appropriate color scheme to compliment it!

Kaffenburgh House – Bertram Inn // c.1910

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Across the street from the C. D. Hammer House on Sewall Avenue in Brookline, Massachusetts, this later take on the Queen Anne style with Tudor Revival elements is about to go through quite a transformation!

A little history before I share the proposal for the site… This house was built around 1910 for Bessie V. and Carl J. Kaffenburgh, a tobacco dealer with a store in Downtown Boston. The house was  from plans by architect Harry E. Davidson, who had previously designed stucco houses with Tudor influences for both the Vorenberg and Kaffenburgh family including 20 Amory Street in the nearby Cottage Farm neighborhood. By 1940 the house was owned by Hazen Blood and his wife. The Bloods had rented out rooms in the house totalling 13 lodgers here as a rooming house in the 1940 directory. In 1987, owner, Bryan Austin purchased the property restored it, and opened it as the Bertram Inn.

In recent years, the adjoining lots were eyed for redevelopment and demolition was proposed for this property. Neighborhood opposition and the demolition delay process allowed for review of the plans, which now includes the “restoration” of the main house with a six-story boxy addition on the rear containing condominium units. While the proposed addition is not contextual to the historic Tudor Revival house, it does save the original building and provides much-needed housing for others, so I guess this is a win! What do you think?

Judge Philip Rubenstein House // c.1915

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In the early 20th century, the suburban development of Longwood in Brookline saw another period of rapid development. Larger estates were subdivided and developed with all kinds of housing from single-family mansions to middle-class homes to large apartment buildings. One of the more modest-sized houses built in the first decades of the 20th century was this house, one of a collection of stuccoed homes on Colchester Street. The house was purchased by Judge Philip Rubenstein, the first member of the Jewish faith to serve on the Massachusetts bench and one of the first three judges of Boston’s juvenile court, the first in the country. The unique home is clad with stucco with a terracotta shingle roof and Colonial Revival style entry, showing an effective blending of the Arts and Crafts and Colonial styles.

Dudley W. Davis House // c.1900

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Dudley William Davis (1857-1942) was born in Quebec, Canada and eventually moved to the United States, graduating from Bates College and settling in the border town of Derby, Vermont. Here, he engaged in business and became the cashier, and eventual President of the Derby Line National Bank (featured previously). His success in banking afforded him the ability to purchase a house lot on high ground in town, and he had this large home built. Clad with wood shingle siding and a prominent cross-gambrel roof, the house retains much of its original architectural integrity.

Butler House // 1865

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A true Italian Villa can be found in the dense center of Newport, Rhode Island. This is the Butler House, built in 1865 for physician Samuel Butler (1816-1881) and his wife, Emeline. Dr. Butler was born in Maine and was educated at Harvard before moving to Newport to become a member of high-society there. Besides working as a physician, Samuel Butler served on the Newport School Committee and as a director of the Redwood Library. His house was originally built in 1865 (as the right half) in a late-Greek Revival style as a side-hall house with flushboard siding and pilasters between the bays. As Newport continued to grow in wealth as a summer destination, Dr. Butler modernized his home in 1876, adding the oversized corner tower with round arched windows and bracketed cornice. The two aesthetically opposing styles somehow work well together in this eclectic home, which today, is further enhanced by a color palette to accentuate the two sections.

Johnston-Sullivan House // c.1894

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One of the more exuberant and ornate homes in Roxbury’s Washington Park neighborhood is this charmer on Howland Street. The eclectic house was built in around 1894 for Ellen S. Johnston from plans by local architect Timothy Edward Sheehan and stands out for its preserved exterior in a neighborhood where many homes are covered in later siding, obscuring the ornate details underneath. Details include: swag and garland applied ornament, two bays at the facade (one polygonal and one rounded), a Colonial Revival style porch, and central rounded dormer. Wow!

Soldier’s Memorial Library of Mansfield // 1901

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Arguably the most beautiful building in Mansfield, Massachusetts is the Soldier’s Memorial Library in the center of town. Constructed in 1901, the Soldiers’ Memorial Library is a well-preserved example of 19th
century High Victorian architecture with Shingle style elements, designed by the prominent Boston architectural firm of Peabody & Stearns. In as early as 1896, the idea of constructing a building as a memorial to the soldiers who died in the Civil War had prominent local members of the community. In 1898, a relatively new resident in town, Mrs. Elizabeth Noble, donated a parcel of land for the building with the stipulation that the first floor was to be used as a library and the second floor as an “audience room”,
banquet room, and kitchen for the use of the G.A.R. The architects created one of their most significant civic buildings with an interesting juxtaposition of Gothic elements with Shingle style details. The Gothic lancet window and door surround blends surprisingly well with the use of rubblestone on the first story with buttresses and shingle siding above which give the building a fortress-like appearance.

Ashton Croft Mansion and Carriage House // c.1892

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Tucked behind the Jesse Lee Memorial Church on Main Street in Ridgefield, you will find this stately Queen Anne/Tudor Revival estate. The ‘Ashton Croft’ Manor House, now called Wesley Hall, is part of the Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church complex and it has been modified several times blending two distinct styles into a single, pleasing composition. This house was originally constructed by Henry and Elizabeth Hawley circa 1892 in the Queen Anne style. The house was later sold to Electa Matilda Ziegler, a wealthy New York City widow in 1912, who reconfigured the structure to include half-timbering on the gables and upper story walls in the Tudor Revival style. She spent summers at a mansion in Darien, Connecticut, and would sell her Ridgefield property to Sanford H.E. Freund, a New York City attorney. The local order of Odd Fellows bought the estate from the Freund family in 1956. Three years later, the organization sold most of the property — retaining the carriage house for its lodge — to Jesse Lee Methodist Church, which planned to eventually build a new church there to replace the old one at Main and Catoonah Streets. Today, the entire former Ashton Croft estate is owned by the local Methodist Church and is known as Wesley Hall.

Head Tide Church // 1838

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In the early 19th century, Head Tide was a bustling village within the Town of Alna, Maine, supported by mills at the dam, agriculture and apple orchards, boat building, fishing and forestry. As Head Tide grew in population, village leaders determined to build their own Congregational church so they would not have to travel the three miles to the 1789 Meeting House in Alna Center. The Head Tide Church in Alna, Maine was dedicated in November 1838 and sits on a hill overlooking the village. The Head Tide Church is a handsome rural Maine house of worship which exhibits a combination of Federal style, Greek Revival, and Gothic Revival elements in its design. The facade displays the outline of a Grecian temple front with its six pilasters and strongly accented triangular pediment. The Federal fan motif appears above the two facade windows as well as in the center of the pediment and the Gothic Revival influence is felt in the two pointed arch windows on either side of the church and in the simple pinnacle at the top of each corner of the belfry. The church is a high-style building for the rural Maine village and is kept very well by the community. The congregation disbanded, but the church remains an important part of the town and is rented for memorial services, events, weddings.