new england architecture

Sears Chapel, Longwood // 1860

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Christ’s Church in Longwood, better known as Sears Chapel, is among the finest ecclesiastical buildings in Brookline and commands its site on a rise overlooking the Muddy River, now the Riverway in the Emerald Necklace park system. The area presently known as Longwood was originally marshland with a few farms until the building of the Mill Dam road out of Boston in 1821 that improved access to Brookline, which opened up its connectivity and development potential. Wealthy Boston businessman, David Sears (1787-1871) recognized this, and began buying the low-lying pasturelands in Brookline near the Boston border. By 1830, some squares were laid out and development began in the Cottage Farm and Longwood sections. He, with associates, began building country estates for friends and family to escape the crowded conditions of Boston. He is said to have named his neighborhood “Longwood”, after Napoleon’s estate on St. Helena where he spent his days in exile. An avid amateur horticulturist, Sears planted some 14,000 trees, many of them imported from Europe, in the course of developing his land. In keeping with his faith, Sears built this house of worship, Christ’s Church, which is said to have been modeled after St. Peter’s in Colchester England, likely giving Colchester Street, where Sears Chapel is located, its name. The Romanesque style church was designed by Boston architect, Arthur Gilman, who designed the building suitable for the Sears Family crypt which is underneath the structure and the burial site of many of the family. The congregation remains active to this day who maintain the significant structure and its many historic stained glass windows.

Follett House // c.1820

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A rare surviving half-cape dwelling, the Follett House on Chestnut Street in Wrentham, Massachusetts, has been lovingly preserved by generations of stewards as a private home. Given its form and vernacular style, the house could date to the mid-18th century, but available early records show it was owned by members of the Follett family in the 19th century. The home was owned by Amorous Follett (1792-1863) and his wife, Huldah Mason Follett who operated a farm on the property and raised their children in the small residence. The property was later inherited by the couple’s son, Alonzo Follett and his wife, Tryphena. The half cape is just three bays wide with a steeply pitched side gable roof, shingled siding, and later wings, expanding the original house.

Goodwin House // 1902

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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.

The Larches // 1910

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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

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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.

Draper Corporation Factory Complex // 1892-2021

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2021 aerial photo

Hopedale, Massachusetts separated from Milford and incorporated in 1886. The “downtown” of the community encompasses industrial, institutional, and residential buildings in Hopedale Village, also known as Draper Village after the long-driver of the local economy, Draper Corporation. Hopedale was largely developed as a planned company town, and its architectural significance and ultimate preservation was largely due to the success of the Draper Corporation as majority owner until the 1950s. The Draper Corporation was originally a small operation in Hopedale in 1841 managed by George Draper (1817-1887), but grew exponentially thanks to his son, George Albert Draper (1855-1926), who had a passion for finding innovative technology to make the production of cloth more efficient. He led the company’s charge to become the nation’s leading producer of machines for the cloth-making industry. In the ensuing decades the factory village of Hopedale became a “model” company town under his leadership, with the business controlling every aspect of the town and worker life in a paternalistic program that extended beyond social structure to include architecture and urban planning of the village. The company developed hundreds of homes for workers, a town hall, library, churches, schools, a fire station, and recreational facilities, along with its factory complex at the center. In1892, with the advent of the Northrop Loom, Draper became the largest producer of textile machinery in the country. Due to their success at the end of the 19th century, much of the complex was built and rebuilt in fire-proof brick factory buildings with large windows to allow light and air into the facilities. Draper’s dominant position within the textile machine manufacturing industry began to erode shortly after World War II, and the company began to sell its company houses to their occupants as private homes in 1956. During the 1960s American textile machinery makers such as Draper lost their technological leadership to foreign manufacturers due to cheap labor, and the general American textile industry collapsed. The plant eventually closed in 1980, and sat vacant until it was decided by the local officials to raze the once great complex, as adaptive reuse was not feasible in the market for such large structures. The mill was demolished in the summer of 2021 and the lot at the center of town remains a brownfield site.

The Old Carriage Shop // c.1790

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The old Carriage Shop on Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island, is an early and surviving industrial building from the late 18th century that adds to the charm and history of the great waterfront town. The two-story building has a three-bay facade with a center entrance and 48-pane fixed sash windows on the first floor and 12-over-12 sash windows on the second floor. The stepped parapet masks the low gable roof of the building behind that extends far back in the lot. The building was a workshop and paint shop for Gardner & Hoar, builders and carpenters, in the mid-19th century, and later as a blacksmithing shop and carriage shop before the turn of the 20th century. Luckily for us, the building has been preserved and while not finding a place in architectural journals, the building is an important remaining building that strongly contributes to the character of the town.

Lyric Theater // 1914

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The most whimsical and unique building in Warren, Rhode Island, is this architectural landmark, the former Lyric Theater on Miller Street. Built in 1914, the building historically had a large projecting marquee, and today retains the large blind arch with applied ornament in the form of Ionic pilasters, panels, frets, and swags to decorate the facade. The Lyric remained active as a motion-picture theatre until 1967 and was converted to retail use in the 1980s, becoming an antique store in 1992.

Warren Masonic Temple-Washington Lodge No.3 // 1796

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Located next door to the Randall House (last post) on Baker Street in Warren, Rhode Island, this early building has some history! Constructed in 1796 by the Washington Association, Inc., this two-story Federal period building is an architectural and historic landmark in the immensely beautiful town of Warren. The elongated building is fairly plain in plan, but is adorned by corner quoins, elaborate pedimented entries, ornate cornice, and (now filled) ocular windows in the gable ends. It is believed that many of the timbers used in the building are oak beams that were formerly part of the British Frigate Juno and other ships which were sunk in Newport harbor during the American Revolution. Brother Sylvester Child, a member of the building committee purchased the old ships and floated the timbers up Narragansett Bay and into the Warren River and his shipyard at the base of Miller and Baker streets. The rib cuts in the oak plate beams can clearly be seen in the curvature of the ceiling in the lodge room.The Lodge was likely built by local carpenters using Asher Benjamin’s plan books for the detailing and was utilized as the Warren Town Hall and the Warren Academy, a private school, in the early 1800’s with meeting space for the local masonic lodge. The building has lost its original cupola at the roof, and its principal interior meeting room was redone in 1914 with elaborate murals by the Rhode Island artist Max Muller, some of which in Egyptian depictions.

Salisbury-Johnson House // 1823

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One of the great Federal style homes in the charming downtown of Warren, Rhode Island, the Salisbury-Johnson House at 43 Miller Street features many of the hallmarks of the prominent architectural style. The main body of the house was constructed by 1823 after Theophilus Salisbury (1781-1835) purchased the house lot at the corner of Union Street, possibly being moved from another site to the present location at this time. The two-story, five-bay façade is detailed by quoined corners and an exceptional center entrance with sidelights and large, elliptical blind fan carved from a single piece of wood. After later owners, the property was purchased by Rodolphus B. Johnson (1816-1884), a wealthy shipping agent who owned whaling ships and ran a wharf at the foot of Johnson Street nearby.