New England Architecture Blog

Hotel Essex – Plymouth Rock Building // 1900

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The construction of a new South Station Terminal in 1899, prompted a development boom for the nearby area, which had for the previous decades been almost entirely mercantile and centered around the leather and woolen industries. Due to increased land values and an influx of travelers to the area, developers saw an opportunity to erect this building to serve as a hotel for visitors to Boston via South Station. Boston architect, Arthur H. Bowditch, furnished plans for this building in the Beaux Arts/Renaissance Revival style, with use of brick and limestone construction, ornate finishes at the façade including the fluted pilasters, arches and cartouches in the spandrels. The building was completed in 1900 and known as Hotel Essex and featured a long, storied history as a hotel until it closed in the second half of the 20th century. After years of deteriorating conditions, the building was adapted as the corporate offices for Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation in 1982. The building was restored and has been known as the Plymouth Rock Building ever since.

Stone & Webster Office Building // 1975

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Stone & Webster, established in 1893 by MIT graduates Charles Stone and Edwin Webster, was a national leader in electrification and power generation, and provided services in engineering, construction, environmental remediation, infrastructure, and plant operation for industrial clients. After the Boston Redevelopment Authority acquired and demolished sections of South Station for redevelopment, Stone & Webster decided to relocate their offices to this new site. Los Angeles-based architectural firm Welton Becket & Associates, designed the office building in a late International-style, which serves as a counter to the masonry and classically designed, South Station nearby. The steel frame with metal and glass skin and boxy form are effective at delineating the building from its neighbor, but is not pedestrian-friendly at the ground level as the raised ground floor is lined at the sidewalk by concrete steps. The building is now largely leased to Fidelity Investments.

South Station // 1899

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When the railroads serving Boston were first laid out and built, each line stopped at its own terminal which created a dysfunctional and cumbersome travel experience for those entering or leaving the city. The Boston Terminal Company, established in 1897, was charged with the task of consolidating service from the four terminals at a single terminal, a union station (similar to North Station), for routes south of the city. South Station was designed by architects were Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge of Boston and quickly became New England’s busiest transportation center. The five-story Classical Revival style station built of stone is an architectural landmark with three-story Ionic colonnade crowned by a clock surmounted by an eagle, stands above the triple-arched brick masonry lower level corner entrance. While the station handled 125,000 passengers each day during World War II, post-war passenger rail traffic declined in the US. South Station was sold to the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 1965 and (surprise!) they demolished portions of the building and later developed plans to demolish the rest of the station and replace it with a multi-use development including a new train and bus station with large parking garage. Luckily for everyone, the BRA failed in this endeavor and the building remained to the point where public transportation is again invested in and beloved and the building has since been restored. Recently, a glass “crown”, known as South Station Tower, a 51-story designed by Pelli, Clarke & Partners, with new office space, luxury residences, and a redesigned, arched interior concourse (which in my opinion, is the best part). The redevelopment is a push towards transit-oriented development and blends new and old in an innovative way.

What do you think of it?

South Street Diner // c.1947

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One of the hidden gems of Boston can be found tucked away in the Leather District, one of the last remaining diner cars in the city, this is South Street Diner. At this site, at the corner of South and Kneeland streets, a diner car has existed since about 1935. In 1947 the present diner car was built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and moved on this site as the Blue Diner opened, possibly named after its patrons, largely blue-collar workers. The diner would be renamed the South Street diner in 1992, a name that has stuck ever-since. The diner attracts tourists, nearby workers, and drunken college students, serving as a much-needed melting pot for people of different backgrounds to grab a good bite to eat.

Faxon Block // 1886

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This impressive commercial block is prominently sited at the corner of Beach and South streets in Boston’s Leather District, a wonderful enclave of late 19th and early 20th century mercantile buildings, historically centered around the leather and shoe-making industries. Like many in this block, the building was developed by the Faxon Brothers, some of the major developers of this district and areas of Quincy. Also like many other buildings in the Leather District, the block was designed by 1886 in the Romanesque Revival style, constructed of brick and brownstone with a clipped corner and Syrian arches and an oculus window at the fifth floor. The building was designed by relatively unknown architect, John H. Besarick and today houses professional offices.

Beebe Building // 1886

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Located at 127-133 South Street in the under-appreciated Leather District of Boston, the 1886 Beebe Building is an excellent vestige of the leathergoods trade and commercial architecture of the late 19th century. This building was constructed by J. Franklin Faxon (1832-1912), a business owner who engaged in real estate development and built a number of commercial blocks in this part of Boston. Rand & Taylor, architects, designed the building in an effective blending of Classical and Romanesque styles with rock faced brownstone ashlar above the storefronts, oculus windows, and segmental arched openings on the top floor. The Classical detailing of the two-story brick pilasters and modillion cornice add to its complexity. The building was originally occupied by the Thomas E. Proctor Leather Company and was later purchased by leather goods company Lucius Beebe & Sons and the storefront was renovated by Hutchins & French in 1930. The building has since been known as the Beebe Building and has been well-maintained by subsequent owners.  

United States Leather Company Warehouse // 1901

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As far back as Colonial days, the boot and shoe industry was one of the State’s leading industries. Buyers came suburban towns to purchase supplies, and in the early 1800s, the larger manufacturers began to open offices and stores in Boston. Soon, most of the leading merchants had established places of business in Boston, by the late 19th century, many were located in the South Cove area, which became known as the Leather District. The Leather District is characterized today by large, brick structures with flat roofs and feature continuous floor levels, band courses, and cornice lines. This handsome brick building on Atlantic Avenue was built in 1901 for Charles G. Rice and the Heirs of Nehemiah W. Rice as a warehouse for the U.S. Leather Company. The building was designed by William Gibbons Rantoul, who studied architecture at Harvard, and apprenticed with Henry Hobson Richardson as a draftsman in the 1880’s before opening his own practice. In 1946, the subject property was purchased by Frank Einis, and the new tenants, Fur Merchants Cold Storage, Inc., used the building for the storage of skins and furs for manufacturing into soft goods. Architecturally, the building showcases the lasting influence of Richardson on architects and industrial buildings in Boston from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The building can be classified as Romanesque Revival in style with its use of arches in the façade both structural and decorative, the Venetian arches at the 7th floor, as well as its arcaded corbelling over the 3rd level and at the cornice. I especially love the tall, engaged brick columns at the storefront, they are very unique!

Harriet Bennett House // c.1912

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While most houses I have featured in Cornwall date to the early-mid 19th century, there are some great examples of early 20th century Colonial Revival dwellings, built at the time the town became eyed as a wealthy retreat for city-folk. This Colonial Revival residence was built for Ms. Harriet Bennett (1841-1928), an ardent suffragist and an active member of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association. Harriet was married to William C. Bennett and after his death in 1898, she devoted the rest of her life to charitable causes and giving back to others. As a widow and in her seventies, Harriet oversaw construction of this house, which was completed by 1912, in that same year, established the Cornwall Equal Suffrage League, hosting many of its events and meetings from this house. The League’s activities mirrored the efforts of suffragists throughout the nation. The house remains a well-preserved example of a house in the Colonial Revival style in town.

John T. Andrew Carriage House – Cornwall Historical Society Building // c.1865

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This ornate carriage house on Pine Street in Cornwall, Connecticut was built by John T. Andrew around 1865 adjacent to his late 18th century home in the village. Andrews was born in Bethany, Connecticut in 1811, graduated from Yale College in 1839, becoming a minister and later a teacher. For health reasons he left both professions and turned to farming and stonework. After Andrews’s death the property was purchased in 1890 by Charles Marsh, a local undertaker, and his wife Inez. In 1954 the barn was converted to a home by their daughter, the town librarian Emily Elizabeth Marsh, a charter member of the Cornwall Historical Society. In 1966, the Society raised funds to buy the building from her estate, but could do little to adapt it for their specific exhibit and storage needs. The Society restored the exterior to its original appearance, down to the brackets, round arched windows and cupola.

Barnes-Kellogg House // 1809

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The main village in Cornwall, Connecticut, looks like a postcard. Mature trees and beautiful, historic homes line the bucolic streets with sweeping views of the Litchfield Hills in the distance; it is what many envision when they think of “New England charm”. This stately Federal style mansion is sited deep on its lot beyond a field and dates to the first decades of the 19th century, it is the village’s grandest early home. The house was built for Amos Barnes, but supposedly remained unfinished when he died suddenly. Barnes’ widow sold the property to the local Foreign Mission School as a dormitory for students. The school’s (in my opinion, problematic) mission was to educate students of non-Christian cultures, including Native Americans, East Asian, and Hawaiian pupils, for them to become missionaries, preachers, translators, teachers, and health workers in their native communities in the Christian faith. These types of programs furthered the erasure of other cultures and promoted Christianity in all corners of the world, but I digress. In 1826, this home was acquired by Frederick Kellogg, the long-time town clerk and Judge of Probate, who owned the property
until his death in 1891.

John Northrop House // c.1814

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Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School, which began operations in 1817, was virtually unique in the United States, educating both Native Americans and young men from around the globe, including Hawaiian, Bengali, and Japanese. The school was created for the purpose of educating youths of “heathen” nations, to convert them to Christianity, educate them, and train them to become preachers, translators, and teachers back in their native lands. The problematic nature of the school’s seemingly forced assimilation, causing the erasure of cultures, paired with the disdain for foreign students in town lead to much animosity towards the school in Cornwall. The tension reached a head when in 1824, John Ridge, a student at the Foreign Mission School and the son of a Cherokee leader, began a courtship with Sarah Northrop, the white daughter of the school’s steward. A year later they married. Additionally, in 1826, another Foreign Mission School student, Elias Boudinot (John Ridge’s cousin), fell in love with a young Cornwall girl named Harriet Gold, they married in 1826. These marriages were generally opposed to and racism caused support for the school to dissolve, closing by 1827. This c.1814 house was the home of John Northrop, the father of Sarah Northrop, and steward to the Foreign Mission School. The family home, seen here, was also used to house some students while they attended the school. The Northrop House remains one of the few extant buildings with direct ties to this school. The house is one of 65 National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut.

Former Cornwall Public Library // 1908

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Constructed of random-coursed stone, this charming building in Cornwall, Connecticut, exhibits a prominent classical entry, Tuscan pilasters, and modillion eaves. This handsome structure was completed in late 1908 following a substantial donation to the town for it’s first purpose-built library by summer resident John E. Calhoun. Mr. Calhoun had cultivated an interest in architecture and is said to have designed the building, and later designed his own home in the village years later. The high-style architectural building documents the transformation of Cornwall from a sleepy agricultural town into a fashionable residential retreat in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The building operated as the town’s public library until 2002 when the contemporary library building was completed. This stone structure was converted to the town hall.

Dwight W. Pierce House // c.1850

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On land he acquired from family, Dwight Wellington Pierce (1816-1901) erected this large, temple-front Greek Revival estate just outside Cornwall Village in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Mr. Pierce farmed this land and built barns across the street from his residence on Popple Swamp Road, where he kept his livestock. The Pierce house is unique in Cornwall as a temple-front Greek Revival style house and features a two-story portico with four Doric columns, the center two are rounded and fluted with the ends square. The elongated house is seven bays wide and must have been quite the sight when it was built in the mid-19th century.

General John Sedgwick House // 1860

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The Major General John Sedgwick House is located in Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut, and stands out as one of the finest residences in this part of the state in a rural setting. The house was built by 1860 for General John Sedgwick (1813-1864), who was born in a house standing on this site, which had been built by his grandfather, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. In 1859, the Sedgwick family homestead burned to the ground. Sedgwick, then already well established in his military career, took leave to oversee construction of its replacement. This house was built, apparently on the foundation of the old house, in 1859–60. The work was done by Cyrus Marsh, a local builder, in the Italianate style with decorative brackets, window mouldings, hoods, and a large columned entry portico. Major General Sedgwick was active in many campaigns, and during the American Civil War, he was killed by a sharpshooter at the 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, he was the Union Army’s highest-ranking casualty of the war and never got to reside in his Cornwall home.

Adelphic Institute Building // 1847

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Located across from the North Cornwall Congregational Church in Cornwall, Connecticut, this vernacular, Greek Revival building was constructed by 1847 as the Adelphic Institute, a private school. The Adelphic Institute was founded by Ambrose Rogers, son of Deacon Noah Rogers of the Congregational Church in the village, on land and adjacent to the house he had inherited from his father. The school would eventually relocate to New Milford, Connecticut, in 1860 and this building was converted to a parsonage and meeting room for the church and village. It is now privately owned on the property of the old Rogers house.