Rand & Taylor

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.  

William Potter Rental House // 1889

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William W. Potter, a shoe manufacturer and businessman, and his wife, Isabella Abbe Strickland Potter, lived in the Longwood section of Brookline and became active in the surround areas development in the last decades of the 19th century. William bought land off Kent Street and began to lay out house lots, becoming a developer overseeing construction of stately Queen Anne Victorian rental properties marketed to upper-middle-class residents. For this house on Francis Street, he commissioned architects George Rand and Bertram Taylor, who were known for producing stylish residential designs for the middle class in the Boston area. The massive property was a duplex, providing units to two lucky families! The building has just about every hallmark feature of the Queen Anne style including: the conical roof on a rounded corner bay, a complex roofline, asymmetrical plan, varied siding/materials, and applied ornamentation. In the 1920s, the house was owned by Simmons College, and used as a boarding house. Luckily, the property was restored and now is one of the finest residences in the neighborhood.

Sacred Heart Church, Newton // 1899

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Built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style by architects Rand & Taylor, the Sacred Heart Church in Newton Centre of 1899 reflects much of the lesser-known history of the affluent suburb of Boston. As Newton’s population nearly doubled between 1870 (12,800) and 1890 (24,000), many Irish Catholic residents who worked in the mills and factories of the Upper and Lower Falls areas of town began to move to the suburbs, taking jobs at households of the affluent class in Newton Centre, as cooks, maids, gardeners and more. Residents of Newton Centre wanted a Catholic Church closer to their homes and work, so they established their own congregation in 1890. As the congregation grew, it was obvious that a new church in Newton Centre would be needed to provide services there. Ground broke on the church by 1891, but it took nearly 10 years until the building was completed. Architect Bertram Taylor of the firm Rand & Taylor, and resident of Newton Centre, is credited with designing the large edifice, which is dominated by twin hipped-roof bell towers. The interior of the church has some of the most elaborate plaster work in the Boston area and stained glass windows lining the walls. Early Pastors of Sacred Heart included two who went on to important posts: Francis C. Spellman (1933-39) became Archbishop of New York; and Richard J. Cushing (1939-44) became Archbishop of Boston.

Former Vermont State Hospital // 1890

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The former Vermont State Hospital campus in Waterbury, Vermont, is a 36.3-acre campus of institutional buildings that have been converted for use as state government offices. A sprawling array of more than 17 structures, the hospital, which historically treated mental disorders, was first funded by the Vermont State Legislature in 1888. Construction began on the plans by the Boston architectural firm of Rand & Taylor in 1890. The architects designed the landmark main administration and auditorium building at the core, which is built of brick on a rusticated stone foundation and under a steep hipped slate roof. The building is connected by single-story links to two-and-a-half-story wings, which are attached to clustered two-story cylindrical wards. In planning the hospital, Rand & Taylor stressed the isolation of patients and stressed the importance of light and air in each room and restricted height of the building to facilitate egress from upper floors in the event of fire or emergency. The asylum has a dark history in that Dr. Eugene A. Stanley, the Superintendent from 1918–1936, was an advocate of eugenics and espoused forced sterilization and advised the Eugenics Society based on his patients records. From this, the word, “Waterbury,” became used in a derogatory sense, and did harm to the town for years. The hospital was closed in 2011 due to flooding in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, and after a thorough renovation by architects Freeman French Freeman and Goody Clancy, the complex re-opened in 2015 as State Offices with renovated historic assets and modern, contextual new buildings.