Romanesque Revival

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church // 1911

Buildings of New England1 Comment

One of the grandest and high-style buildings in Sprague’s Baltic Village is the St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church. As Irish, French- Canadians and Poles settled in the village of Baltic, they formed a substantial Catholic community. This congregation was founded by 1860 and a modest church building was erected at that time. As the town’s Catholic population grew, the Archdiocese decided to fund a new church building. This Romanesque Revival style building was constructed in 1911 and it must have made a big statement when it was completed. The building is one of the most unique church designs that I have seen in Connecticut.

George H. Gilbert Company Offices // 1885

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

South of the Ware River in Ware’s Industrial Village, you will find this absolutely charming former manufacturing office on the side of the road. The building was constructed in 1885 for the George H. Gilbert Co., a textile manufacturer, as the company offices. The building’s architect could not be readily located, but the building appears to have been the work of a skilled designer. When the Gilbert Company relocated north to a new industrial village of Gilbertville, the Joseph T. Wood Shoe Company moved in. The building now appears to be owned by the present occupant of the mill building nextdoor, American Athletic Shoe Company. The former Gilbert Co. Office is one of the more high-style buildings in the town of Ware and exhibits the best in Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival architecture.

Vermont National Bank // 1884

Buildings of New England2 Comments

One of the few brick buildings in Newfane’s Village Center is this charming old bank, right on Main Street. The building was constructed in 1884 as the Vermont National Bank and is a vernacular example of the Romanesque Revival architectural style with the arched openings and brickwork. Vermont architect George A. Hines designed the modest building, which was built for $6,650. The bricks for the building were brought into town by ox cart. Those for the front facade cost 5 cents apiece; those for the sidewalls 3 cents; and those for the back wall 2 cents, showing how the best materials go on the highly visible facades.

Norway Opera House // 1894

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The most substantial building on Norway’s Main Street is this hefty brick commercial block with its prominent corner clock tower. The structure was designed by Maine architect Edwin E. Lewis and built in 1894 as the Opera House with stores along the ground floor. The building was constructed immediately after a large fire destroyed much of the downtown village area of Norway, and was built in such a way to show the strength and resolve of the town, leading the way for a larger re-building effort by the local business community. The Romanesque Revival building features lovely arched windows and brick detailing. The building has seen better days, but a local group has been working tirelessly to restore this beauty to her former glory! The group is presently soliciting donations to restore the roof and rear wall, to keep the building standing for future generations.

George G. Hall Stables // 1895

Buildings of New England2 Comments

Many of the buildings along Byron Street in Boston were built in the mid-19th century as stables for wealthy residents of the Beacon Hill and Back Bay. Three similar private stables were constructed in 1865 for owners, but all three were purchased by George Gardner Hall, a wealthy hotelier and developer in Boston. Gardner demolished the three stables in 1895 and hired Boston architect William Whitney Lewis to furnish plans for a more stately stable building. The Romanesque Revival stable featured an entrance and exit set within the large Syrian arches on the facade. The building featured stalls for horses, a carriage room, harness room, and office on the ground floor, with storage space for hay, sleeping chambers for stable-hands, and living room with kitchen. The building allowed for wealthy residents to rent space for their horses if they didn’t have a stable of their own. The stable also likely provided carriages to Hall’s hotel downtown. A developer purchased the building after attempts were made in the 20th century to convert the building into a private auto garage. In the 1960s, he hired local architect Goody & Clancy Associates, who renovated the building, restoring the exterior and converted it into three housing units. There are three stone medallions on the facade that read “G.G.H” “No. 13” and “1895” which keep the stable’s history alive.

Collinsville Savings Bank // 1892

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Historically, banks would construct architecturally grand buildings with ornate interiors to showcase their wealth and stability. The aim for these institutions would be to express longevity and security for those looking for a place to store their wealth. The Collinsville Savings Bank grew out of the Collinsville Company and was incorporated to provide a bank for the ever-growing community in the village, from executives to recent immigrants. The bank was incorporated in 1853, and later relocated into the company’s office building. By the end of the 19th century, company offices expanded into other spaces in the building, and the bank was forced to build this new Romanesque Revival style building on Main Street. The rusticated blocks in the brick facades add a lot of depth and detail to the building, and those ARCHES!

Lancaster Industrial School for Girls Chapel // c.1840

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Lancaster Industrial School for Girls was a self-sustained campus of housing, dining, farming, and functional buildings giving the State of Massachusetts little need to worry about its day-to-day function or funding. In 1838, the First Universalist Society in South Lancaster (then known as New Boston), built a house of worship for members living there. When the southern part of Lancaster reincorporated as the separate town of Clinton, members of the church relocated a short distance to the new manufacturing-oriented community for prosperity. This church was closed, but was purchased by the Industrial School for Girls, who moved the building 1.5 miles to their campus, for use as a chapel. The building was added onto and altered a couple times, but has sat deteriorating since the school closed.

Thompson Hall – University of New Hampshire // 1892

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The centerpiece of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) campus in Durham, is Thompson Hall, a stunning example of Romanesque Revival architecture. Thompson Hall was the first building to be built on the new campus of the New Hampshire College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts, which had been founded in 1866 as a land grant college and was previously located near Dartmouth in Hanover. Benjamin Thompson, a Durham farmer, died 1890, leaving an estate worth $400,000, with 253 acres (102 ha) of land, to the state for use as an agricultural school. The state accepted his gift, and construction of Thompson Hall began in 1891, with a landscape plan for the campus developed by the great Charles Eliot. The bold Romanesque building was designed by Concord, NH architects Dow & Randlett, who were among the most prestigious architectural firms in the state at the end of the 19th century. The building remains as a significant piece of UNH’s ever-growing campus.

Langdon Library // 1892

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Langdon Library in Newington, NH, was established through the generosity of Woodbury Langdon of New York City, a summer resident of Fox Point in town. In 1892 Langdon offered to donate 2,000 books to the Town of Newington, if suitable provisions could be made for their care and circulation. The Town voted to erect a library at town meeting in 1892 and accepted the offer. Portsmouth architect William Allyn Ashe furnished designs for the building which reads as a pleasing, symmetrical Romanesque Revival building. The structure was outgrown and needed repairs in 2013, and hired the firm of Lavallee Brensinger Architects to oversee the redesign, which restored the 1892 building. The resulting project tripled the usable square footage of the library, and the new wing allows the library to remain quaint and the main focus.

St. Mary’s Church, Beverly // 1898

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Located on Cabot Street, the main commercial street of Beverly, Massachusetts, this stunning stone church is one of my favorites on the North Shore. Though the church looks older, it was built in 1898 as a late Romanesque Revival church structure. The building replaced an 1870 building erected by the parish of St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, which was a mission church of the Immaculate Conception Church of Salem; prior to 1870, Beverly’s Catholics were part of the Salem parish. The 1870 church was destroyed by a fire in 1896 and it was years until the Diocese funded a new church here. The new church was designed by a newly formed firm of Reid and McAlpine, who later continued their practice in Canada. The parish pulled out all the stops design-wise as the windows and statuary were fashioned by Franz Mayer & Company of Bavaria, the Altars were carved by an artisan from Italy, and the pulpit and altar railing were carved by a local artisan. The church served a large and growing Irish Catholic population that was forming in Beverly, and has to this day been an active congregation.