Tudor Architecture

Adolph and Marion Ehrlich House // 1906

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The Adolph and Marion Ehrlich House on Beech Road in Brookline’s Longwood neighborhood is a stunning blend of Arts and Crafts and Tudor Revival styles, popular in early 20th century Boston suburbs. The house was designed by the firm of Andrews, Jaques and Rantoul, for Adolph Ehrlich (1868-1952) and Marion Ratchesky Ehrlich (1877-1966). Adolph was born in Boston and at the age of 11, began work in the textile business. He climbed the ranks and became a partner in a clothing company before becoming a director of the Jordan Marsh Department Store Company from 1925 until his death in 1952. His wife Marion was heavily involved in social causes until her death, including the Louisa May Alcott Club, a settlement house in Boston for young, predominantly immigrant girls.

Gahm House // 1907

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Located in the Longwood neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, the Gahm House stands out not only for its size, but stunning details and architectural design. This house was designed in 1907 by the architectural firm of Hartwell, Richardson & Driver, one of the premier firms of the region at the time, who blended Arts and Crafts with Tudor Revival styles with a notable front entry. Joseph and Mary Gahm hired the firm to design their new home the same year the firm designed a bottling plant (no longer extant) in South Boston for Mr. Gahm’s business. Joseph Gahm was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, who emigrated to Boston in 1854 and initially worked as a tailor. In the early 1860s, Gahm opened a restaurant in Charlestown, by the late 1860s he added a small bottling operation to this business. The bottling business soon expanded to such an extent that he was able to give up the restaurant business and open a large bottling plant in 1888. He eventually moved operations to South Boston where there was more room for transportation and shipping capabilities. Their stuccoed house in Brookline is especially notable for the well preserved carvings at the entrance, which include: faces, floral details, lions, and owls perched atop the newel posts. What do you think of this beauty?

Eben S. Draper Mansion // 1926

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Built in 1926 for Eben Sumner Draper Jr. (1893-1959), the son of Massachusetts Governor and Draper Corporation executive, Eben Sumner Draper, this massive Tudor Revival style mansion in Hopedale, provided a secluded country estate for the wealthy industrialist. The home was designed in 1926 by Boston architects Bigelow & Wadsworth, and replaced Eben’s father’s Shingle style country mansion “The Ledges“. The new Draper mansion was highlighted in numerous architectural magazines shortly after it’s construction, which highlighted the amazing brickwork, layout, and interior finishes, all of which remain to today! This spectacular home is over 14,000 square feet and has 17 bedrooms, several located in the staff wing, 10 full-baths and four half-baths, an in-ground swimming pool, gazebo, tennis court, and landscape design attributed to the notable landscape architect Warren Manning. In the 1960s, the home sold out of the family and was used as a home for adults living with developmental disabilities, mental illnesses, physical disabilities, the facility has since sold the Draper mansion and occupies the former carriage house on the grounds.

Graham Apartments // 1904

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This handsome, and unique example of a three-decker in the English Revival style is located on a corner lot at 128 Davis Avenue in the Emerson/Brookline Village neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. Built in 1904 from plans by architect and genealogist, J. Gardner Bartlett, whose work focused on colonial New England and the English origins of colonial families. Trained as an architect at MIT, he gave up architecture for genealogy, but still occasionally designed buildings in the Boston area. The building here was developed for Richard Graham, an Irish immigrant, who along with his wife, operated a laundry business in the village. The use of a shingle and stone entrance porch and entrance bay with stucco half-timbering and diamond-pane casement windows stand out architecturally as one of the few examples of a three-decker built in this style in New England.

Bolton Public Library // 1903

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The Bolton Public Library was established in 1859, when the town’s library collection was housed on a few shelves in the Selectmen’s room at the Town Hall. In the following decades it became clear to the community that a purpose-built library building should be constructed in town to house the growing collections there. At the time when wealthy benefactors donated funds for public libraries in towns and cities across New England, sisters Emma and Anna Whitney gifted their hometown of Bolton, $10,000 to build a dedicated library building in memory of their father, Captain Joseph Whitney in 1901. Completed in 1903, the Bolton Public Library was designed by the architectural firm Stone, Carpenter & Willson and built of local Bolton fieldstone in the Tudor Revival style. Of particular architectural merit is the red tile roof and three gabled bays with carved stucco and woodwork within half-timbered frames. The library was added onto in 2010 from plans by Lerner Ladds & Bartels Architects, who replicated key materials and forms so the new wing feels coherent with the original yet clearly differentiated.

Irving-Strauss Mansion // 1906

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This unique Tudor Revival style house in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline was built in 1906 for Irving J. Sturgis (1873-1924), a banker and broker originally from Michigan. Architect Joseph Everett Chandler, specialized in the Colonial Revival style and historic restorations, but was clearly adept at other styles as evidenced in this stately manor for Mr. Sturgis. After WWI, the property sold to Mr. Leon Strauss, who worked in dry goods. The Irving-Strauss mansion is constructed of brick with cast stone trim and features classic ornamentation seen in the Tudor Revival style. Steeply pitched gable roofs have stone
coping, metal windows are casement or fixed with small pained lights and are framed in cast stone trim. Framing the entranceway is a brick and stone gateway, of which, a garden wall extends around the property, with a stately garden gate surmounted by stone finials displaying the flair of the style.

Curtis House – Boston University Children’s Center // 1904

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Built in 1904 as one of the finest Tudor Revival style residences in the Boston area, this residence in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline showcases all of the important elements of the iconic architectural style. The residence was built for Harry and Carrie Curtis, with Mr. Curtis being a partner with Curtis & Sederquist, bankers and brokers, with offices on Congress Street in Boston and in New York City. The couple hired architects Howard B. Prescott and William Sidebottom of the firm, Prescott & Sidebottom, to design the house. Rectangular in plan with massing enlivened by numerous cross gables and dormers, the house is decorated with exterior walls covered with wood shiplap at first story and half-timbered stucco at second story. The property was sold to Helen and Edward Mills by 1913. Mr. Mills was president and treasurer of the Edward C. Mills Leather Company. By 1931, the residence was owned by Erland F. Fish (1883-1942), a prominent lawyer and politician as well as the son of Frederick Fish, who owned the house across the street. Boston University purchased the property in 1964 as part of their institutional expansion into this neighborhood. Originally used as an alumni house, it later became the location for the Department of African American Studies. After an extensive expansion and restoration by Studio MLA (now Ashley McGraw Architects) and Kaplan Construction, the Tudor mansion is now a children’s daycare for Boston University faculty, staff, and graduate students.

Wright Estate Gatehouse // 1907

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Besides the former Wright Carriage House (now the Soule Recreation Center), the only other extant building that was built on the grounds of the former John G. Wright Estate in Brookline, Massachusetts, is this structure, the historic gatehouse to the property. Built in 1907 at the same time as the manor house, the gatehouse was also designed by architects Chapman & Frazer and served as the entry to the expansive grounds with a room for the gatekeeper to sleep in overnight. The Tudor Revival style building is less ornate than the stone mansion, the half timbering and stucco work well to compliment the other buildings. While the formerly dark half timbering has since been painted a white, the building still maintains its character. While the remainder of the Wright Estate was subdivided and sold off by the heirs of next owner, wool merchant, Andrew Adie, the gatehouse remained and survived the destruction that befell the main manor. The old gatehouse was converted to a full-time residence and remains to this day.

Tudor Lodge // c.1850

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A rambling Gothic Revival style house in the mode of the picturesque Gothic estates in England, can be found tucked away in Newport, Rhode Island. This is Tudor Lodge, a stuccoed summer “cottage” notable for its stucco siding, moulding over all the windows, broad crenellated parapets, and a hip-roof porte-cochère in front of the principal entrance. The house was supposedly originally built as a summer residence for Nicholas Redwood Easton around 1850. After his death, the property was purchased by members of the Gibbs (Gibbes) Family, who owned much of the land in this part of town, giving nearby Gibbs Avenue its name. The property was purchased around 1900 by William Rogers Morgan, a New York City banker, who greatly remodeled and named the estate, Tudor Lodge, giving the house its present appearance. The estate was converted to four condominium units in 1980.

West Gouldsboro Village Library // 1907

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One of the few libraries in Maine built in the Tudor Revival style can be found in the quaint coastal town of Gouldsboro. This library was built in 1907 from plans by Maine architect Frederick L. Savage after members of town sought a community space where they could meet and check out books. The small one-story building sits upon a tall fieldstone foundation and with a stuccoed exterior above. The entrance consists of a single door flanked by sidelight windows topped by an elliptical hood, above which sits within the half-timbered gable front. The small library was in operation until 1956. It reopened briefly in 1990, but closed again. It is owned by the West Gouldsboro Village Improvement Association. Historic library buildings are the best!