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Sheep Pasture Gate Lodge // 1894

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As members of the Ames family in the mid-to-late 19th century built their many grand estates and civic buildings in their hometown of Easton, Massachusetts, Frederick L. Ames (1835-1893) was purchasing farmland at the edge of the village before his death. Upon Frederick Ames’ death in 1893, the contiguous parcels passed to his heirs with the vast majority of that land going to his widow, Rebecca, and his eldest daughter Mary. The expansive property was later acquired by Mary’s brother, Oliver Ames III (1864-1929) and his wife, Elise West, who developed the property into their country estate. Oliver and Elise hired the Boston-based architectural firm of Rotch & Tilden, in 1891 to design an impressive mansion and gate lodge off Main Street with landscaping designed by the great landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, who was often hired for Ames Family buildings. Known as the Sheep Pasture, the rustic estate operated somewhat as a gentleman’s farm, with various barns and outbuildings constructed to house farm animals and equipment that were tended to by hired help. The Gate Lodge was built by 1894 and housed attendants who carefully screened visitors to the main residence. The large Tudor Revival mansion was demolished in 1946 after the death of Elise (Oliver and Elise’s only son, Oliver Ames Jr., was killed by a German sniper during WWI), but their daughter, Elise Ames Parker, sought to preserve the various outbuildings on the property, including the Gate Lodge on Main Street. Elise Ames Parker deeded the property to the non-profit group, Natural Resources Trust of Easton in 1967, who preserve the open space and buildings as the Sheep Pasture, and rent the Gate Lodge to tenants.

The Rockery, North Easton // 1885

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What may appear at first glance to be an overgrown pile of boulders and vegetation on a small triangular parklet in the village of North Easton, Massachusetts, is actually a significant landscape feature designed through the partnership of the country’s most prominent architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, and landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. Beginning in 1877, the wealthy Ames family, led by Frederick Lothrop Ames, commissioned elite architect, H. H. Richardson, to design a town library, the Ames Free Library. Years later in 1879, the children of Congressman Oakes Ames, hired Richardson to design another building immediately south of the library, to serve as the town hall, named Oakes Ames Memorial Hall. After these structures were completed, landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York’s Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace parks, was hired to landscape the site surrounding the Memorial Hall. Richardson had mentioned the desire to create a continuous site here, which would flow into the triangular parcel south of his two landmark buildings. For this small site, Olmsted designed the Rockery, built as a Civil War memorial to the town’s dead and a small landscape as a cairn, drawing from the ancient symbolism of the cairn as a memorial or burial marker.

Ames Shovel Works Stable & Offices // 1897

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The former Ames Shovel Works comprises an area of roughly eight acres in the middle of the village of North Easton, Massachusetts, and it was here that the Ames Family and the village became known for incredible wealth and amazing architecture. The firm was started by Oliver Ames (1779-1863), who moved to Easton and began manufacturing shovels. After a fire destroyed many of the original wooden shops in 1852, O. Ames & Co., now run by Oliver Ames’s sons, Oakes and Oliver, Jr., opted to rebuild in fireproof granite for the new buildings. The company saw rapid growth in the second half of the 19th century, and by 1879, the company is said to have produced 60 percent of all the shovels in the world. Ames shovels were bought as America was expanding westward with its products used to move dirt for the transcontinental railroad and the Panama Canal. After a fire destroyed the company’s old barn/stable in 1887, the company held horses and oxen in a nearby structure until 1897, when this handsome stable building was constructed. The new, elaborate barn is designed in the English half-timbered style, with its proximity to the Ames family’s fancy residences Main Street, likely leading to its distinctive architectural appearance. In 1928, the stable was converted to company offices and after the company closed following WWII, it was rented until a massive rehabilitation of the site into housing, was completed in 2014. The stable building was converted into seven condominium units by PCA Architects, who preserved the stately exterior and modified the interiors to meet the new residential use.

I could not locate the architect of the 1897 building, so if anyone knows, please share!

Oakes Ames Memorial Hall // 1881

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Located in the center of North Easton, Massachusetts, the landmark Oakes Ames Memorial Hall is the work of famed architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, and among one of the finest of his buildings. In 1879, the children of Oakes Ames (1804-1873), an extremely wealthy businessman, industrialist and congressman from Easton, commissioned the great American architect to design a Memorial Hall as a tribute to their father. Richardson, the architect of Boston’s beloved Trinity Church in Copley Square, responded with this picturesque masterpiece in his eponymous Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style, with walls of rusticated granite that are articulated with contrasting brownstone at the arches, window and door surrounds, and deep band courses. The Ames Memorial Hall is sited atop a rocky outcropping with the building accessed by a grand brownstone stair and landscaping designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The building is relatively square in form and features a prominent corner tower, an arcaded entry of five massive arches on squat columns, and a steeply peaked roof finished in red terracotta. Often overlooked, the frieze at the top of the tower is lined with ornamental carvings of the signs of the Zodiac in brownstone. The building was provided to the Town of Easton by the Ames Family “for all the ordinary purposes of a town hall”, but it was never used for its intended purpose as the town hall, and has mainly served as a meeting space for groups and events. The Town of Easton does a commendable job preserving these nationally significant Richardson-designed landmarks for all to enjoy.

Parker Farmhouse // c.1777

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The enchanting town of Princeton, Massachusetts, was incorporated in 1759, created out of land that was previously part of nearby Rutland. The town was named after Rev. Thomas Prince, a prominent clergyman, scholar and historian. Known as the Parker Farmhouse, this Georgian-era residence in Princeton dates to 1777, when Thomas Parker (1727-1799) of Lexington, purchased farmland here and began constructing the family homestead soon-after. Thomas resided in the home with his wife, Jane, and their only child, Ebenezer Parker (1750-1839). The Parker’s laid out a family cemetery near the homestead, now known as West Sterling Cemetery, where many generations of the family are buried. Thomas and Ebenezer seem to have run the homestead as a tavern by the late 18th century. The farmhouse remained in the family for generations, and maintains much of its original character.

Point Rock Cottage // c.1894

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One of the many beautiful late 19th century shingled “cottages” overlooking Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts, Point Rock Cottage stands out not only for its siting on the waterfront, but also for its preservation. As any good summer cottage must have a name, Point Rock Cottage derives its name from its location overlooking the rocky coast and Sippican Harbor on the tip of the village. The Shingle style cottage was built for David W. Lewis (1833-1915) of Boston, who purchased the land in 1893 and had the house built soon after. Lewis began his career in the retail shoe business in Vermont until he enlisted in the Union Army in 1862, serving in the 9th Vermont Volunteer Regiment. Lewis rose to the rank of major and saw action in several major campaigns of the war. After the war, David Lewis married Elizabeth T. Willett and they moved to Hyde Park in Boston where he shifted professions and became a dealer in building materials, which he saw immediate success as many Boston areas saw development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The architect is not presently known, but it is probable that the cottage was designed by William Gibbons Preston or Charles Allerton Coolidge, both Boston architects who designed many of Marion’s summer homes and both of whom summered in Marion themselves. Architecturally, the residence is a blending of Shingle and Arts and Crafts styles with the low-pitched roof and continuous shingled cottage encircled by a one-story integrated porch supported by wood shingle clad rectangular posts with a Chinese-fret work railing.

Marion Music Hall // 1891

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Tucked into the heart of Wharf Village in the ever-charming coastal community of Marion, Massachusetts, the Marion Music Hall has been a cornerstone of small-town cultural life since 1891. The Music Hall was largely the vision and will of the town’s great benefactor, Ms. Elizabeth Taber who sought to use her late husband’s vast fortune to benefit her community in her later years. In her will, Ms. Taber left funds for a proper “lecture and music hall” and the $23,000 commission went to her friend, architect, William Gibbons Preston. The building is one of a few examples of brick construction in the village and stands out for its detail with the round arched windows and solid massing in the Romanesque Revival style with terracotta trim to add visual interest in the design. The result is a structure both stately and welcoming, with its handsome façade anchoring a lawn that would later be adorned by the cast-iron Soldiers Monument in 1894. More than 130 years on, the Hall still hosts the town’s committee meetings, concerts, weddings, and community gatherings, standing as a living piece of Marion’s Gilded Age generosity and a quiet architectural gem of the South Coast of Massachusetts.

Echo Bridge // 1876

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Rapid population growth in the Boston area strained the already overburdened water supply capacity in the second half of the nineteenth century, and engineers and city officials struggled to find solutions. In 1872, the Boston City Engineer proposed a plan to draw water from the Sudbury River in Framingham nearly 19 miles to the Chestnut Hill reservoir to be distributed to homes and businesses all over Boston. The aqueduct was initially designed to carry 80 million gallons of water per day but the route faced one big issue, how to allow the water to travel over the Charles River. The solution was what became Echo Bridge, a 475-foot-long bridge that carries the brick-lined aqueduct over seven powerful granite arches, which is the longest crossing of the Charles River. When completed in 1877, the seventh and largest arch, which spans the Charles River, is said to be the second longest span in the United States when completed. Originally named the Charles River Bridge, the structure was later known as Echo Bridge because of its unusual acoustical properties when standing underneath the largest arch. Today the Sudbury aqueduct system is not in full use and serves only as a standby, in case of a breakdown in the water supply presently being received from the Quabbin Reservoir located in the center of the state. In 1895, the Echo Bridge became the centerpiece of Hemlock Gorge, one of the first reservations in the newly created Boston Metropolitan Park System for its scenery and sheer beauty. Echo Bridge remains one of the most unique places to visit in the Boston area, and retains much of its original details, down to the BWW (Boston Water Works) insignia on the rails.

Newton Upper Falls Railroad Depot // 1852

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When the short-lived Charles River Railroad opened in 1852, first connecting the Boston and Worcester Railroad in Brookline to Newton’s Upper Falls village, the small community here saw immediate prosperity and turned into a thriving industrial village. In 1847, a petition was filed with the Legislature of Massachusetts to build a rail line linking greater Boston to the Rhode Island border. While a more direct route was easier, Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who owned an iron foundry called Pettee Works where he manufactured cotton machinery, seems to have been the principal promoter for the line to pass through the village of his factory. Pettee died soon-after the line was finished, but his persistence for this track served two additional benefits. Firstly, it opened up development into other Newton villages for early suburban development, and secondly, it served as a major line to bring gravel from Needham to fill the Back Bay, opening that iconic Boston neighborhood to development. The Upper Falls Depot dates to about the time that the initial line opened in 1852 and is a typical, vernacular train depot in New England from this period. The Charles River Railroad merged with the New York and Boston Railroad in 1855 and was later sold to the Boston and Albany Railroad. Following the near death of the railroad system in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, much of the former Charles River Railroad today has survived despite the abandonment of much of the rest of the former New York and New England Railroad lines. This section is currently a part of the D-Branch of the MBTA’s Green Line. 

Forest Hills Cemetery – Grace Sherwood Allen Memorial, “Girl in the Glass” // 1880

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Similar to the story of Louis Mieusset, the “boy in the boat” at Forest Hills Cemetery, the memorial of Grace Sherwood Allen stands as a testament to parent’s ever-lasting love of their children. “Gracie” Allen (1876-1880) was born in Boston, the only daughter of William H. and Emily Jones Allen. She died several months prior to her fifth birthday from whooping cough and was later immortalized by sculptor Sydney H. Morse, who depicted the young girl in a buttoned dress, boots and bow-tied hair. In her hand are drooping flowers, the petals of which have begun to fall, showing her life fading. The life-size white marble sculpture is covered in a bronze and glass vitrine, to protect the fragile stone from acid rain, which would stain and weather the delicate monument.

Forest Hills Cemetery – Entrance Gate // 1865

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Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston was established in 1848 in the rural cemetery tradition, which followed Mount Auburn Cemetery, established in 1831 in nearby Cambridge and Watertown. The site was a municipal cemetery in Roxbury until it was annexed into Boston in 1868, becoming a private, non-denominational burial place for the who’s who of the area. The cemetery was envisioned by Henry A. S. Dearborn, who was the mayor of Roxbury in 1847 and first president of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, who had also been instrumental in creating Mount Auburn. Since its creation in 1848, Forest Hills has grown from its original 72 acres to a total of approximately 250 acres today and is known for the rich topography and vegetation, dotted by thousands of beautiful monuments to the deceased and some iconic architectural landmarks tucked away in its winding paths. Forest Hills Cemetery was located on this site due to its varied natural features, which included hills, valleys and lakes, which together were preserved to enhance the experience of those visiting nearly 200 years later. The site’s topography consists of a series of geological drumlins of Roxbury puddingstone, an important material that was used in building projects all over the region (and for some of the buildings and monuments in Forest Hills).

Visitors to the Forest Hills Cemetery are greeted by its iconic Gothic Revival main gate, a sculptural and ceremonial entranceway constructed from Roxbury puddingstone and sandstone. The structure replaced an original 1840s Egyptian Revival, wooden gateway designed by Henry Dearborn, following inspiration from Mount Auburn’s entrance gate. Designed by architect Charles W. Panter of Brookline and was completed in 1865, the present stone entrance gate features three portals with arched openings and ornate iron gates surmounted by decorative scrolled ironwork. The central gateway is framed by two conical spires and a central stone pediment, all topped with stone crosses. Beneath the pediment is the biblical inscription, “He that keepeth thee will not slumber.” The Entrance Gate remains the cemetery’s most iconic landmark.

Irish Round Tower, St. Mary’s Cemetery // 1894

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Thought to be the only example of an Irish Round Tower in the United States, the obscure Irish Round Tower in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Milford, Massachusetts, stands as a piece of local history and an architectural landmark. The tower was envisioned by Father Patrick Cuddihy (1809-1898), the pastor of the St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church of Milford, who was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and oversaw a largely Irish-born congregation here in the States. In 1893, Father Cuddihy sought to expand the existing St. Mary’s Cemetery which had been running out of space for the ever-growing Catholic population of Milford. For the cemetery, he envisioned an Irish Round Tower as a symbol of the Emerald Isle, his land of birth and that of most of his parishioners. Irish Round Towers were historically used in Ireland as bell towers, but for the cemetery in Milford, it would serve the purpose of beautification of the new grounds of the cemetery. Local workers began construction on the tower in 1894. Constructed of locally quarried Milford granite, the tower stands 73.5′ with a conical roof and walls two feet thick. The Milford tower is said to have been modeled after the tower on Devenish Island in Ireland and stands just 10 feet shorter than its inspiration.

Milford Opera House Block // 1881

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While altered, the Milford Opera House Block on Main Street, stands as one of the architecturally distinctive and significant 19th century buildings in Milford, Massachusetts. As the town prospered in the decades following the Civil War, and wealthy residents, including William F. Draper, an executive with the Draper Corporation in nearby Hopedale, sought to use their wealth to improve their community. In 1880, planning began to erect an opera house building, which would bring the arts to the community, and after months of discussion and planning, funding and a site on Main Street was secured. Architect, Frederick Swasey was hired by the association, who furnished plans for the Victorian Gothic building to contain five retail stores on the ground floor with an auditorium above capable of seating 1,100. The building suffered from a fire in 1912 and use as an opera house ceased and starting in the 1920s and the building began showing moving pictures. Later in the 20th century, the building was altered with the storefronts enclosed, windows on upper stories changed, iron cresting at the roof and clock face removed, but the building still retains its ornate entrance and is an important landmark on the town’s Main Street.

Sears Stable – The Vincent Clubhouse // c.1856

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Located behind the David Sears Mansion (now Greek Consulate) on Beacon Street, this handsome utilitarian structure fronts Brimmer Street in Beacon Hill and predates the building it adjoins. The two stables and attached caretaker’s residence was built around 1856 for David Sears, who lived farther down Beacon Street, but also owned other buildings on the street which fronted the Public Garden. He built this stable in the Flat of Beacon Hill, an area west of Charles Street in what Samuel Eliot Morrison coined, “the horsey end of town” for its prevalence of stables and carriage houses. The architect is not known, but the handsome structure features bays of shallow, recessed brick arches and brick dentil courses, showing the importance of good design even for uses such as a stable. The building later became space for furniture storage and an ancillary apartment to the adjacent mansion, until 1957, when the it was acquired by the Vincent Club, a women’s organization with the mission of raising money for the Vincent Memorial Hospital whose mission was to treat the “diseases of women.” Even though the Vincent Hospital merged with Mass. General Hospital in 1988, the Vincent Club remains in this former stable as its home-base and continues to carry out its mission to advance the field of women’s healthcare.

United Church of Christ, Swansea // 1833

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The United Church of Christ in Swansea, Massachusetts, was built in 1833 as the second building for the congregation which was originally organized in 1693. It is believed that this was the first church in New England to admit all Christians to membership regardless of their theological beliefs, as a United or Union church. The congregation’s first meetinghouse was built prior to 1719 and was replaced in 1833 when the current building was completed. The United Church of Christ in Swansea blends Greek and Gothic Revival styles with traditional wood-frame construction and gable roof with multi-stage steeple. The facade is adorned with pilasters and louvered lancet arches, showcasing the builder’s ability to pull from multiple architectural styles for the construction.