Monographs Archives - Page 7 of 13

Architectural Monographs: Wooden Architecture of the Delaware Valley

Posted on February 11, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

While most early settlers in New England stuck to the architectural typologies they were used to in their home country – ignoring abundant timber resources in Pennsylvania to build brick or rock houses, for example – one particular region stands out as a notable exception. In the Lower Delaware Valley, including Eastern Pennsylvania, West Jersey and Delaware, wooden architecture was quite common despite the tendency of settlers to follow their ancestral traditions.

In other areas, builders went to great lengths to bake bricks or source stone, but the people of the Lower Delaware Valley realized the futility of this endeavor and decided to go with the obvious solution: build with the pine that thrives in the area.

This issue of the historic White Pine Monographs takes a close look at those houses. One example is ‘The WIllows’ in New Jersey, near Gloucester, built around 1702 and believed to be one of the earliest wooden houses in the region with some additions that came in later years. Writes the author, “The structure is really a piece of cabinet work rather than a piece of carpentry, and is a monument to the skill of the joiner – the old term is peculiarly appropriate for the artisan in this instance – who framed it together.”

Architectural Monographs: Small Colonial Houses

Posted on February 2, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

Even the most modest of colonial houses – those built for poorer residents – maintain the sense of structural integrity and simple elegance of their larger and more ornate neighbors. Lacking the same level of detail and visual interest as the mansions that have been preserved in the centuries since they were built, these little houses are often overlooked. This issue of the White Pine Historic Monographs takes a look at the various types found across the early United States.

There’s a reason why most of the small, economical houses of that period were nearly identical in any given state: the design worked. The author notes that the plan used to create modest colonials in Connecticut was so ubiquitous, it’s still known as the ‘Connecticut Plan.’

Rather than opening directly into the living room as most houses do today, these homes nearly always had entranceways that were closed off from the living spaces in order to save heat. People couldn’t afford to let heat escape as they went in and out of the house.

There’s something we could all learn from these houses, that many of today’s builders seem to have forgotten: orienting the plan to take advantage of the natural heating power of the sun. “In these early houses very respectful attention was paid to the points of the compass, since with the entirely inadequate heating arrangement of the Colonial period, the natural heat of the sun was utilized to its fullest capacity. Thus the Dutch houses almost invariably faced the south…”

Architectural Monographs: Colonial Standouts of Wiscasset, Maine

Posted on January 26, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

An influx of wealth from exports of Eastern White Pine and other species of timber resulted in a profusion of beautiful Colonial buildings in Wiscasset, Maine in the late 1700s. Located on the Sheepscot River, with easy access to the sea, Wiscasset remains a charming port town with many of those beautiful early structures still standing, drawing in fans of Colonial history and architecture.

One standout Colonial building of Wiscasset is the mansion of Capt. William Nickels, completed in 1808. Legend has it that it took two years just to complete its front hall, and when you see photos of how intricately carved it is (above), that’s not hard to believe.

The Smith House, built in 1792, is even more famous, not because it’s more intricate, but because locals allege that it’s haunted. A widow’s walk on the roof gives it a hint of atmosphere, though it’s impeccably well-kept and sparkling white to this day. The stories go back to the 1800s, when passersby reportedly walked on the other side of the street because they found the home peculiar. Unexplained incidents in the home include eerie footstep sounds and an elderly woman rocking in the parlor only to disappear suddenly.

Architectural Monographs: A White Pine Vacation House

Posted on January 16, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

In 1918, the White Pine Architectural Competition called for plans envisioning a vacation home for a hilly lakeside plot of land in New York, not to exceed $5,000 in cost, with an outside finish of Eastern White Pine. The client wanted to focus on views of the lake, and required plenty of space for a family of four, plus regular guests – including a sleeping porch.

The judges weren’t exactly impressed with the overall quality of the designs submitted, saying “the solutions, taken as a whole, indicate an almost painful absence of direct, synthetic, logical thought,” but three top prizes were arrived at nonetheless. The winning design caught their attention first for its beautiful renderings but also because the house is simple, direct and logical with “an unmistakeable wood character.”

The annual competition not only promoted the use of white pine in architecture, but also had “the ulterior and more altruistic objects of raising the standard of domestic architecture; of discovering and encouraging new talent, and of providing for the prospective house builder a point of departure, at least, in his enterprise.” The competitions are still held to this day, nearly a century later.

Architectural Monographs: Distinctive Colonial Maryland

Posted on January 7, 2014October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

Maryland colonial buildings have their own particular character and style, as illustrated in this issue of the historic White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs. The author argues that early Maryland settlers brought with them may English sensibilities, including a love for symmetry and balance, but the Maryland climate helped them put their own distinctive spin on colonial architecture.

Three separate wings of a stately Maryland colonial home included the main house, the servant’s quarters and a third volume that often housed either a school and the business of the proprietor who owned the land. The warmer climate in comparison to New England enabled covered walkways between the three wings.

In this issue, examples like the Brice House in Annapolis are highlighted. “With its great central house and the two wings much lower, set at right angles, and connected by low covered passages, it is the finest expression of the distinctive Maryland plan.”

“All of these houses are imbued with something of the same spirit and share a common quiet and modest dignity. They are of the very essence of old Maryland and silent reminders of the day sand men that are gone. Those men – racy, hospitable, generous, alike in spirit and interests, proud, devoted to the good things of this world, built all of these qualities into their homes.”

Read the whole issue at the White Pine Monograph Library.

Architectural Monographs: A Pre-Revolutionary Annapolis House

Posted on December 30, 2013October 21, 2021 by Jeff Easterling

There’s no place in America that offered a more English lifestyle before the Revolutionary War than Annapolis, Maryland, which at the time was fully of wealthy, aristocratic people enjoying the fruits of pioneer labor. As such, it has some of the most English architecture of that time period, with one building standing out in particular: the Matthias Hammond house, which is the focus of this issue of the historic White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs.

Built in 1770, the Hammond House was designed by Philadelphia architect Matthew Buckland and “stands today as one of the finest, if not the finest, example of the work of the Colonial Period.” In the 1920s, when this issue was written, it was purchased by St. Johns College and turned into a colonial museum, with all of the furnishings restored.

This monograph presents photographs and information about the house as it was nearly a century ago, and today it’s almost exactly the same thanks to these preservation efforts. Visitors can still enjoy stepping through its doorway and into the past. Now known as the Hammond-Harwood House, it’s been called the “Jewel of Annapolis,” and it’s a popular tourist destination in the city.