John Ruskin quote

When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our father did for us."
John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Ithiel Town

Ithiel Town is well known to most all students of early New England architecture. He is very well documented and many of his significant commissions are still standing for all to study. He was very well learned in all design matters as well as an very accomplished engineer. He wrote several books including, " Improvement in the Construction of Wood and Iron Bridges", New Haven 1821. His work included stints in Boston, New Haven and New York. His commissions not only included some of the more significant buildings in New England but included the State Capital buildings in North Carolina and Indiana. His library of architectural and art books was famous and probably the richest and most complete that had been brought together in America up to the time of his death, 1844. There are many books and articles on his most influential life and career. However, it is rare indeed when we have an opportunity to closely examine a structure designed by such an important American architect. So it was great interest that I read the article by Burkhard Bilger, Mystery on Pearl Street, in the January 7, 2008 issue of The New Yorker. The article focuses on a five story building designed and built by Ithiel Town at 211 Pearl Street in New York City and the efforts of Dave McWater and Alan Soloman to save it from demolition by a development company with an eye for bigger and greater plans. Bilger gives a wonderful account of the research and documentation that Alan Solomon uncovers. As is so often the case, the deeper the research, the greater the questions.
I strongly recommend looking up the article at a local library as it sheds some new light on the wonderful work of Ithiel Town as well as illustrate the difficulties we face in trying to preserve our architectural heritage.

Preservation or Pilferage

The last decade has seen a huge increase in the amount of historically significant buildings that have been razed. In the majority of cases the main reason was development. Real estate values have soared over the last decade, making the dirt under these structures far more valuable than even the most significant historic buildings. In many cases the character of the neighborhood has also changed dramatically, making a full scale restoration unrealistic and impractical. There are many other reasons that historic structures are being demolished in increasing numbers including deferred maintenance that has rendered the buildings beyond financial feasibility to keep. Preservation groups that run the gamet of local groups to federal agencys have done an admirable job of trying to keep the drain in check, but in most all cases, lack the proper funding to do much other than delay the inevitable. Further exacerbating the situation is the current preferred,and in fairness, the most cost efficient method of using excavators to break up the building and filling up dumpsters with the debris.

What can be done? In a situation where there is little argument that the building must be removed to preserve it, there are several excellent options. The first is an actual moving of the structure in its entirety. This involves having a suitable location within a short distance of the original site. There needs to be few obstacles along the way, ie power lines, low bridges. This option is usually the most cost effective but for obvious reasons the least feasible. If the character of the neighborhood has changed so dramatically that rstoring the building is not feasible, usually a quarter of a mile is not going to make much difference, and the new cost of the lot is also limiting. The second option is to dismantle the structure is a very deliberate and careful manner for reconstruction elsewhere. If properly documented distance is not an issue and the building can be repaired and properly restored during the process. This is not inexpensive and generally speaking is only feasible for earlier buildings, older that 1850. There must be significant history and details to the building to have an appeal to a potential buyer. This is a practice that has been going on for many years with great success. It is a great way to preserve historic structures. Indeed one needs only look to Historic Deerfield, Old Sturbridge Village, Shelburne Museum and Strawbery Banke to see the results of such preservation. However, the drawback to this method can be timing. In many cases, there is not sufficient time to properly document and carefully analyze the structure. In those cases salvaging as many components as possible is the best that can be done. This could include windows, doors, paneling, flooring, staircases and trim. But here is were we are facing an increased problem in preservation today. The value of these components has gotten very high. In many cases, the value of the individual components for use in reproductions and other restorations far exceeds the value of the intact structure. The market for these components has grown tremendously over the years and yet the amount of historic structures that are so dilapidated that they are beyond restoration has decreased dramatically. The use of components from "donor" buildings has been going on for the last century at least. When Henry Davis Sleeper first envisioned Beauport in Gloucester, MA it was to use components from many period houses to create multiple rooms to tell the story of style, taste and building through the years in New England. When Henry Flynt embarked on rebuilding and recreating Historic Deerfield he looked to Bill Gass to find and salvage components and structures throughout Massachusetts. Ed Ustace supplied many buildings and components to Sturbridge Village. In the first three quarters of the last century, they were actually preserving what would otherwise have been lost. But today many restorable significant structures are being stripped of their components for the gain of the salvager. Everything from barn siding and frames to elaborate panelled rooms are being parted out with no regard to the historic context from which it is being plucked. And this is not just the work of scrounging salvagers but in many cases by many well known, well respected restoration contractors. From a preservation standpoint, there is no excuse for not being able to provide a proper provenence for architectural components. Rare indeed is the case where period flooring or paneled walls are found in an old barn, their provenence long forgotten. But still this is possible for many components available today. However, components that just appear from nowhere generally have a story to hide.
How best do we deal this wanton disregard of our architectural heritage? The simple answer is to demand answers as to the source of the components. And simple economics should help to self regulate the situation. Just as the unbroken fully documented provenence of a period antique piece of furniture can double or triple the market price. So can the history and provenence of architectural components. To be able to attribute an historical reference and location to a key component can only increase its value to the buyer. This will force the salvagers to better investigate and research the history of a particular structure from which a certain component is taken. This work can easily be done even after the remnants of the building are long gone and the site cleared. To be able to attribute the structure and its components to an original owner or builder, or to an historical event helps to preserve our architectural heritage. And after that research is done, give a copy to the local historical society and/ or library for future generations to be able to use.

Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut by J. Frederick Kelly

This last summer while dismantling the Benjamin Willcox House, ca 1740 in Bristol, Connecticut, I had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Unionville, Connecticut that had recently purchased a similar period saltbox. They invited me over to see their house and I was pleasantly surprised to find the house very intact with great amount of original fabric. The previous owner was a builder with a very good sense of reverence for the house and did an excellent job of preserving and caring for it. The saltbox was very similar in age, ca 1740 and shared many of the same characteristics with the Benjamin Willcox House. The new owners are very energetic and extremely eager to learn all they can about the house. They were not particularly in the market for a period house, but circumstance brought them together.
I spent a fair amount of time looking the house over, answering questions and offering advice on various aspects of the house. Upon leaving I wanted to give them some further direction to research not only their house but period architecture in general. I recommended that they visit Sturbridge Village and Historic Deerfield. I then recommended that they get a copy of J. Frederick Kellys' Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut. After checking in with them a few weeks later, they were so excited to read Kellys seminal book. It got me thinking about just how influential and important a book this is.
Back in the late sixties and early seventies, there was a tremendous movement that could best be described as a movement by young carpenters with an interest in antique tools, their use and early building techniques. Authors such as Eric Sloane painted a very simplistic portrait of early tools and their use through his many published books. Antique tool dealers such as Vernon Ward of Iron Horse Antiques, J. Lee Murray, John Welch and Bud Steere were supplying this new breed of restorationists with usable examples of period tools. Restorationists like Michael Dunbar, Buzzy Dodge, Malcolm McGregor, Norm Vandal, Ted Ingraham, Mike Cotroneo, Jan Lewandoski, Walter Phelps, Doug Gest and myself were not just satisfied to replicate period architectural components, we wanted to recreate them using period tools and techniques. We were building post and beam frames and creating period interiors with minimal information on period techniques. Most of what we learned was through discussions with each other and through one pivotal book, Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut. Here was a book that documented and graphically displayed just what we were striving to achieve.
Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut by J. Frederick Kelly must rank as one of the most influential books published in the twentieth century on early American architecture. Originally published by Yale University Press in 1924, it was again copyrighted by William Kelly in 1952 and was first published as a Dover edition in 1963. And most recently republished by Schiffer Publishing in 2007. For this hugely important book to remain in print or at least readily available for the last 84 years speaks of its indisputable importance.
The opening paragraph in the Foreword pretty well sums up the integrity of this work, " In undertaking this work, the author fully realized that its chief value would depend in a large measure upon the accuracy with which it was done. It has been his sincere endeavor throughout, therefore, to avoid speculation and to make no generalizations which were not backed either by personal observations inn existing work or by authentic documentary evidence. All measurements have been made with the utmost care; and where, as in several instances, it has been necessary to depend upon dimensions previously obtained by others from work which no longer exists, the sources of such data have been authoritative."
Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut is not only a very good starting point for those just beginning to learn about early architecture but it also remains a constant reliable reference for those working in the field.

Two Carpenters by J. Ritchie Garrison

With all of the interest in early New England Architecture, it is with rare frequency that books are published that deal with the subject in a scholarly manner. There is a glut of coffee table books that have glossy photos with inept and usually incorrect factual material about period structures. So it is with great excitement when a book is published that has been well researched and sheds new light on our architectural heritage. Such a book is J. Ritchie Garrison's Two Carpenters, published by The University of Tennessee Press in 2006.
J. Ritchie Garrison is well qualified to interpret and present such pertinent information as is contained in Two Carpenters. He is Director of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture and is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. He decame aware of the subject matter contained in Two Carpenters while working as director of education at Historic Deerfield, a distinquished collection of historic houses and decorative arts in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Two Carpenters is a very sholarly and accurate review and summary of the lives of master builders Calvin and Samuel Stearns and their five sons of Northfield Massachusetts. As a family of master builders, they left behind very extensive and thorough documentation of their lives. Their journals, account books and ledgers paint a very complete picture of the influences, techniques and results of a very prolific career that spanned from 1799-1859. Many examples of their craftsmanship remain intact by way of houses and structures in Northfield and beyond. Mr. Garrison skillfully combines all of this material into a very compelling book which is richly illustrated with photos and detailed drawings. We follow the Stearns from being journeymen working as far away as Boston and their subsequent design influences that met with great approval from the community of Northfield. The pragmatic domestic life is blended with the very latest in design and social culture, largely by the skill and interpretation of the Stearns.
Congratulations to Mr. Garrison on an excellent book that is a must have for all interested in New England architecture.

The 18th Century New England Architectural Record is a compilation of out of print articles, new articles, current restoration projects, current preservation efforts, and a resource for all interested in the preservation, restoration and understanding of New Englands 18th Century Architectural heritage.
Posts are invited that relate to the purpose of this site, whether it be informational, an endangered historic building, a source for period architectural components or a general inquiry as to where to find information.
A list of links will be developed as well as a bibliography of books on the subject.