CHAPTER VI

THE GEORGIAN MODE IN NEW ENGLAND

It is nearly always difficult and sometimes an ungracious task to attempt to make sweeping distinctions and establish hard and fast boundary lines. Fortunately for us, we meet with an exception to this well-nigh invariable rule in the case of marking the division between Colonial and Georgian architecture. The one point on which we may seize to emphasise the distinction between these two modes of architectural expression, each exceedingly vital in its own field, is the introduction of the classic element in ornamental detail and the formal or balanced element in plan, an element that implies both external symmetry in the marshalling of mass and internal symmetry in determining arrangement. The Colonial mode of expression as exemplified in the architecture of early New England, New York, the Middle Colonies and the South, whatever local differences it might exhibit, was traditional and, to a certain extent, fortuitous. That is to say, it was informal and represented forms which homely considerations of convenience and the process of gradual cultural growth had dictated from time to time in the course of centuries. It was also mediæval in its affinities and, for the most part, unpretentious because it embodied only the essential features that the great mass of the people, whether in England, Wales, Holland, Sweden, or the German principalities had found requisite and desirable. In short, it was a folk growth and was essentially domestic and simple.

Georgian architecture, on the other hand, echoed the spirit of the Renaissance. Its whole fundamental principle afforded a direct antithesis to the conceptions on which Colonial architecture was based. It breathed the atmosphere of the well-ordered classicism that had spread over the Continent and over England in the train of the New Learning and had its outward concomitant in the stately creations inspired by the masterpieces of Greek and Roman antiquity. However modified by the successive media of its transference from the original springs of inspiration, it still voiced the measured formality and easy restraint inherent in the ancient models. It was essentially the architecture of a well-to-do, polished and, if you will, somewhat artificial state of society that demanded a medium of courtliness and

circumstance of surroundings for its proper existence. The formal note of classicism had come into English architecture in the reign of Henry VIII, had flourished apace under Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, and blossomed richly in domestic forms during the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne. With the Queen Anne developments, however, we have little direct concern in America. It was not until after the first George had been some years on the throne that a marked change became evident in the domestic architecture of the American Colonies.

By the end of the first quarter of the eighteenth century there had been a marked increase in the wealth of the country. A reasonable security from the wild alarums of Indian warfare and an orderly and uninterrupted course of civil life left the well-to-do more time to pay to the amenities of existence, and the general growth of material prosperity provided the means to indulge the taste for larger, better and, in a word, more pretentious domestic environment that accorded with the affluence and important social position of the prominent citizens. When the worthies of the early eighteenth century were thus minded and encouraged to build anew for themselves and erect substantial and more commodious homes for their own use and the enrichment of their posterity, nothing was more natural than that they should turn to the mother country for a suitable style and pattern to direct them in their new undertaking. They were always most punctilious to follow the styles of London in their clothing and prided themselves upon the accuracy with which they kept pace with all the changing fashions in apparel on the other side of the sea. In like manner, also, they looked to the current architectural fashions in England for inspiration to guide them in so momentous a matter as the establishment of a dwelling suited to their estate and fit to be the domicile of succeeding generations of their name.

It is quite true that certain peculiarities characteristic of the English architecture of Queen Anne’s time had occasionally made their appearance in New England before this general efflorescence of the earliest phase of the Georgian mode and even considerably afterwards they were not wholly wanting--specific reference will be made to them in a subsequent paragraph--but the prevailing architectural tone from 1720 or 1725 onward was unmistakably Georgian. Certain modifications were made, to be sure, as expediency suggested or necessity demanded, but despite all local adaptations, which will be pointed out as they occur in the examination of sundry examples, the strong family resemblance to the contemporary domestic structures of England could not be overlooked.

The most notable piece of local adaptation, to which not even the uninterested or superficial observer can be blind, was the wholesale grafting of the New England wooden or clapboard tradition, which by this time had become ineradicably established, upon a mode of architectural expression that had been hitherto almost invariably--and always in England--interpreted in brick or stone, as it was elsewhere in the American Colonies. Even when the fabric was virtually built of brick, as in the case of the Royall house at Medford or the Lee house at Marblehead, it was encased in an outer shell of wood, sometimes grooved, bevelled, painted and sanded to present the appearance of cut stone.

Another marked peculiarity of the New England Georgian work, a peculiarity perhaps invited and intensified by this almost universal predilection for a wood casing, at least so far as domestic structures were concerned, is the comparative plainness and absence of architectural embellishment from a great many exteriors in strong contrast with the wealth of elaborate carved and moulded detail to be found within. In a way, they seem to have assimilated or, perhaps, it would be truer and more accurate to say that they reflect the outward reserve and restraint of New England character, a reserve, however, that often melts into cordial geniality under the favouring auspices of a closer acquaintance. Indeed, judging from the exterior of many a house, one is wholly unprepared to find the exquisite and rich panelled and carved adornments that confront the visitor, once the threshold is passed. This shearing off or repression of outward architectural graces makes it exceedingly difficult sometimes to tell at first glance whether a house belongs in the Georgian category or not, especially when there is nothing peculiarly distinctive about the contour of the mass to serve as an indication. In this connexion, too, it must be explicitly stated that not a few of these square, roomy old clapboarded houses, of a general farmhouse type gradually evolved from the earlier and truly Colonial mode, discussed in a previous chapter, assumed occasional Georgian features in the way of a door or the setting of a window whose promise was not borne out by any further evidence of architectural pretension either inside or out.

In studying architectural history and examining the architectural characteristics of a certain given territory, the mind is constantly impelled to seek analogies and points of resemblance and relationship with the contemporary

architectural phenomena observable in other places. By systematically scrutinising and comparing the Georgian work throughout the Colonies, always keeping the historical background in view, one cannot escape the conviction that there were three phases of Georgian manifestation and, furthermore, that whatever minor local differences may have arisen, there was a fairly close chronological correspondence between them and the several phases that marked the evolution in England. Speaking approximately, we may say that the first phase included the houses erected prior to 1740 or 1745; the second phase endured from 1745 till about 1775 or 1780, while the third phase, profoundly influenced by Adam inspiration, lasted until the Greek or Classic Revival completely held the field. In this last phase, be it remembered, must be reckoned some of the best work performed by Charles Bulfinch and Samuel McIntire, work that really marked the transition stage between the Georgian style and the rejuvenated and direct importation of classicism that dominated public taste in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. In order to make this threefold division quite clear and trace the process of evolution through its successive stages, it will be necessary to refer to specific features found in well known examples typical of each phase.

While the earliest Georgian type in Pennsylvania showed a tendency toward extreme simplicity and, at the same time, some heaviness, the first phase of New England Georgian often displayed a close resemblance to the heavy but ornate treatment of Queen Anne’s day. The heaviness and boldness of detail belonged to and were characteristic of the epoch and were to be expected in any event. The restraint and simplicity in Pennsylvania, in the cases of Stenton and Hope Lodge, were probably to be attributed somewhat to Quaker predilection on the part of the owners. In the case of Graeme Park, built for Sir William Keith, the lack of more elaborate detail may have been due to the limitations of the workmen’s skill. For the sake of concrete example, we may point to the severely plain, rectangular doorways with straight transoms of small lights at Stenton, Graeme Park and Hope Lodge, all of them thoroughly representative of the Pennsylvania phase of Georgian at this date. In New England, by way of sharp contrast, we find segmental pediments over doorways and a wealth of elaborate adornment in the shape of pilasters, intricately carved capitals and nicely hand wrought mouldings to dignify them, all designed and executed in a manner strongly reminiscent of what one may see in Queen Anne’s Gate or Grosvenor Road in Westminster. The heaviness of proportion and boldness of line belonged to the period, as just noted, and were common to both the New England and Pennsylvania forms of expression. In New England, however, there were no Quaker scruples and preferences to impose a restraining influence and, in consequence, traces of Queen Anne elaboration lingered till about 1740. Our first Georgian type in both New England and Pennsylvania shows the straight transom of small square lights.

Excellent examples of the elaboration with Queen Anne affinities to be found in the first Georgian type in New England, may be seen in the door of the Dummer house at Byfield, Massachusetts, built in 1715; the door of the Macphaedris-Warner house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, finished in 1723; the door of the Royall house at Medford, Massachusetts, finished in its present form in 1737; the door of a house in Hatfield, Massachusetts, built about 1735 or 1740; the door of a house in Hadley, Massachusetts, dating from 1714 and, last of all, the door of the “Parson Williams” house at Deerfield, Massachusetts, built in 1707. This last, of course, is altogether within the Queen Anne period and is thoroughly characteristic of the date but it is desirable to refer to it here for purposes of comparison to show certain points of similarity between it and the others enumerated before it. In every instance save one there is some elaborate form of pediment, segmental or swan’s neck. The mouldings are heavy and bold and the torus or cushion mould frequently occurs as a frieze. There are flanking pilasters with intricate capitals and sometimes imposts bearing up the entablature or else there are vigorously carved panels in place of the pilasters and, above them, richly wrought acanthus modillion brackets supporting the entablature.

In nearly all of this early work we find large, bevel flush panels and the cornice mouldings in panelled rooms are strongly defined and robust in contour. The overmantel panelling is made an important feature but the mantel shelf itself is usually insignificant and, at times, hardly more than rudimentary. In several of the houses just referred to, especially the Dummer house and the Macphaedris-Warner house, we find windows topped with a flattened arch or segmental lintel instead of having a straight top and in some cases there is a slightly countersunk tympanum between the bottom of this flat arch and the top of the wooden window casing. In the Warner house, several of the windows are tall and narrow in proportion to their height, the sashes being only two panes wide. Both these window forms are typically early and disappear entirely at a later date.

In the interiors of some of these houses are

to be found round-headed arched doorways with double doors and the arch, either round or flattened, appears in various forms from time to time while the fluted or carved or turned key block, in sundry curious varieties, appears at the centre of arches and also in other places. The key block practically disappears in the second phase of Georgian. The arch also loses its prominence and we find more straight lines. Indeed, during the second or more distinctly Palladian phase of Georgian we scarcely find the arch at all in domestic architecture except in the middle member of the Palladian window or in the lights over house doors. One might go on almost indefinitely tabulating characteristic details that belong essentially to the first Georgian phase but enough has been said to direct attention to the general aspect and to enable an observant person to differentiate it from the others.

Of the second Georgian phase in New England we could not desire a better or more thoroughly typical example than the Lee house in Marblehead, erected in 1768. It is the embodiment of robust and yet agreeably proportioned classicality. The mouldings and cornices have lost the ponderosity of proportion that was observable in many of the houses of earlier type. The placing of ornamental detail is far more carefully considered and governed with a reasonable restraint. Interesting as some of the earlier examples of door treatment were for their very exuberance of fancy and their vigour, they were, nevertheless, a trifle awkward when compared with a well designed and better balanced doorway of a subsequent date. When acanthus leaves, rosettes or other decorative _motifs_ are introduced, it is in a thoroughly well mannered way that leaves nothing to be desired regarding proportion or propriety of placing. The spiral baluster spindles on the staircase of the Lee house are exceptionally fine and worthily represent the style of baluster turning and carving that belongs especially to this middle period.

In the banquet hall the overmantel presents an unusually fine specimen of the wood-carver’s art. The great panel, with dog-ear corners and Flemish scroll supports, is flanked by two pendants of fruit, flowers and leaves carved with all the delicacy and intricate finish of the school of Grinling Gibbon. It is more elaborate, of course, than most of the interior carving found in the second Georgian phase but it is typical in that it is better disciplined than the earlier efforts in the same direction which were often inclined to be crude. The interior cornices are more refined in detail and not so bold in contour as formerly. The egg and dart _motif_ becomes common and other ornamental details are used in an understanding way and in their conventional forms, whereas at an earlier period they were not always historically correct, though often ingenious, nor were they invariably well placed.

The last phase of New England Georgian architecture was distinctly a period of Adam inspiration as it was in other parts of the country, with this difference, however. Elsewhere the third Georgian phase was forsaken all too soon for the newer glamour of the Classic Revival for which, in a manner, it prepared the way. In New England, under the influence of such men as Charles Bulfinch and Samuel McIntire, the delicate proportions and fascinatingly refined details brought into English architecture by the Brothers Adam remained in favour until well into the nineteenth century and exercised a beneficial effect that has not yet lost its force. With excellent taste both Bulfinch and McIntire employed the Adam heritage of urns, pendent husks, anthemia, ovals, spandril fans and all the rest of the Pompeian refinements, and McIntire unhesitatingly lengthened out the proportions of pillars and pilasters until he had removed all suggestion of grossness from his design and imparted a slender grace to all his work. Though he made various innovations, McIntire really prolonged the Adam period in New England and saved domestic architecture, wherever his influence was strong enough, from the deplorable banality into which the more unconsidered forms of the Classic Revival degenerated.

In the felicity of its local adaptations, in the dignity it imparted to the visible side of public life, in its virile development manifested in the churches and other public buildings, the Georgian architecture of New England has given us numerous patterns worthy of emulation _in toto_ or in part and has left an indelible and beneficial impress upon the nation’s artistic consciousness.