Mount Auburn’s Notable Architects
Cover: Freeland Mausoleum, designed by Ware & Van Brunt, from a 19th-century stereoview.
Nathaniel J. Bradlee (1829-1888) Lot 4397, Robin Path Nathaniel J. Bradlee trained in the office of George Minot Dexter (Lot 4313, Caltha Path) for seven years. After Dexter’s retirement, Bradlee opened his own firm, inheriting several of his mentor’s clients. Bradlee became a respected and prolific architect whose career in Boston spanned 35 years, and included work on over 500 projects. Selected works: First Parish Church, corner of South and Centre Streets, Boston, 1853 C. F. Hovey Store, Summer Street, Boston, 1854 William F. Schultz House, 53 Beacon Street, Boston, 1855 Boston & Lowell Railroad Station, 1856 Phillips School, Phillips Street, Boston, 1861-62 - surviving Italianate school building The Cochituate Standpipe, 1869 - modernized Roxbury’s water system Mount Auburn Cemetery Reception House, Cambridge, 1869-70 - one of only two existing buildings in Cambridge by Bradlee Danvers State Hospital, 450 Maple Street, Danvers, 1874-77 - (below, left) designed for the care of the mentally ill, abandoned since 1992 Boston Young Men’s Christian Union, 48 Boylston Street, Boston, 1876 - (below, right)
William Robert Ware (1832-1915) Lot 202, Locust Avenue William Robert Ware has been called the “father of architectural education in America.” Ware trained under Richard Morris Hunt, and later teamed up with Henry Van Brunt following the end of the Civil War, a partnership that resulted in many notable works. Van Brunt is often credited for the designs while Ware is credited with the practical engineering schematics, though there is evidence that Ware had influence on the design of buildings as well. In 1865 Ware was appointed the head of a proposed school of architecture at the newly established Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first of its kind in the United States. After successfully developing that program, he resigned in 1881 and went on to establish the Department of Architecture at Columbia University’s School of Mines in New York City. Ware retired in 1903 but continued to write architectural texts until his death in 1915. Selected works: First Church, Back Bay, Boston, 1865-67 Memorial Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1868-78 - (right) Episcopal Theological School, Harvard University, 1868-80 Ether Memorial (The Good Samaritan), Boston Public Garden, 1868 Weld Hall, Harvard University, 1870-71 Union Railway Station, Worcester, 1873-75 Freeland Mausoleum, Mount Auburn Cemetery, 1874 - first free-standing mausoleum at the Cemetery
Willard T. Sears (1837-1920) Lot 5465, Excelsior Path Willard T. Sears showed an interest in architecture at an early age. Though his plans for attending Harvard were scrapped due to a “serious accident,” Sears went on to apprentice at the firm of Gridley J. Fox Bryant, where he met another young architect, Charles Amos Cummings. Sears began his own architecture practice in 1860, and Cummings joined him four years later. The pair designed a range of noted Boston area buildings until they parted ways in 1890. One of the most notable buildings designed by Sears as a solo architect was the Fenway Court home of Isabella Stewart Gardner (Lot 2900, Oxalis Path), completed in 1899. The Italian-inspired home is now the renowned Gardner Museum. Selected works: Sears Building, Boston, 1868-69 Bedford Building, 99 Bedford Street, Boston, 1876 New Old South Church, Copley Square, Boston, 1874-76 Cyclorama Building, South End, Boston, 1884 - (below, right) Story Chapel and Administration Building, Mount Auburn Cemetery, 1896-98 - (below, left, detail from proposal drawing and plans by Sears) Fenway Court (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), Boston, 1899 Pilgrim Monument, Provincetown, 1910 - Sears’ last known building
Charles Amos Cummings (1833-1906) Lot 3344, Thistle Path After Charles Amos Cummings graduated from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, he worked for a few years in the office of Gridley J. Fox Bryant. After several notable commissions including the Cyclorama (1884) and the new Old South Church (1876), he focused primarily on writing. He published the History of Architecture in Italy as well as two other architectural texts. Selected works: Sears Building, Boston, 1868-69 109 Newbury Street, Boston, 1871 Bedford Building, 99 Bedford Street, Boston, 1876 - (below, right) New Old South Church, Copley Square, Boston, 1874-76 - (below, left) Cyclorama Building, South End, Boston, 1884
Benjamin Thompson (1918-2002) Lot 10762, Halcyon Garden Benjamin Thompson was one of the 20th century’s leading architects – his projects and passions affected everything from American urban landscapes to the world of interior design. Thompson’s redevelopment of historic Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market in 1976 resulted in today’s vibrant Faneuil Hall Marketplace. At the time, the redevelopment of a decrepit historic area into a welcoming indoor-outdoor mall in the heart of downtown, was a revolutionary idea, one that inspired festival marketplaces around the country. In 1946, Thompson was a founding partner, along with Walter Gropius and six other associates, of The Architects Collaborative. In 1953 he founded Design Research, Inc., which introduced Marimekko fabrics from Finland and became the brand’s exclusive distributor in the U.S. market. In 1992, Thompson received the gold medal of the American Institute of Architects, the profession’s highest honor. Selected works: Renovation of eight Yard dormitories, Harvard University, late 1950s Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, 1976 - (right) Harborplace, Baltimore, 1980 South Seaport, New York City, 1985 Bayside Marketplace, Miami, 1987 Jacksonville Landing, Jacksonville, Florida, 1987
Henry Atherton Frost (1883-1952) Lot 6827, Fountain Avenue In 1911 Henry Atherton Frost became an architecture instructor at Harvard. Four years later he was asked by the University to tutor a young woman, Katherine Brooks, who had been denied admittance to Harvard’s all-male architecture course. By February of 1916, Frost was teaching Brooks and four other female students from his offices in Harvard Square. Frost’s course of training became formally known as the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture for Women, and though the curriculum was not exactly equivalent to Harvard’s – it focused on the appropriately “feminine sphere” of domestic architecture – the training was rigorous and featured lectures by noted professors. In 1918 Frost earned his masters in architecture from Harvard and in 1919 he established a partnership with one of his graduates, Eleanor Raymond. The firm of Frost & Raymond focused primarily on residential architecture, thriving with the 1920s housing boom in America. Frost and Raymond’s designs for Colonial Revival houses were not only commissioned by local clients, but were also featured in House Beautiful and could be mailordered nationwide. In 1930 Frost was promoted to associate professor at Harvard, and in 1940 became a full professor. Selected works: Private residences throughout Boston and Cambridge,1920s
Two women using tripod, Cambridge School of Architecture
Eleanor Raymond (1887-1989) Lot 637, Greenbrier Path A graduate of Wellesley College in 1909, Eleanor Raymond was one of the early students to attend the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture for Women. After two years of graduate study, she joined in partnership with Henry Atherton Frost, forming Frost & Raymond. Raymond opened her own office in Boston in 1928 and continued to practice until 1973 when she retired at age 85. Raymond was an early practitioner of modern design and experimented with new materials, structural and mechanical innovations, and bright interior color schemes. In 1931, Architectural Forum magazine listed the Rachel Raymond House in Belmont as the first International Style building in New England. In 1948 she designed the “Dover Sun House,” one of the first successful solar-heated buildings in the Northeast. Sponsored by Boston heiress and sculptress Amelia Peabody, the house heating unit was designed by Dr. Maria Telkes, an assistant in MIT’s Department of Metallurgy. The innovative house was occupied for three years, at which point the system failed. Selected works: Rachel Raymond House, Belmont, 1931 - (below, right) one of the first International Style buildings in New England, made of wood and prefabricated elements; demolished in 2007 Sculptor’s studio, Dover, 1933 Frost House, Cambridge, 1935 - (below, left) Plywood House, Dover, 1940 Masonite House, Dover, 1944 Sun House, Dover, 1948
Lois Lilley Howe (1864-1964) Lot 24, Olive Path In 1888 Lois Lilley Howe entered MIT’s School of Architecture for a two year “Partial Architecture” course. After graduation she worked as a drafter, artist and librarian in the Department of Architecture at MIT before working at the firm of Allen & Kenway. Her first commission to build a house was in 1894 and in 1901 she established her own firm. Also in 1901 she became the second woman elected to the American Institute of Architects and the first woman elected to the Boston Society of Architects. Howe became known for her ability to create simple, efficient floor plans and her effort to minimize expense. In 1913 she partnered with Eleanor Manning and in 1926, a third partner, Mary Almy joined them. They were the first woman’s architectural firm in Boston and second in the country. Selected works: Between 1895-1937- 426 identified projects, many still stand Renovations of Griswold residence, 23 Craigie Street, Cambridge, 1901 and 1904 Renovations of Hooper-Eliot House, 25-27 Reservoir St., Cambridge, 1902 - (below, right)
Asher Benjamin (1773-1845) Lot 258, Cedar Avenue Asher Benjamin began his career as a housewright in the upper Connecticut River valley. His earliest surviving work, the William Coleman House in Greenfield, MA, contains one of the first elliptical staircases in New England. In 1797, Benjamin published the first of several architectural builders’ guides, The Country Builder’s Assistant, a practical howto guide for housewrights. His early designs drew heavily on late Georgian sources, but increasingly were influenced by Federal style architecture, particularly the work of Boston architect Charles Bulfinch (Lot 2308, Bellwort Path). Benjamin’s greatest contribution to American architecture lies primarily in his instruction books – seven in all, and frequently reprinted – that helped rural builders throughout the eastern United States create numerous local buildings in a dignified style. Selected works: Charles Street Meeting House, Boston, 1804 - (below, right) Old West Church, Cambridge Street, Boston, 1806 First Church, Chauncy Street, Boston, 1808 First Parish Church, Ashby, MA, 1809 Unitarian Church, Nashua, NH, 1827 70-75 Beacon Street, Boston, 1828 William Ellery Channing House, Beacon Street, Boston, 1836
Plate from one of Benjamin’s architectural instruction books.
Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844) Lot 2308, Bellwort Path Charles Bulfinch has been hailed as America’s first native-born professional architect. During his 40 years of architectural practice, he was a defining force in the physical development of Federal-era Boston and a major influence on architecture throughout the country. Among his earliest works was his design for the Massachusetts State House. The end of his career was equally as impressive, as he undertook the completion of the U. S. Capitol building and finally the Maine State House. Selected works: Tontine Crescent, Boston, 1794 Massachusetts State House, Boston, completed 1797 - (below, left) New North Church, Boston, 1802-04 - last standing Boston church by Bulfinch University Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1813-14 - (below, right) Massachusetts General Hospital, Bulfinch Building, Boston, 1818-1823
Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) Lot 2669, Bellwort Path Buckminster Fuller has had many titles: inventor, poet, philosopher, architect, cosmogonist, industrial designer, mathematician, cartographer, author, and visionary. His best known invention was the geodesic dome of which now there are over 200,000 in the world covering more of the earth’s area than any other single kind of building. A geodesic dome is lacework of triangles that is cheap to construct, structurally unlimited to size, with no need for columns or supports, as well as strong, light and efficient. Through his belief that man can harness technology to yield the good life for everyone by eliminating scarcity and the need to survive, he also invented the Dymaxion house in 1946. This style of house could be mass produced, easily shipped and assembled. It was round in shape, made of aluminum and was affordable at just about the same price as a high-end automobile at the time. Bucky, as he is affectionately known, had a vision that his work would have deep societal impact: “I’m committed to solving the problems of mankind by artifacts instead of through social reforms and politics. I’m interested in solving world problems, not local problems.” Selected works: Dymaxion House, prototypes, 1929/1949 - (below, right) Geodesic dome, patent 1954 - (below, left, Montreal GeoDome)
Jacob Bigelow (1787-1879) Lot 116, Beech Avenue One of the principal founders of Mount Auburn Cemetery, Jacob Bigelow was a man of many remarkable talents: physician, botanist, author, illustrator, scientist, and architect. He published several early and extensive works on botany, coined the term “technology,” renounces excessive blood-letting as a medical treatment for all illnesses, and was an influential professor at Harvard in the fields of medicine and applied science. He became an enthusiastic promoter of the rural cemetery idea, and served as president of Mount Auburn for over 25 years. Bigelow left an impressive legacy at Mount Auburn, for he was responsible for the design of most of the Cemetery’s early structures. Selected works: Egyptian Revival Gatehouse, 1832 - (below, left) Bigelow Chapel, 1844 - (below, right) Washington Tower, 1852 Commissioned Sphinx, Civil War Memorial, 1871
Other Notable Architects Blackall, Clarence (1857-1942) Lot 3393, Harebell Path Known for complex theater projects such as the Metropolitan Theater, Boston (now the Wang Center), 1925. Chamberlin, William Everett (1856-1911) Lot 2803, Bellwort Path Noted for functional rather than attractive buildings such as Cambridge Hospital, 1844 (now Mount Auburn Hospital). Clapp, James Ford (1876-1941) Lot 5692, Magnolia Avenue The firm of Blackall, Clapp & Whittemore designed the Central Square Building in Cambridge, 1926, the city’s first scyscraper at 10 stories. Dexter, George Minot (1802-1872) Lot 4313, Caltha Path Involved in a wide range of architecture but specialized in Railroad construction projects; Boston and Fitchburg Railroad Terminal, Boston, 1848. Howe, George (1886-1995) Lot 673, Greenbrier Path Co-architect of the modern skyscraper, Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building, Philadelphia, 1932. Little, Arthur (1852-1925) Lot 6734, Narcissus Path Noted for Colnial Revival residential work emphasizing the arrangement of spaces and the quality of decorative elements. Longfellow, William Pitt Preble (1836-1913) Lot 246, Lily Path A professor of Architecture at MIT and the first editor for the influential American Architect; designed 70 Sparks St, Cambridge, 1878. Loring, George F. (1851-1918 Lot 1786, Elm Avenue In Sommerville alone, he designed over 100 houses and public buildings including the Public Library, 1884. Peabody, Robert Swain (1845-1917) Lot 2813, Bellwort Path Built over 80 residences in the Back Bay; Custom House Tower, Boston, 1911.
We invite you to participate in the programs of the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery. Membership information is available at the Gatehouse information rack and the Office.
Since its founding in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery has retained its original purpose of being a natural setting for the commemoration of the dead and for the comfort and inspiration of the bereaved and the general public. Its grounds offer a place for reflection and for observation of nature — trees, shrubs, flowering plants, ponds, gentle hills, and birds both resident and migrant. Visitors come to study our national heritage by visiting the graves of noted Americans and enjoying the great variety of monuments and memorials. Mount Auburn Cemetery began the “rural” cemetery movement out of which grew America’s public parks. Its beauty and historic associations make it an internationally reowned landscape. Designated a National Historic Landmark, Mount Auburn remains an active, nonsectarian cemetery offering a wide variety of interment and memorialization options.
friends@mountauburn.org The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery is a nonprofit charitable trust promoting the appreciation and preservation of the cultural, historic and natural resources of America’s first garden cemetery, founded in 1831.
©Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, 2009
Funding provided in part by