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Charles Bulfinch's Popularity Flourished in the 1790'S After Articles

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Charles Bulfinch's Popularity Flourished in the 1790'S After Articles Charles Bulfinch's popularity flour ished in the 1790's after articles and images of the Ho llis Street Church, his first major project, were publ ished . The images led lo two ear ly church commissions ou tside of Boston an d signaled the beginning ofBu lfinch 's growing inlluence on New England ch urch architecture. The church comm issions also led to a wide variety of requests for Bulfinch designed institu tional buildings. such as court houses. banks and collegiate arch itecture, as well as designs for private mansions, evidence of which can be found in Salem, Massachusells and Maine. Bulfinch's chu rch designs had several innovat ive elements . Traditiona lly, lhe entrances lo a New England sty le meeting houses, where relig ious and public meetings were held, had been placed on the short ax is of the building where members entered from the sides. Bulfinch reorganized this design along the lines of a classical Latinate plan, placing the entrance on the long ax is at the front of the church and pulpit at the far end. He also brough t the free sta nding tower and steeple back into the body of the bui lding, above the entrance w ith a pedimen t porch to suppor t it. The two churches which began this trend were the Congregat ional Churches in Pittsfield (1793) an d Taunton (1792), very sim ilar in design, and wide ly copied thro ughout the New Englan d area . Other churches Bulfinch worked on outside of Boston were the Old South Church in Hallowell, Maine, where he designed the Cupola (1806), and the Church of Chris t in Lancaster, Massachusetts . 111e Lancaster Church (1816) bears many of Bulfinch's most elegant ornaments, with a portico, colonnade and cupo la. The des ign combines the New England puritanical spirit in its simplici ty with Bulfinch's Roman reviva l sty le. Bulfinch's reputat ion as an architect of institutional buildings sprea d as well, lead ing to his association with the court -houses of M iddlesex, Cambridge, Newburyport, Worcester and Dedham. Bulfinch contributed to the cupola of the Dedham court house (1796) and furnished Worcester with a cour t house in the same year. Although the cupola of the Worces ter court house is unl ike any of Bulfinch's designs, th e bu ilding had a fam iliar facade with arched recessed windows . While the KenyonHoll c.1828 unusual cupola of the Worcester cou rt house might CourtesyRobin W Holland raise questions about his invo lvemen t, there is a signed and dated drawing of the front elevation. In 1804 he worked on the Worceste r Bank and furnished Newb urypo rt with a comb ined court house and town house. Very simila r to the Worcester cou rt house, the Newburyport facade featured an open and arched portico and a roofed walkway lead ing to the entrance supported by columns. Bulfinch's popularity as an First Church of LancasterMa arch itect of institut iona l build ings Courtesylibrary of Congress led to a number of commissions for collegiate architecture . Bulfinch des igned the second Stoughton Hall al Harvard, which was meant to be very sim ilar lo the nearby Holl is Hall (1763), as well as Harvar d's Un ivers il y I !all. Bulfinch is also cred ited with three buildings at Phillips Academy in Andover but only one is his, Pearson Hall (1818). The design of Pearson Hall is very sim ilar to Un iversity I lall in Cambridge, although less gran d and bui lt with brick. A late piece of Bulfinch architect ure, and certa inly the farthest from his home city, is the Kenyon I fall spire at Kenyon College, Ohio (1828). Bulfinch collaborated with Reverend Norman Nash, who is credited with the larger port ion of th e design . It is the first examp le of 'collegiate gothic' arch itecture in this country. There are also a number of build ings in Salem which can be allributed to Bulfinch: two private homes. the Essex bank, and the Salem Almshouse. The Elias Hasket Derby house (1799) influenced by Lord Burlington 's Henry Knox's Montp/ier c.1870 Provost House in Dub lin, was his ear liest Salem buildi ng. Along with the CourtesyNew YorkCity library neighboring Ezekiel Hersey Derby house (c.1800) it was th ough t to be the des ign of Sam uel Mcintire unti l 1924, when ev idence also linked Bulfinch with the origina l design o f both buildings . In 1811, Bulfinch designed the Essex Bank in Salem with a hall on the secon d floor, which was the longt ime home of the Handel and Hayden Society. The Salem Almshouse, his last Salem build ing built in 1816, is un like any of Bulfinch's designs with few archit ectur al features. Bulfinch's design of private homes and mansions extended to Thomaston, Maine with Montpelier, Henry Knox's home (1796). Attributio n to WorcestserCourt HouseBuilt I 803 Bulfinch relics heavi ly on brief mentions of Bulfinch in the Henry Knox papers at the Massachusetts Historica l Society and overwhe lming stylist ic evidence. 111e design bears a strik ing resemblance to Joseph Barrcll's op ulent Somer ville mansion, as well as the Swan and Perez houses, all PeorsonHall c.7818 des igned by Bulfinch in his signa tur e style. CourtesyAndover Academy .
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