Oriel Windows?!? What is this Jargon!?!?!

This week, we return to one of my favorite things: architectural jargon!

While you may think of it as useless architectural history, I promise you that it will come in handy someday during a trivia Tuesday.

Trust me.

Someday, someone will be impressed with your knowledge of oriel windows.

So, what are they exactly? My handy-dandy Guide to Vermont Architecture uses the following definition:

“Multi-sided window that projects from the wall of a building, and whose base does not reach the ground.”

If the window starts on the first floor then you can call it a “bay” window; bay windows can be more than one story in height much like oriel windows.

Another definition comes from Thought Co.:

“An oriel window is a set of windows, arranged together in a bay, that protrudes from the face of a building on an upper floor and is braced underneath by a bracket or corbel.”

Here’s a definition of oriel windows from John Britton’s, A Dictionary of the Architecture and Archaeology of the Middle Ages: Including Words Used by Ancient and Modern Authors in Treating of Architectural and other Antiquities: With Etymology, Definition, Description, and Historical Elucidation: Also, Biographical Notices of Ancient Architects, which was printed in 1838:

So, where’d the idea of these windows come from you’re probably wondering!

Well, oriel windows most likely originated in the Middle Ages, not just in Europe but also in the Middles East.

In Europe, it may have developed from the word for porch or gallery, “oriolum,” which is medieval Latin. As you can see there’s a connection between the words, “oriel” and “oriolum.” Merriam Webster’s dictionary points to the first known usage of the word in the 14^th century while the Encyclopedia Britannica says “oriel” became “prevalent” in the 15^th century and were often placed over gateways or entrances to manor houses and public buildings.

So why would you want an oriel window- besides using it to spy on who’s coming to the manor for dinner tonight? It also allowed more light into a room and expanded the flood plan. The window style also offered a way for air ventilation and keeping a room cooler, which would have been ideal in the Middle East. In the Middle East, this style of window first appeared in 12^th century Baghdad during the Abbasid Period. The window was called, mashrabiya, and were known for their ornamental lattice screens. In the Middle Eastern architecture, they were typically found on the side of the buildings and/or on the courtyard side of a house. Through the ages, the mashrabiya often would be designed based on the current architectural styles of the time, for example during the 1920’s and 1930’s, the mashrabiya lattice work was inspired by the Art Noveau and Art Deco styles.

Here in the United States, oriel windows can be found on a variety of buildings with different architectural styles, such as: Tudor Revival, Gothic Revival, and Queen Anne.

In another exciting book found on Google Books, here’s instructions on how you would have constructed an oriel window in the 1840’s as detailed by Alfred Bartholomew in Specifications for Practical Architecture, Preceded by an Essay on the Decline of Excellence in the Structure and in the Science of Modern English Buildings; With the Proposal of Remedies for those Defects:

*I am not making up these titles of these books that I found on Google Books*

This is the Arlington. It was originally a hotel in downtown Potsdam, NY. It’s now a mixed-use building with businesses on the first floor and apartments on the second and third floors. In addition to that awesome information, it has a wonderful oriel window that extends two floors.

Close-up view of the Arlington’s oriel window.

Oriel windows seen in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

These triple-decker oriel windows can be found in San Francisco. Where exactly you’re probably wondering…I have no idea, I think they’re somewhere near the Palace of Fine Arts.

A collection of oriel windows with major Art Deco vibes. These are somewhere in San Francisco……no idea where though. Sadly, when I’m walking around cities taking photos of fun buildings I’m not always documenting the exact location.

This oriel window is also in San Francisco. The place is just filled of oriel windows. Good news is I know where this is located: 100 Carl St, San Francisco, CA 94117 (about a block away from the south-east corner of the Golden Gate Park).

Plot twist, this isn’t an oriel window but a bay window! This house is located in Ogdensburg, NY (located next to the Post Office). Please, someone buy it and make it look beautiful again.

Resources and Further Information

Alfred Bartholomew, Specifications for Practical Architecture, Preceded by an Essay on the Decline of Excellence in the Structure and in the Science of Modern English Buildings; With the Proposal of Remedies for those Defects, (London: Gilbert and Rivington, Printers, St. John’s Square, 1840) 4691. https://books.google.com/books?id=82UkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA80&dq=oriel+window&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ1p-zocPgAhVrrlQKHThgBWU4ChDoAQhcMAk#v=onepage&q=oriel%20window&f=false

John Britton, A Dictionary of the Architecture and Archaeology of the Middle Ages: Including Words Used by Ancient and Modern Authors in Treating of Architectural and other Antiquities: With Etymology, Definition, Description, and Historical Elucidation: Also, Biographical Notices of Ancient Architects (London: Printed by James Moyes, Castle Street, 1838) 337- 338. https://books.google.com/books?id=j2AJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PT18&dq=oriel+window&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUv_KcocPgAhVDMnwKHbacDUoQ6AEIWjAJ#v=onepage&q=oriel%20window&f=false

(Let’s talk about Google Books. They’re amazing. You can read previews of many newer books but can also find the full text for many older books and periodicals, which can be fantastic when researching quirky architectural history topics.)

Jackie Craven, “The Oriel Window- An Architectural Solution, Look for the Bracket on the Bottom,” Thought Co, July 5, 2017: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-oriel-window-177517

Curtis B. Johnson, editor and Elsa Gilbertson, Principal Author, The Historical Architecture of Vermont: Guide to Vermont Architecture (The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, 1996) 27.

Stephanie Przybylek, “Oriel Windows: Definition & Style”, Study.com, https://study.com/academy/lesson/oriel-windows-definition-style.html

Random Definitions-

Encyclopedia Brittanica, Definition for Oriel Window: https://www.britannica.com/technology/oriel

Meeriam-Webster Dictionary Definition for Oriel Window: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oriel%20window

Buffalo Architecture and History, Illustrated Architecture Dictionary: Oriel Window: https://buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/o/oriel.html

Wikipedia’s Pages on the Oriel Window and the Mashrabiya:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashrabiya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriel_window

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What is This Jargon!?! Art Deco and Streamline Moderne???

Last week I was in downtown Sacramento for a chocolate tasting with co-workers and I had an opportunity to walk around 9^th and 10^th Streets in between J and K Streets- basically a square around the block.

I took a number of photos and wanted to share those images with you….and tell you about some jargon!

Art Deco.

Streamline Moderne.

They’re jargon and they’re architectural terms. Art Deco is a style that appeared in Paris in the early 1900’s in the construction of two different apartment buildings. The architects were Henri Sauvage and Auguste Perret. The apartment buildings were constructed of reinforced concrete- used for the first time for residential buildings in Paris. The architectural design of the buildings consisted of clean lines, rectangular forms, and there were no decorations on the facade. The term applies to not only architecture but to visual arts and design. The name, “Art Deco” comes from Art Décoratifs a phrase used during the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts that was held in Paris in 1925. In general Art Deco is associated with luxury and modernity; expensive materials were used with superb craftsmanship. Streamline Moderne is an architectural term used for a later styleof Art Deco seen during the 1930’s. Below are lists of the features seen in both types of styles.

Specific Features:

Art Deco:

Smooth Wall Surfaces

Stucco, Stone, Metal, Polychromy

Simple, Geometric Forms and Motifs

Vertical Emphasis

Rectangular Forms

Streamline Moderne:

Curved Forms

Stucco, Fluted/Pressed Metal, Ribbon Windows, Glass Block Windows

Long Horizontal Lines

Nautical Elements

Horizontal Emphasis

Curved Walls

Flat Roof lines

The following are images that I look around the Blocks of 9^th and 10^th Street, in between J and K Streets. They are in the order of which I took the photographs, where I started on 10^th Street, walked up Kayak Alley, arrived on 9^th Street and then eventually walked down J Street back to 10^th Street. There were only a few buildings I could find information on; one building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; other information came from historic photographs of the streets and from the Pacific Coast Architectural Database created by the University of Washington. 

This is the Forum Building. It was constructed in 1911. It definitely has Art Deco detailing around the main entrance and the general vertical feeling of the building. In 2000, rehabilitation work was done on the facade to preserve its wonderful details!

The front doors of the Forum Building.

The blue building is the Ruhstaller Building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed in 1898 for the business man, Frank J. Ruhstaller. The building is eclectic in that in combines a number of architectural style features including Queen Anne, Romanesque, and even Art Deco motifs.

Another view of the Ruhstaller Building. The building was used by Frank J. Ruhstaller for his business offices, for the Buffalo Brewing Company/ SPace was rented to doctors and other business. For a time the Elks Club has space in the building. The tall building seen behind the Ruhstaller Building is the California-Western States Life Insurance Company headquarters.

A view of the California-Western States Life Insurance Company headquarters and its immediate neighbor.

Looking up at the California-Western States Life Insurance Company headquarters. The building was designed by George C. Sellon and built in 1926. The building is 14 stories tall.

Sources and Further Information-

Sacramento Buildings: http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/19942/

http://sacramento.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=10th+street&searchButton=Search

Rahstaller Building: https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/82002237.pdf

Architectural Styles: All of these links have wonderful photos of significant buildings that are designed in these architectural styles, check them out!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/worlds-most-beautiful-art-deco-buildings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streamline_Moderne

https://architecturestyles.org/art-deco/

 

Portrait of a Building: The Crocker Art Museum

Currently for work, I am living outside of Sacramento, California in Rancho Cordova. I have the weekends off, so I’ve been using those days to explore cool places in California. This past weekend, I visited the Crocker Art Museum, which is located on O Street in Sacramento. The streets in downtown Sacramento are named either by a letter or a number- it’s really interesting!

The Crocker Mansion can be called a number of things: Italianate, Italian Villa, and can even be said to be inspired by Mannerism of 16th Century Italy. Mannerism in architecture is characterized by visual trickery and unexpected elements. The exterior facade is constructed of weathered stucco over-coating.

The Crocker Mansion that makes up part of the museum complex was constructed in 1853 for pioneer banker, B. F. Hastings. The home was designed by Seth Babson. The original style of the home was classical in style.

In 1868, Judge Edwin B. Crocker purchased the property, which included the home and out buildings. Judge Crocker, was a judge for the supreme court for the state of California. When the home was purchased Judge Crocker and his wife, Margaret, had an extensive art collection that had been started by a trip to Europe. The Crocker family commissioned Seth Babson to renovate the home that he had designed originally in the 1850’s. The new plans included changing the style of the home into an Italianate Villa mansion and to add a gallery for the art collection to be displayed. These renovations were completed by 1872. The following images show the interior of the home:

 

This view is of the ceiling seen upon entering the Crocker Mansion through the front doors.

Looking up towards the ceilings on the first and second floors of the Italian Villa.

Walking through the front doors of the Crocker Mansion brings you into a foyer where there are double staircases leading to the second floor. This is a view of one of the staircases.

There’s a ballroom…..it’s huge and located on the first floor. The space is used for events. When I was there, museum staff and volunteers were preparing for a kids art activity!

This room is within the historic building but is connected directly to the new modern structure (you would go through the hallway to the right to get to the new building). In this photo you can see how ornate the rooms of the Mansion are.

This wall safe is located in the old office room on the second floor!

Look at that door knob. All of the doors in the historic building were beautiful and these style of door knob was on a number of doors!

The Crocker family were also keen on supporting social and civil causes in Sacramento. By 1885, Edwin had passed away and Margaret worked to establish an art museum from their collection. The museum was originally named the “E. B. Crocker Art Gallery” and was given to the city and placed in “trust for the public.”

This plaque can be found on the first floor of the historic building near the original front doors.

In 1887, Margaret moved east to New York, to be closer to her adult children. The E. B. Crocker Art Gallery happened to be the first public art building founded in the Western United States. The following are images of artwork I saw at the museum. The Museum allows non-flash photography throughout the galleries. All rights to the artwork are of the Crocker Art Museum:

 

This is a view of some of the beautiful Oceanic artifacts the Museum has in their collections.

This large painting was completed in 1911. Mathews was a well known for his murals and is credited for creating, “California Decorative Style,” which combined elements of European Art Nouveau, Classical, and California flora, fauna, and locals.

During the San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Stirling had created a “Colonnade of Stars,” which consisted of 95 Star Maidens of plaster. After the Exposition, the plaster versions of the Maidens were cast in bronze in 1914.

This is a Japanese suit of armor called “tosei gusoku,” which means modern equipment. It dates to the Edo Period of Japan and is from the 17th century. This style of armor is lightweight, flexible, and a key part of a Japanese warriors identity.

Aspara are celestial nymphs or spirit of the clouds or water in the Hindu and Buddhist religions.

McCormick painted this scene around 1893. It is one of here earliest paintings of California. She was inspired greatly by French Impressionism.

Painted in the 1890’s, this painting depicts one of the Greek Muses. The painting dates to a period of art in the United States called the “American Renaissance.”

The painting was painted in 1962 and is oli on canvas. This piece of art is considered Pop Art!

This piece of art is part of the exhibit, Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose. The exhibit marks the 10th anniversary of the art magazine, Hi-Fructose.

Sometime after Margaret passed away in 1901, the building was given to the Fairhaven Home for Girls and then basically abandoned. It remained vacant until 1911, when the City of Sacramento purchased the property with donated funding from a Mrs. Sloat Fassett….Mrs. Fassett actually was Jennie Crocker, one of the daughters of Edwin and Margaret!

In more recent years the art museum has continued to flourish. In 1970, the Crocker Art Gallery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and became a state historic landmark.

1989, saw the building go through a number of renovations. The main home and the art gallery were connected and the historic facade was completely restored. In 2000, plans were started to construct a new addition to the historic building and within 10 years, the Teel Family Pavilion was opened. This new space basically tripled the square footage of the museum, allowing for more room galleries, administrative offices, and educational spaces.

Sources and Further Information:

https://www.crockerart.org/about

http://www.haunted-places.com/crocker.htm

https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/e671de17-3822-4558-bd13-f76532fc2ae7?branding=NRHP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannerism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsara

Board and Batten!?! What is this Jargon?!?

This month’s jargon term is, “board and batten” or “board-and-batten,” depending on whether you’re using the term as an adjective or noun; for the record, hyphenate when using the term as an adjective. Every now and then, this type of exterior siding many be called, “barn siding,” because many barns across North America are constructed with this.

The actual definition of “board and batten” from my handy-dandy Guide to Vermont Architecture is this, “Exterior siding of flush wide, vertical planks with narrow wooden strips (battens) covering the joints.”

Historically, board and batten would refer to siding built of wood but given today’s building material options, this siding can be made of plastic, metal, or even fiberglass. Board-and-batten siding can be seen on informal styled architecture, think country homes, churches, and/or barns. During the Victorian era it would have been seen as an architectural feature on Carpenter Gothic homes.

So, board-and-batten siding has an interesting back story. Basically, people built in this style because of a lack of materials plus it helps create a stronger and more energy efficient wall. You’re probably wondering what the hell I’m talking about…

Imagine yourself, a recent arrival to the New World. There’s extensive, old growth forests that you’re not familiar with; England really doesn’t have forests like this anymore. You are also in desperate need of a shelter for yourself and family. Cutting down trees and building a log house would be the easiest and quick; you only have axes and saws and there are no saw mills yet built. The log house is easy to build, for the most part, the issue is that the felled tress do no exactly fit together, so there are gaps that you and your family fill in with moss, leaves, sticks, and mud. It mostly does the job…but there’s still a cold draft during the winter. By the way, you’re not the only family that needs to build a quick home plus there’s also an extreme logging occurring in the New World with lumber being shipped back to Europe. The forests are slowly depleted but houses still need to be built because of the increasing numbers of colonists. Eventually a town is built up around where you and your family settled and a saw mill in constructed. Because of the lack of trees and a new sawmill, newer settlers are building there houses out of planks and strips of wood. Out of one felled log, a lot of planks can be planed, meaning it is most cost effective. The seams between vertical standing planks can easily be covered with narrow wood strips (batten), keeping the cold out during the winter.

For an actual visual of a log home located in Northern New York, check out this link: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20110108/DCO01/301089932. The article is about an actual log cabin that was reconstructed to represent the home of the first settler in Parishville, Luke Brown and his family. In the photos accompanying the article, you can see the space in between the stacked logs.

Check out the following images to see buildings constructed with board-and-batten siding. There are no spaces in between planks!

This patriotic home is one of the many summer cottages located in Thousand Island Park on Wellesley Island in the 1000 Islands Region. The battens are painted red while the boards are white. The home was constructed in 1876. The cottage is an example of Eastlake wood detailing, stick style elements, and I would call it Carpenter Gothic.

This is a convenient store located in Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks. This photo was taken way back in 2015 on the way home from a Dave Matthews concert in Saratoga Springs. As of this post, the store might be permanently closed…but hopefully the building is still there and maybe a new tenant is in the building.

Buildings from Upper Canada Village:

This is a building seen at Upper Canada Village. The living history museum consists of a number of buildings that have been moved from around Canada to form this village showing what life would have been like in the 1800’s. This building combines board and batten on the upper story with squared log siding on the first floor. There are a number of buildings with this combination of siding at Upper Canada Village.

This is another building at Upper Canada Village. The cheese shop shows 19th century techniques and uses period equipment to produce cheese that can be purchased at the Village’s store.

This is the Masonic Lodge at Upper Canada Village. It is a 1863 building that was moved to the Village in 2008 from the Village of Kars in south-west Ottawa. The building is constructed on board and batten.

Hallstatt, Austria:

This is a building located in Hallstatt, Austria. Hallstatt is located in Upper Austria and is on the western shore of Hallstatter See (lake). The village and surrounding area is a World Heritage Site because of it’s wonderful history and culture. I’m not very sure about the history of the building or it’s current use. I assume it might be an inn along with being someone’s permanent residence.

This building is also located in Hallstatt, Austria. It looks like it could be a barn but I have a feeling it might be another house. Hallstatt is part of Salzkammergut, in the eastern Alps. The village has a very rich history spanning all the way back to the Iron Age because of the salt mines. The town suffered from massive fire in 1750 that destroyed most of the wooden buildings. The center of the town is all in Baroque style, while buildings away from the center like this and the other building are wooden with board-and-batten siding.

This is a door I saw while walking around Hallstatt. It is considered a batten door, most likely on the other side of the door are some kind of planks holding the battens in place to be a door.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or have any board-and-batten sided buildings in your neighborhood!

Thanks for reading!

Further Reading and Resources:

1) An article about Board and Batten- a brief history, how it is currently used in architecture, etc. :   http://circaoldhouses.com/circa-school-board-batten/

2) A nice little history lesson on the siding: 

http://www.all-about-siding.com/board-and-batten-history.html

3) Another great article on what board-and-batten siding is:

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-board-and-batten-177663

4) Like always, my handy dandy resource for architectural jargon is: 

“The Historical Architecture of Vermont: Guide to Vermont Architecture,” Curtis B. Johnson, editor and Elsa Gilbertson, Principal Author, published by: the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, 1996.

Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York

Recently, I traveled to Rochester, New York for my annual adventure to see my b.f.f., Amanda. While I was there, I had the opportunity to visit Mount Hope Cemetery, a rural cemetery located in Rochester. I have a fascination with cemeteries, so being able to visit Mount Hope was great. Rural cemeteries are quiet and peaceful, and I enjoy that greatly while photographing tombstones and paying my respects to those who have passed away.

Mount Hope was a wonderful place to visit. We visited the cemetery in the late afternoon and were there for a couple of hours; the weather was great! There are about 14 miles of winding roads and paths to walk along and there are many beautiful monuments and tombstones dedicated to the deceased. Amanda and I didn’t walk all throughout the cemetery but we did see a lot. To add to reasons to visit Mount Hope, the cemetery has a number of burials of historically significant people such as Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.

Douglass was born a slave in Maryland and escaped in 1838 through Delaware and Philadelphia to New York City. Throughout his life he worked for the equality of all peoples as a social reformer, abolitionist , orator, writer, suffragist, and statesman. He also was friends with Susan B. Anthony, who is also buried at Mount Hope.

Prior to Mount Hope there had been a number of small burial grounds throughout Rochester including grounds at King’s Landing, the intersection of today’s East Ave. and Gibbs Street, Charlotte, and the intersection of Monroe Ave. and Alexander Street.

In the 1830’s, there was a growing need in Rochester for more burial space. The city had been steadily increasing in population making Rochester one of the first boom towns in the country. Apparently, Rochester had a lot of firsts for the young United States of America. The growth of population and a lack of good sanitary practices within the city caused outbreaks of cholera and typhus in Rochester during this time resulting in a number of deaths. This was just one of the many reasons the city of Rochester was looking for a larger burial ground. Other reasons included the fear of possible water contamination from the overcrowded cemeteries, plus those older sites were in prime locations for industrial and commercial development.

Rochester wasn’t the only place having these of concerns with burial grounds; Europe was having them too. As early as 1711, Sir Christopher Wren of England, was advocating for burial grounds on the outskirts of town. The first landscaped cemetery was completed in 1084 in Paris and is the Père Lachaise Cemetery. The first garden or rural cemetery in the United States was Mount Auburn in Massachusetts, which was finished in 1831. Mount Auburn inspired other cemeteries across America including Mount Hope in Rochester. These types of cemeteries are typically right outside of town and are landscaped. During the 19^th century garden cemeteries were built not only for burials but also for public use, kind of like a park. They have winding paths, avenues lined with tress, garden plots, framed vistas, and monuments/funerary architecture. The concepts behind these new cemeteries were that nature could help overcome the reality and grief of a loved one’s death. There was also a push during this time to be outdoors and to take in the pastoral beauty of nature. The picturesque and romanticism of nature was seen not only in landscaped cemeteries but also in art during the early 19^th century.

Click through the following photos for a general idea of the landscape of Mount Hope:

This is the gatehouse at the North Gate entrance of Mount Hope. It was built in 1874.

Another hill in the cemetery.

This cobble stone road is near the North Gate Entrance of the cemetery.

The building in the photo is the 1862 chapel and original crematory. The fountain was installed in 1875 and is called the “Florentine Fountain.” Both of these can be seen upon entering the cemetery via the North Gate Entrance (there is a parking lot here.)

Sylvan Waters is a geologic formation formed by glaciers and is called a “kettle.” The kettle is a natural source of water for the wildlife that call Mount Hope Cemetery home. The 196 acres that make up Mount Hope Cemetery have been declared a certified wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

This view can be seen on Grove Avenue where there are many mausoleums erected.

This view of the cemetery can be seen from Patriot Hill. I believe I’m looking over at the land in between Glen Avenue and West Avenue.

This section of the cemetery is located near the single graves and graves that had been moved from previous burial grounds. This is either looking down Pine Avenue or Buell Avenue in the cemetery.

Mount Hope was dedicated by the city of Rochester in 1838 making it one of the first municipal cemeteries in the county! The cemetery needed little landscaping because the site was already fantastically formed into the hilly, winding landscape it is because of glaciers during the last ice age. For example, Central Park in New York City is not a natural landscape- that’s all created into a park- the only natural thing about the Park is the rocky outcrops. Mount Hope did employ Silas Cornell, a landscape architect, to help layout the roads and features of the cemetery. The name for the cemetery can be attributed to William Wilson, a laborer who worked on the layout of the cemetery. In his bills that he submitted to the city for his services, William kept referring to the work as “for labor at Mount Hope.” The name was informally accepted and people just kept calling the cemetery, Mount Hope.

Most of the earlier burial grounds in Rochester were moved in 1872 to Mount Hope. There are a few of the old burials still in Rochester though, they include the sites at King’s Landing, Charlotte, and Rapids.

The following are images of monuments and tombstones that I personally thought were interesting:

The monument on the left is for Michael Filon and his wife, Sarah Van Ness Filon. Michael was a previous mayor of Rochester. The monument on the right is for Azarial Boody and his wife Ambia Corson Boody. Azariah was born in Quebec, Canada and happened to be a congressman in the United States during his life.

This gravestone for an army nurse was another stone that caught my eye, mainly because it was for an army nurse. I haven’t seen many of those.

This monument is a memorial to all the children who died in the care of the orphanage. The Rochester Orphan Asylum opened in 1837 and took in eight children who had lost their parents to the cholera epidemic ( a reason the Mount Hope Cemetery was created). The memorial especially is for the 31 people (28 children and 3 adults) who lost their lives in a 1901 fire at the orphanage.

I did not find a lot about the family buried here but their monument is very unique!

My friend Amanda pointed out these gravestones to me. It was unique that the stones had a plant connecting them.

This monument caught my eye as Amanda and I drove by it to find a parking lot in the cemetery. The quote is from Revelations 14:13 and reads: “Yea Saith, The Spirit That They May Rest From Their Labours and Their Works Do Follow Them.”

This is a monument to the Wilbur Barry Coon and his family. Coon was a shoe manufacturer during his life. This monument was commissioned from Tiffany Studios of NYC. The monument is sculpted from a slab of white granite from Bethel, Vermont because of its size, it needed a special train car to transport it from the city to Rochester.

This is the reverse side of the Coon Family Monument. The quote along the bottom reads: “The shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto the God who gave it.”

While researching Mount Hope, I came across a poem about the cemetery written shortly after it was established that was published in 1840 in the Knickerbocker.

The poet was Elizabeth Clementine Stedman (1810-1889). She was a contributor to both the Knickerbocker and the Blackwood’s. During the 19^th century she had three books published: Felicita, A Metrical Romance (1855), Poems (1867), and Bianco Capello, A Tragedy (1873). The last book was written during her time abroad; while traveling Europe she befriended Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Elizabeth’s eldest son, Edmund Clarence Stedman, followed in her footsteps and also was a writer and a poet.

If you’re interested in seeing another example of a rural cemetery, check out my previous post about the Bayside Cemetery in Potsdam, New York:

https://adventurewithcourtney.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/bayside-cemetery-photographs-and-thoughts/

If you have any comments or questions, let me know in the comment!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Bibliography and Further Information:

Wikipedia’s page about Rural Cemeteries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_cemetery

The University of Rochester has a course where students do research on monuments and tombstones in the Mount Hope. This is a link to their website where you can search to find possible research papers on the cemetery:

https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewInstitutionalCollection.action;jsessionid=73CC95E513A69C5C448CE3F7B4B1B0C7?collectionId=143

The following link is to a publication about the geologic history of the land that makes up Mount Hope Cemetery:

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/Epitaph/ATTACHMENTS/24_1.pdf

This link doesn’t have a lot of information about the cemetery but it does have some cool scans of what looks like old postcards of Mount Hope:

http://www.rochesterhistoryalive.com/scenery.htm

Stedman, Elizabeth Clementine. “Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester.” The Knickerbocker 16 (1840): 219. https://books.google.com/books?id=Os5ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA219&dq=mount+hope+cemetery+rochester&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEyciY_s_TAhVF7IMKHQcnBUk4ChDoAQg1MAM#v=onepage&q&f=false

Reisem, Richard O. Mount Hope, Rochester, NY: America’s First Municipal Victorian Cemetery. Rochester, New York: The Landmark Society of Western New York, 1999. https://books.google.com/books?id=kxMLN0Z2PTsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=mount+hope+cemetery+rochester&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqkv7k5NPTAhUIRSYKHRmxAssQ6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&q=mount%20hope%20cemetery%20rochester&f=false

The quote from William Wilson came from this book, page 8.

Other information about rural cemeteries came from my personal notes from graduate school.

Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

http://northstargallery.com/pages/perehist.htm

https://frenchmoments.eu/pere-lachaise-cemetery/

Mount Auburn Cemetery

http://mountauburn.org/

Gettysburg National Military Park

During the week in Emmitsburg, I had the opportunity to travel to Gettysburg with a couple of my classmates, Aileen and Kathryn. Shout out to Aileen who brought her car with her so we could adventure!

The very brief history of the Battle of Gettysburg goes like this:

The battle lasted for three days during July 1- 3 in 1863. The battle is seen as a turning point in the American Civil War. The battle was ultimately a Union victory under Maj. General George Meade, who commanded the Army of the Potomac. The Army of the Potomac, after three days, was able to hold back General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army and force their retreat back south. This would be the last time, the Confederate Army would attempt an invasion of the Northern States.

During those three days it is estimated that there were between 46,000- 51,000 causalities, making it the most costly in United States History.

After the Battle, Daughters and Sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg (see previous posts) arrived in Gettyburg on July 5^th to tend to the wounded of both armies. Other retreating soldiers were cared for by Sisters who had remained at Saint Joseph’s campus.

For more information about the Battle of Gettysburg, please check out the “Further Information” section, there are many wonderful online resources.

That’s all I’m going to write, the rest of this post are all just photos from the battlefield.

This statue is located outside of the Museum and Visitor Center. The Battlefield is free of charge as is the visitor center. There is a fee though for the museum.

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This is the monument for Pennsylvania, it is the largest monument at Gettysburg. It is made of North Carolina granite over an iron and concrete frame. It was dedicated on September 27, 1910.

This statue weighs 7,500 pounds and was sculpted by Samuel Murray.

These are some of the bronze tablets along the base of the Pennsylvania Monument. It lists regiments and batteries; over 34,000 Pennsylvanians participated in Gettysburg.

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This monument located at Little Round Top is dedicated to the 44th and 12th volunteer infantries of New York. The 44th was organized at Albany, NY and also went by the name, ” Ellsworth’s Avengers,” for Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the first officer to die in the war. The monument was dedicated in 1893 and happens to be the largest regimental monument at the battlefield. It was designed by Daniel Butterfield, the original colonel of the 12th and at the Battle of Gettysburg, he was Maj. General Meade’s Chief of Staff.

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This monument is made of granite and was dedicated on September 12, 1889.

This monument is located the at Soldier’s National Cemetery.

This speech was given by President Lincoln on November 19, 1863 during the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery. The speech was short and is estimated to have taken mere minutes for Lincoln to say. It made clear that the Civil War and its purpose, was the struggle to preserve the Union and human equality.

If you have any comments or questions, let me know in the comment section below!

Thank you for checking out this post.

Further Information:

National Park Service Website for Gettysburg: https://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

Gettysburg Foundation: http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/

Battle of Gettysburg: http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/assets/ten-facts-about/ten-facts-about-gettysburg.html

Wikipedia….not the greatest source in the world BUT it does have a lot of visuals that are great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Battlefield

Gettysburg Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gettysburg-address/

Monuments: http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/

http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/union-monuments/pennsylvania/state-of-pennsylvania/

http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/union-monuments/new-york/new-york-infantry/12th-44th-new-york/

New York State Military Museum: https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/mil-hist.htm

60^th NY Volunteer Infantry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60th_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry

https://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/60thInf/60thInfMain.htm

Daughters and Sisters of Charity: https://setonshrine.org/civil-war-sisters/

Basilica!?! What is This Jargon?!?

Part deux of my adventures in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

The really cool part of being at the National Emergency Training Center is that it is right next door to the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. A tour was offered of the Basilica after hours if you were at the training center, so I took the opportunity to see the Shrine.

This is a view of the basilica for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. This building was constructed in 1965 and it is a very Italianate style basilica.

The grounds of the Shrine consists of a walking path, a number of buildings, and a cemetery. If you find yourself in the area, the grounds are open to walk around until dusk, while the Basilica and museum are open almost daily from 10- 4:30 pm.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) is the first native born United States citizen to be canonized, which means to be named a saint. She was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI. In 1991 the chapel, which was originally designed as the chapel for the sisters in the Daughters of Charity, was designated as a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II; it was already the national shrine prior to this.

So, I’m sure you have some questions:

1. What exactly did Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton do during her life to be canonized?

2. What is a basilica, it sounds like architectural jargon!?! It is….

Anyways, I’ll answer the easier of the two.

Who exactly was Mother Seton?

The shortened biography goes something like this…Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born in 1774 into an Anglican family in New York City. In 1794, she married William Magee Seton and they had five children. William was not in the greatest health and because of this he, Elizabeth, and their eldest child, Anna Marie, sailed to Italy for warmer weather believing this would help William’s health. William also had business partners in Italy, Filippo and Antonio Filicchi, who they planned to stay with.

Sadly, the warmer weather did not help. William passed away before the end of 1803. While in Italy though, Elizabeth was introduced to the Catholic faith through the Filicchi family. Upon returning to the United States, she converted to the Roman Catholic Faith in 1805. By 1808, she was traveling with her family and companions, to Emmitsburg to start a school for girls. She was successful in starting a school, St. Joseph’s Academy, which eventually morphed into Saint Joseph’s College. She also created the congregation of religious sisters called, the Sisters of Charity.

This is the Stone House, where Mother Seton, her children, and companions first lived when they moved to Emmitsburg to start a school. The home was constructed in 1750 and is also known as the Fleming farmhouse. The size of home today is almost double what Mother Seton and her companions lived in. When they first arrived, the home only consisted of 4 rooms and there were 16 people living in them, and they managed to have space for a temporary chapel in the same building.

This was the only photo I managed to take of this home. This house was constructed in 1810 after Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore visited Mother Seton and saw the condition of the Stone House they were living in. He did not like the conditions of the Stone House and directed that a new home be built for the group. This building is also known as St. Joseph’s House and would have been the original location for the academy.

The cemetery contains the graves of Sisters and Daughters of Charity, along with priests.

This little chapel was constructed after Mother Seton passed away in 1821. Her son, William, financed the construction. Mother Seton’s remains were here from 1846 until the 1960’s when they were moved to the basilica after her beatification.

This is the original gravestone for Mother Seton, the stones in front of her are for her family members that traveled to Emmitsburg with her.

This leads us to the other question.

What exactly is a basilica?

So historically a basilica was a type of large public building found in Rome. It was used for business or legal matters- not religious matters. It typically would have been a semi-circular space roofed with a half dome. Finally, when Christianity was no longer illegal in the Roman Empire in the 4^th century, Christians began to publicly construct basilicas. 

The most basic interior layout of the basilica would have consisted of:

Nave – This is the central aisle that religious processions walk down

Aisles– One on each side of the central nave

Apse– This is the location where the altar is, typically it is opposite of the main entrance

From this basic interior plan, a basilica can greatly vary. For example there could be transepts, which would go off of the outer aisles expanding the layout into a “cross” plan. There can also be differences in the ceiling vaults. Examples: the central nave has a ceiling that extends upwards another story allowing for windows while the ceilings above the aisles are not as tall OR the height of all three ceilings and their vaults are all similar in size meaning there might not be windows.

To confuse matters a little more, “basilica” can also refer to an ecclesiastical status for a church.

There are two rankings for basilicas with this type of status: major and minor.

There are only four major or papal basilicas, these are all located in Rome and have something called a “holy door” it’s a very specific type of door.

Then there are minor basilicas, these are churches, chapels, etc. that have been decreed by the acting Pope to be designated as a minor basilica (typically a Papal brief is issued). This allows that building the right to conopaeum, a specific type of canopy to be displayed. It’s red and gold and looks like an umbrella. There is also the right to display a bell called, tintinnabulum, and the cappa magna, which is a robe. All of these link the basilica to the Pope.

The basilica at Emmitsburg was completed in 1965 and the interior was made entirely by German and Italian craftsmen and artisans. I tried researching more on the architecture of the basilica but I could find nothing! The church is definitely Italianate in style. It’s beautiful.

The following are images from within the basilica for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. You should be able to “right click” on any of the images to open into a new page, this will allow you to slightly zoom into the images to see more details.

The central image is of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

This is an altar to Saint Louise de Marillac, who was a co-founder of the Daughters of Charity in France in 1633.

This is where Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s remains are located within the Basilica. The statue was sculpted in Italy and beneath the altar is a small copper casket that contains the saint’s remains. This has been enclosed in marble.

One final look down the Basilica.

I have written about one other basilica and that is located in Ottawa, Canada. It’s the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica in Ottawa was declared in minor basilica in 1879: https://adventurewithcourtney.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/st-patricks-day-historic-ads-and-buildings/

Stay tune for the next post on Gettysburg, which has a link to the Sisters of Charity!

Thanks for reading!

For More Information:

All of my information came from a handout I received at the Basilica and from the Shrine’s website. I attached the National Register nomination again because it does discuss the Stone House, the White House, and the cemetery. I can’t seem to conclude whether or not the Basilica is actually included in the district. I assume it is, but there’s no real information about the building and it’s construction, which is weird.

The National Shrine for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: https://setonshrine.org/

National Register Nomination: https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-355.pdf

Basilicas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica

Saint Joseph’s College

I spent last week in Emmitsburg, Maryland at the National Emergency Training Center for FEMA. It was a long and exciting week filled with excruciating travel days, beautiful historic buildings, and a trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania.

Since there was so much seen, I’ve split my initial post into four different topics: Saint Joseph’s College, the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the Gettysburg National Park, and how to survive airport layovers of up to 15 hours. So that means, keep a look out for those upcoming posts!

This is the Burlando Building, which was designed by E.G. Lind. When designing the building he took into account the architectural features of the Chapel located right next to the building such as the arches, pilasters, and brick.

I arrived in Emmitsburg, Maryland in the late afternoon last Sunday. I was asleep most of the bus ride that took me from Baltimore Airport to the training campus. The National Emergency Training Center is located on the former campus of Saint Joseph’s College. The college, originally the Saint Joseph’s Academy and Free School, was started shortly after Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton arrived in Emmitsburg in 1809. The academy was the first free parochial school for girls in the United States; officially it was incorporated as a school in 1816. It remained a school until 1973, during those years it changed names a number of times, and it was in 1902 that the school officially became a four-year liberal arts college for women. The college officially closed in 1973 and students and faculty merged with Mount Saint Mary’s University, which is located near Emmitsburg. The buildings and cemetery of the campus and the Mother Seton Shrine were listed in 1976 on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. In 1979, the Sisters of Charity, a religious order established by Mother Seton, sold the old campus to the FEMA. It was renamed the National Emergency Training Center in 1981.

The old campus buildings are a conglomerate of different architectural styles. I didn’t photograph every building, only the ones that were the most interesting to look at.

The photograph above is the Burlando Building constructed in 1870; it’s the most recognizable building on campus. I only was able to get a few exterior photos of the building because I never had enough time to get into the building. The building is considered to be a “provincial” example of the Second Empire Style, thanks to it’s prominent mansard roof! So…before I move on, “provincial,” not my word, this came from page two of the original National Register nomination (that’s listed below for you to check out).

When ever I see this word, I immediately think Beauty and the Beast and I want to break out in song! What it means or at least how it was used in the nomination for this district….is that it’s not “high-style,” so the building has some of the most common architectural features of a specific style but not all of the features to make it perfect prime example of what Second Empire Revival looks like.

This is the side facade of the Burlando Building. This side entrance leads into the campus library.

Right next to the Burlando Building is the Saint Joseph’s Chapel.

It took me two days to get into this building. The first attempt was after classes on Monday. Every damn door was locked. It’s not a usual thing when I can’t find a way into a building but when it does happen, I realize immediately how sketchy I look, systematically trying every door in the middle of the afternoon. It’s a good thing it wasn’t at night!

On an extreme side note, I always think that should I get stopped and questioned by law enforcement for looking sketchy outside of a locked building. I would just exclaim, “I’m a preservationist and this building DESERVES to be photographed…” and that would be more than enough and explain everything!

So anyways, since I couldn’t find a way into the Chapel, I checked out the “E” building on campus. This is the St. Vincent’s Hall, it seems to be connected to two other halls: Marillac and Seton. All three buildings were constructed between 1925-26 and are all Colonial Revival.

The interior of St. Vincent Hall is very intact, click through the photos to see.

This is in the entrance way into St. Vincent’s Hall

The auditorium is located on the second floor of St. Vincent’s Hall. It can seat over 400 people.

This is the oval medallion seen on the ceiling of the auditorium.

This is in the auditorium of St. Vincent’s Hall. It’s called a medallion and is a type of ornamentation seen on ceilings.

The next day I was able to get into the Chapel with some of my classmates. The Chapel was constructed in 1839 and in the National Register nomination papers, the chapel is considered to slightly be “Italianate” or even “Romanesque” in style because of the rounded arch windows. Mother Seton also asked that the church resemble the Tuscan architecture she had encountered while in Tuscany in the late 18^th century. The plans were drawn up by Rev. Thomas Butler. Today the chapel is the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Chapel.

There’s a small sundial in front of the Chapel!

St. Joseph’s Chapel was designated in 1999 as the National Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial Chapel and dedicated to the memory of Chief A. Marvin Gibbons, who had was the past president of the Maryland State Fireman’s Association.

There’s a nice cherry tree growing behind the Chapel. From this side of the chapel you can see more of the architectural features of the building. From this angle, it does look Italian or Tuscan or even Greek.

Hmmmmmm. Would I call this strictly a provincial type of “Italianate” or even “Romanesque”? No. Where are the Syrian arches? Joking. But really, where are they?!?

I think it would be more interesting and accurate to look at the Chapel as a combination of many different architectural elements inspired greatly by what Mother Seton wanted in 1839 and what was present in other Catholic churches in the early 19^th century. The Chapel, is obviously “provincial” and I think is combines a lot of architectural features that would have been commonly seen in the early 19^th century: the steeple is Wren-Gibbs inspired and there are rounded arches but those could be found on Greek Revival buildings or even Georgian Colonial structures. The building does give off an “Italian” feel but if it wasn’t constructed of brick and say, marble or another stone or even wood, would it still give that feeling…I don’t know.

I compiled a list of churches from roughly the same time frame that are considered either “Georgian Colonial” or “Greek Revival” that have comparable architectural features to the Saint Joseph’s Cathedral. There is one church that was constructed in the 20^th century and is considered to be “Colonial Revival.” This help shows that it’s not always easy to pin-point an architectural style. There’s also links to Wikipedia pages about

• St. Joseph’s Church, designed by John Doran, 1833-34, NYC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Joseph_in_Greenwich_Village
• St. John’s Catholic Church, 1845, Worchester,MA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Catholic_Church_(Worcester,_Massachusetts)
• Saint Paul’s Chapel, 1766, NYC https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/about/stpaulschapel
• University Presbyterian Church, North and Sheldon’s, 1928, Buffalo (Colonial Revival) http://www.buffaloah.com/a/main/3330/ext.html

Romanesque Revival: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesque_Revival_architecture

Italianate Architecture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italianate_architecture

Let me know what you think about the architectural style of the Chapel below in the comments.

Make sure to check in tomorrow to read the next post about my trip to Emmitsburg. We’re going to learn about the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, which is located right next door to the National Emergency Training Center.

Thanks for reading!

Further Information:

National Register Nomination for Saint Joseph College: https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-355.pdf

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Chapel:

https://www.firehero.org/fallen-firefighters/memorial-park/national-fallen-firefighters-memorial-chapel/

St. Patrick’s Day: Historic Ads and Buildings

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

In honor of the holiday, I thought I’d share some finds from local sources on NYS Historic Newspapers related to St. Patrick’s Day!

An advertisement cashing in on the holiday to sell dry cleaning. This advertisement was seen in the “Courier Freeman”, Wednesday, March 3, 1915.

The following is a poem that was printed in Ogdensburg’s The Daily Journal on March 17, 1869.

This is a poem about St. Patrick’s Day that was printed in Ogdensburg’s, “The Daily Journal” on March 17, 1869.

This is the second part of the poem.

The poem and advertisement were found just by searching, “saint patrick’s day” for St. Lawrence County in the search engine of the NYS Historic Newspapers: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/. If you live in New York State, see if you can find some cool articles or advertisements for the holiday in your area!

On that, you didn’t think you’d get through a post without any buildings, did you?

This wouldn’t be a preservation adventure blog if I didn’t have some photos of architecture to share!

So, last weekend I traveled to Ottawa with my friends, Nate and Logan. While we were in the capital of Canada, we checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica , which is located on Sussex Drive across from the National Art Gallery.

The front facade of the Basilica. The cornerstone was laid in 1841 but the building was officially completed until 1885. During the construction, there were many changes to the plans, most importantly the architectural style was changed from Neoclassical to Neo-Gothic. The steeple of the church are clad in tin, which is a feature seen in French-Canadian churches.

The interior of the Basilica is very ornate and brightly colored. Click through the photographs below for more history and information about the structure.

The interior of the Basilica was planned by Canon Georges Bouillon. A team of craftsmen, sculptors, and carpenters made the plans a reality. The ceiling is based on 16th century Gothic Style and the stars are gold-leaf. It was restored in 1999!

The main altar is 52 feet high and seeped in Gothic ornamentation. It consists of three arches with reliefs of the Nativity, Jesus teaching, and the Resurrection. Surrounding the main altar are large wooden statues of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and saints.

A close-up of some of the statues in the sanctuary. There are a total of 30 statues and they were the work of three significant Canadian sculptors: Louis-Philippe Hebert, Pierre Rochon, and Philippe Parizeau.

A view of right side altar: The Blessed Virgin or also called the Altar of the Immaculate Conception; it was completed in 1885. In this photo you can see some of the narrow columns that are in the Basilica, they are all decoratively painted to look like stone. The statue seen here is of St. Anne holding Mary as a child.

So many Gothic Arches in this church! The first organ for the church was installed in 1850; carved in 1871 by Flavien Rochon. This organ was replaced in 1892 with a new organ built by Casavant & Co. That organi has been reconstructed and repaired multiple times, most recently in 1998 to recreate the organ as it would have sounded in 1892.

The first stained glass windows were installed in 1879. Other stained glass windows were installed in the 1950’s by Guido Nincheri of Montreal. These are some of those windows installed in the 1950’s.

This is a view of the right side aisle and the vaulting beneath the upper gallery.

This is a view of one of the stained glass windows seen in the aisle right to the nave (the center aisle of the church). You can also see the details of the ceiling vaults beneath the upper gallery.

So outside of the Basilica there was some interesting local architecture on a certain street. Can you guess the name of the street that runs alongside the Basilica?

If you guessed St. Patrick Street- you’re right!

Here are some of the cool buildings located on St. Patrick Street of Ottawa located in the Byward Market District.

This is 138 St. Patrick Street, named the Rochon Residence. This was the home of Pierre Rochon, who was one of the Canadian sculptors working on the church across the street. The home might have been built as early as 1832, is 1 1/2 stories tall and the architecture of the home is considered to be the traditional house style of Lower Town in Ottawa.

This building is located at 142-144 St. Patrick Street; it’s located right next to the Rochon Residence. Both homes are listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. This home was constructed in 1866 for Dr. Francois-Xavier Valade, a Lower Town doctor. It combines both British elements (front entrance, high dormers) with French-Canadian architectural elements (casement windows, the stonework, the balcony, asymmetrical massing).

I couldn’t find any information about the history of this building. It is a Victorian era home and has some pretty neat Eastlake style elements with the roof line and the second story balcony. The building is currently the home of a art gallery: Jean Claude Bergeron.

Again, I have no information about the history of this building but it has some cool architectural elements such as the glass bricks in the center and the brick designs above that igivng it a Streamline Moderne vibe. Based on those elements, the building was probably constructed in the late 1920’s-30’s

Hopefully this inspires you to go check out your local “St. Patrick’s Street.”

Thanks for reading! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

Further Information:

Rochon Residence: http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4720

Valada Residence: http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=4729

150 St. Patrick Street: http://galeriejeanclaudebergeron.ca/en/

Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica: https://notredameottawa.com/history

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8448&pid=0

Cupolas!?! What is this Jargon!?!?!

I realized the other day it’s been months since we’ve talked about architectural jargon! So guess what we’re looking at today. Some jargon found frequently in preservation talk.

Today is being brought to us by the word….druuuummmm roooolllllll pleeeessseeee…..

Cupola!

Though, you might have already guessed that though based on this post’s title. 

So anyways, you’re probably wondering what in good Italianate graces is a cupola?

Well here are some official definitions:

A History of American Architecture, Mark Gerlenter, 2001 edition, Pg. 322.

“A small tower-like element, often with a round or polygonal base and a domed roof, which accents the roof of a building.”

“The Historical Architecture of Vermont: Guide to Vermont Architecture,” Curtis B. Johnson, editor and Elsa Gilbertson, Principal Author, published by: the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, 1996, Pg. 25.

“Small decorative structure crowning the roof ridge, and usually used for ventilation.”

This is my definition, combining the above info with some other stuff I found online:

A cupola is a small tower-like structure that can be found on the roof of a building. The word “cupola” is derived from the Italian word cupula, which means small cup. The architectural feature can be round, square, or polygonal in shape. It typically has windows and can help with ventilation, especially in barns. Cupolas may also serve as a belfry (bell tower), a belvedere (a point to look out), or a roof lantern (provides natural light). Sometimes cupolas may be atop of a spire, tower, or another dome.

They are seen as a decorative element in the following architectural styles: Italianate, Octagon, Second Empire, and Greek Revival.

Let’s check out some images I have of cupolas!

This is one of 23 buildings located at the Scott Farm Orchard in Dummerston, Vermont. The lovely ladies in the photo are former classmates when I was at UVM. The Orchard is owned and operated by the Landmark Trust USA, which is an offshoot of the Landmark Trust UK. Scott Farm Orchard was used in the filming of the film, The Cider House Rules. The Landmark Trust has a preservation philosophy of restoring their properties with traditional skills and methods, along with sustaining their buildings as “living history.” That means their properties can be rented for vacations or events; the orchards are open from Labor Day to Thanksgiving. The cupola on this barn can be seen in the center of the barn and is there for ventilation purposes. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This fancy looking Victorian house with some Italianate features is located in Amherst, Massachusetts. The home was constructed in 1864 by Leonard Mariner Hills and given in 1922 to the Woman’s Club by Alice Maud Hills. The cupola on this home also has windows and most likely is there to serve as a belvedere, to look out at the surrounding land. The Woman’s Club is located down the street from the Emily Dickinson Museum.

This is “The Homestead” of the Emily Dickinson Museum. It was built by her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, in 1813. It most likely was the first brick building in Amherst, MA and originally the home would have been in the Federal style. The home was sold in the 1830’s to David Mack. Emily, her parents, and siblings still lived at the home though; they eventually moved out. David Mack added Greek Revival architectural features to the home, which would have been in vogue at the time. In 1855, the home was for sale and Edward Dickinson, Emily’s father, jumped at the opportunity to purchase the family home. It was the late 1850’s, that the Dickinson family added the Italianate cupola to the roof, along with a number of other features including a veranda. The museum is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

This next example, is the only one I had in my collection of photos for Northern New York:

This is the Octagon House located in Brasher Falls, NY. When I was younger, I lived down the street from this house. The home is the only surviving octagon style house in St. Lawrence County. It was constructed between 1855-1857 for Dr. Nathan Buck, who was the first physician in the town; eventually the home was owned by the Stevens Family, who were also early settlers of Brasher Falls. The architectural style was popular for a short time in the 1840’s-1850’s and was promoted by Orson Squire Fowler, who wrote a book on how great octagon shaped houses were. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This is just a close-up of the cupola of the Octagon House. It too, is shaped like an octagon.

Here are some more examples from Canada and Saratoga Springs:

The Sydenham Public School is located in Kingston, Ontario. It was originally opened in 1853 as the Kingston County Grammar School. It had two classrooms and could accommodate 100 students on each floor! In 876, the building was damaged by a fire but it was rebuilt and expanded. In the 1890’s it became a primary school and eventually renamed after Lord Sydenham, who was the Governor General of British North America in 1839. The building has Gothic Revival elements and a cupola in the center of it’s roof, which would have probably helped with ventilation. The really awesome thing about this building is that it still is a functioning school. Making it the oldest known structure in Ontario still used as a school!

This is a view of the backside of Kingston, Ontario’s City Hall. It was completed in 1844 and was designed by George Browne. The structure is considered a Neoclassical styled building. When this building was constructed, Kingston was actually the capital of the United Province of Canada, still under British rule. In the photo you can see the dome with a cupola on top of that and to the right there is another cupola. In the summer months the square/courtyard behind the City Hall is used for a farmer’s market and antique market, which can be seen happening here.

This is the home and carriage barn located at 198 Nelson Avenue in Saratoga Springs. You can seen that the carriage barn has a cupola with windows, which would allow natural light from above into the barn. It looks like the building might have been remodeled into an apartment on the second floor with a parking garage below.

So those are some examples of cupolas. As you can see they can range in design and look great on a variety of buildings!

If you have any comments, thoughts, or ideas about cupolas or other architectural jargon, let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

For Further Information On Any of the Above Properties:

Wikipedia’s page on cupolas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupola

Scott Farm Orchard: http://scottfarmvermont.com/

http://landmarktrustusa.org/about-us/restoration-philosophy/

Sydesham Public School: http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/CMSImages/87/87108867-1a3b-4160-878b-a204681c3804.pdf

Kingston, Ontario City Hall: https://www.cityofkingston.ca/explore/culture-history/history/city-hall

Emily Dickinson House and Museum: https://emilydickinsonmuseum.org/homestead

Brasher Falls Octagon House: http://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/slcha/id/235

The National Register Nomination for the home can be found at: https://cris.parks.ny.gov/ under St. Lawrence County and the town of Brasher Falls.

Amherst Woman’s Club: http://amherstwomansclub.org/