Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/656

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

ARCHITECTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. " ISuilt ill the old Colonial clay, When men lived in a grander way, With ampler hospitality : A kind of old Hobgoblin Hall, Now somewhat fallen to decay. With weather stains upon the wall And stairways, worn and crazy doors, And creaking and uneven floors. And chimneys huge, and tiled and tall." — LoNGFEi.LOwr. The study of the progress of architecture in a new country, untrammelled with precedent and lacking the conditions obtaining in Europe, is interesting ; but room is not available for more than a cursory glance. During the eighteenth century (1725- 1775) buildings were erected which have been termed ^ coloniaV in style, corresponding to what is understood in England as " Queen Anne " or " Georgian " (page 578). In the " New England " States wood was the material principally employed, and largely affected the detail. Craigie House, Cambridge, (1757), is typical of the symmetrical buildings. It has elongated Ionic half-columns to its fa9ade, shuttered sash windows, the hipped roof and the dentil cornice of the "Queen Anne" period; the internal fittings resembling those of Adam and Sheraton. The early buildings were mainly churches or " meeting houses," erected after the manner of Sir Christopher Wren. S. Michael at Charlestown (1752) (the probable architect being Gibbs, the designer of the Radcliffe Library at Oxford), S. Paul, New York (lyGy), Christ Church, Philadelphia (1727-1735), were among the early churches. In Virginia, as at Brandon, Shirley, and Maryland, the homes of the tobacco planters, many of the best examples of country houses were erected. Independence Hall, Philadelphia (1729-1735), the Old State House at ]:>oston (1747), and the Toh>n Hall at Ncuport are other well-known buildings. The Spanish rule in Florida and California is responsible for