Chapter I: Foreword

It is the purpose of this volume to set forth a brief history and an analysis of the architecture of Colonial America, in such wise that they may be of interest and value both to the general reader and to the architect.

The subject will be treated with reference to the close connexion existing between architecture and the social and economic circumstances of the period, so that some additional light may fall upon the daily conditions of life among our forefathers. At the same time, there will be a careful critical analysis of the origin and development of the several seventeenth and eighteenth century styles that have left us so wealthy an architectural heritage, an heritage based upon a groundwork of traditions brought across the Atlantic by the early craftsmen and artisans.

Such an analysis, it is hoped, will materially contribute to a broader appreciation of our possessions and will not be without value in the interpretation of modern buildings in which the traditions of the past have been perpetuated. Perhaps it is not too much to hope that a more exact knowledge of early achievements may even supply a measure of inspiration and guidance to those who purpose building homes for themselves.

In thanking those who have so courteously assisted in the preparation of this book, acknowledgment must first of all be made to Miss Mary Harrod Northend, to whose suggestion the undertaking was entirely due, and whose illustrations have, in large measure, made it possible of realisation. The author gratefully records his indebtedness also to Messrs. J. B. Lippincott Company, of Philadelphia, for permission to use a number of illustrations of Pennsylvania houses that appeared in “The Colonial Homes of Philadelphia and its Neighbourhood”, by H. D. Eberlein and H. M. Lippincott, and likewise for permission to reproduce an illustration of the Adam Thoroughgood house from “Historic Virginia Homes and Churches”, by Robert A. Lancaster, Jr.; to the _Architectural Record_ for permission to incorporate, in chapters IV, VIII and XI, parts of papers contributed to that magazine; to Dr. George W. Nash of Old Hurley, for generous assistance in supplying many illustrations drawn from a wide geographical area; to H. L. Duhring, Jr., of Philadelphia, for suggestions that bore important fruit in the progress of the work and for the illustration of the Saal at Ephrata; to Messrs. R. A. Lancaster, Jr., G. C. Callahan and Joseph Everett Chandler for sundry items of assistance; to the Librarian and staff of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and to the Librarian and staff of the Pennsylvania Historical Society for continued courtesies while the following pages were in course of preparation, to the _Brickbuilder_, to Mr. Edmund C. Evans and, finally, to Messrs. Horace Mather Lippincott and Philip B. Wallace for valuable help in the matter of photographs.

HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN.

PHILADELPHIA, August, 1915.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTORY 1

II. THE DUTCH COLONIAL TYPE, 1613-1820 14

III. THE COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF NEW ENGLAND 38

IV. PRE-GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES 57

V. THE COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUTH 77

VI. THE GEORGIAN MODE IN NEW ENGLAND 99

VII. GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE IN NEW YORK 113

VIII. PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE GEORGIAN, 1720-1805 120

IX. THE GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUTH 156

X. THE POST-COLONIAL PERIOD AND THE CLASSIC REVIVAL 166

XI. PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF THE COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL PERIODS 182

XII. CHURCHES OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD 205

XIII. MATERIALS AND TEXTURES 236

XIV. EARLY AMERICAN ARCHITECTS AND THEIR RESOURCES 252

INDEX 275

LIST OF PLATES

Doorway of Wyck, Germantown, Philadelphia. 1690 _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

Senate House, Kingston-on-Hudson, N.Y. 1676 4

Ward House, near Salem, Mass. 4

House at Yorktown, Va. 5

Exterior of the Lee House, Marblehead, Mass. 1768 5

Laurel Hill, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. 1762 10

Pingree or White Portico, Salem, Mass. 10

Typical Houses, Old Hurley, N.Y. 11

Elmendorf House, Old Hurley, N.Y. 11

Van Deusen House, Old Hurley, N.Y. 16

Hallway, Van Deusen House 16

Hoffman House, Kingston-on-Hudson, N.Y. 17

Characteristic Old Dutch House, Kingston-on-Hudson, N.Y. 17

Ackerman (Brinckerhoff) House, Hackensack, N.J. 1704 24

Verplanck House, near Fishkill Landing, N.Y. 24

Hall, Bowne House, Flushing, Long Island, N.Y. 25

Dining Room, Van Cortlandt Manor House, Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. 25

House of Seven Gables, Salem, Mass. 1669 40

Fairbanks House, Dedham, Mass. 1636 40

Whipple House, Ipswich, Mass. 41

Paul Revere House, Street Front, after Restoration. 1676 46

Paul Revere House. Great Room, Ground Floor 47

Doten House, Plymouth, Mass. 1640 52

Narbonne House, Salem, Mass. 52

Wynnestay, Philadelphia. 1689 53

South Front of Wyck, Germantown, Philadelphia. 1690 53

Little Tavern at Ionic and American Streets, Philadelphia. 1692 60

William Penn House, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia 60

Gloria Dei Glebe House 61

Oldest House in Dover, Dela. 61

Quaker Alms House, Philadelphia 66

London (Bradford’s) Coffee House, Philadelphia. 1702 66

Old Philadelphia Court House. 1707 67

Merion Meeting House, Pennsylvania. 1695 74

Moravian Sisters’ House, Bethlehem, Pa. c. 1748 75

The Saal, Ephrata, Pa. 75

Adam Thoroughgood House, Princess Anne County, Va. c. 1740 88

Governour Eden House, Edenton, N.C. 88

House at Yorktown, Va. 89

“Hospital” House, Yorktown, Va. 89

House of Hon. John Blair, Williamsburg, Va. 98

Carey House, Williamsburg, Va. 98

Royall House, Medford, Mass. 1732 99

Lee House, Marblehead, Mass. 1768 99

Royall House. West Doorway 100

Royall House. Doorway in West Parlour 100

Lee House. Banquet Room 101

Lee House. Stairway 101

Lee House. Fireplace 104

Lee House. Wall Paper 104

Macphaedris-Warner House, Portsmouth, N.H. 1723 105

Dummer Mansion, Byfield, Mass. _c._ 1715 105

Doorway, Dummer House 108

The Lindens. Stair and Hall. _c._ 1770 109

Wentworth House. Hall and Stair 109

Parson Williams House, Deerfield, Mass. 1707 112

Van Cortlandt House, Van Cortlandt Park, N.Y. 113

Philipse Manor House, Yonkers, N.Y. 1683 116

Fraunce’s Tavern, Broad Street, New York City 117

Window Detail, Van Cortlandt House 118

Philipse House, near Tarrytown, N.Y. 118

Waynesborough, Paoli, Pa. 1724 119

Graeme Park, Horsham, Pa. 1721 119

Graeme Park, South Front 120

Hope Lodge, Whitemarsh Valley. 1723 120

Great Parlour, Graeme Park 121

Hallway, Hope Lodge 121

Whitby Hall, North Front, Kingsessing, Philadelphia. 1754 128

Stairway, Whitby Hall 128

Whitby Hall, South Front 129

Mantel Detail, Whitby Hall 129

Cliveden, Germantown, Philadelphia. 1761 140

Mantel in Parlour, Mount Pleasant, Philadelphia. 1761 141

The Woodlands, South Front. Philadelphia, _c._ 1770 141

The Woodlands, North Front 146

The Highlands, Whitemarsh Valley, Pa. 1796 146

Homewood, near Baltimore 147

Harwood, Annapolis. 1774 160

Brice House, Annapolis. 1740 160

Shirley, James River, Va. 161

Westover, James River, Va. 161

Carter’s Grove, Va. 1728 164

Andalusia on the Delaware, Pennsylvania. 1794-1832 165

Old Maritime Exchange, Philadelphia 165

Andrew Safford Porch, Salem, Mass. 176

Interior Doorway, Nichols House, Salem, Mass. 176

The Capitol at Washington 177

Girard College, Philadelphia 177

Window Detail, House in Philadelphia 180

Door Detail, House in Philadelphia 180

State House, Philadelphia, South Front. 1733 181

Hallway, State House, Philadelphia 181

Faneuil Hall, Boston. 1741 188

Independence Room, State House, Philadelphia 188

Old State House, Boston 189

Bulfinch State House, Boston 194

New York City Hall 194

Old Pine Street Market, Philadelphia 195

Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia 195

Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia 204

Black Horse Inn Yard, Philadelphia 204

Bruton Parish Church, Williamsburg, Va. 1714 205

Old South Church, Boston. 1730 210

King’s Chapel, Boston 210

Christ Church, Philadelphia. 1727 211

St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia. 1761 211

Gloria Dei (Old Swedes), Philadelphia. 1700 220

St. Luke’s Church, Smithfield, Va. 1632 220

Old Ship Church, Hingham, Mass. 221

Sleepy Hollow Church, Irvington, N.Y. 221

THE ARCHITECTURE OF COLONIAL AMERICA