Asa Gray House

Last updated

Asa Gray House
Asa Gray House, Cambridge, Massachusetts.JPG
Asa Gray House.
Location88 Garden St., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°22′58.7″N71°7′40.8″W / 42.382972°N 71.128000°W / 42.382972; -71.128000
Arealess than one acre
Built1810
Architect Ithiel Town
NRHP reference No. 66000655
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [1]
Designated NHLJanuary 12, 1965 [2]

The Asa Gray House, recorded in an HABS survey as the Garden House, is a historic house at 88 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. A National Historic Landmark, it is notable architecturally as the earliest known work of the designer and architect Ithiel Town, and historically as the residence of several Harvard College luminaries. Its most notable occupant was Asa Gray (1810–88), a leading botanist who published the first complete work on American flora, and was a vigorous defender of the Darwinian theory of evolution.

Contents

History

The Gray House was designed in 1810 by architect Ithiel Town, whose earliest known work it is. It was built for the zoologist William Dandridge Peck, and originally stood at the corner of Garden and Linnaean Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the grounds of the Harvard College Botanical Garden. Subsequent occupants included botanist Thomas Nuttall and Harvard presidents James Walker and Jared Sparks. Asa Gray purchased the house in 1842 and moved in during the summer of 1844, [3] after receiving an appointment to a professorship at Harvard that he would hold for 45 years. Already a rising star in the world of botany, Gray in 1848 published The General of the Plants of the United States, which was not only groundbreaking for the content, but also in its presentation. His discovery of relationships between plants of North America and East Asia was influential in the growth of the field of plant geography. His highly public defense of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species gained him widespread attention in the public sphere. [4]

The Gray House was purchased in 1910 by Allen Cox, who moved it to its present address the same year. Gardner Cox (one of Allen's children and a well known artist in Boston, converted the attached carriage house into an art studio). Benjamin (an executive) & Liz Shepherd (a sculptor and printmaker) bought the house in 1999 and restored it. They were awarded a Restoration Award for their work by the Cambridge Historical Commission in 2001. They restored the art studio in 2006. It is still a private residence, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. [2] [4]

Architecture

The house has a rectangular main block, measuring 40 by 36 feet (12 m × 11 m), with a side ell that is about 24 feet (7.3 m) square. When first built, it was attached to a plant conservatory that was also designed by Town. The house is two stories tall and five bays wide, with a hip roof surrounded by a low balustrade. The main facade is flushboarded, with pilasters at the corners; the other sides of the house are sheathed in clapboards. The cornice on the main block is dentillated; that on the ell is plain. The main entrance is centered on the front facade, with sidelight windows on either side and a fanlight window above. The entry is sheltered by a portico supported by clustered square columns; this portico is a replacement to the original, made when the house was moved. There is a secondary entrance in the ell, which is sheltered by a closed-in porch dating to c. 1920. At the rear of the house is an addition, roughly dating to the move but extended later, which incorporates a formerly-external shed into the house. [4]

The interior of the house follows a typical Federal-period center hall plan, with the central hall divided into front and rear sections (each with a staircase) by a doorway with a fanlight. There are two rooms on either side of the central hall. The woodwork in the public spaces is not particularly elaborate, with simple cornice moldings and fireplace surrounds, and flared moldings around the windows. The downstairs room of the ell served as Asa Gray's study, and includes a number of wood-frame display cases lining one wall. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asa Gray</span> American botanist (1810–1888)

Asa Gray is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His Darwiniana was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually exclusive. Gray was adamant that a genetic connection must exist between all members of a species. He was also strongly opposed to the ideas of hybridization within one generation and special creation in the sense of its not allowing for evolution. He was a strong supporter of Darwin, although Gray's theistic evolution was guided by a Creator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Wadsworth Russell House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Samuel Russell House is a neoclassical house at 350 High Street in Middletown, Connecticut, built in 1828 to a design by architect Ithiel Town. Many architectural historians consider it to be one of the finest Greek Revival mansions in the northeastern United States. Town's client was Samuel Russell (1789-1862), the founder of Russell & Company, the largest and most important American firm to do business in the China trade in the 19th century, and whose fortunes were primarily based on smuggling illegal and addictive opium into China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickels-Sortwell House</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Nickels-Sortwell House is a historic house museum at 121 Main Street in Wiscasset, Maine, United States. Built in 1807 by a wealthy ship's captain, the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as an exceptionally high-quality example of the Federal style of architecture. After serving as a hotel for much of the 19th century, the house returned to private hands in 1900. It was given to Historic New England in 1958, which gives tours of the house between May and October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Hastings House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Oliver Hastings House is a historic house Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a National Historic Landmark, noted as an excellent example of Greek Revival architecture. It was the home of Oliver Hastings, a local builder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Baldwin House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Maria Baldwin House is a National Historic Landmark located at 196 Prospect Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The house is the northern half of a 19th-century two-family house, notable for its associations with educator Maria Louise Baldwin (1856–1922). It was her home when she served as the first female African-American principal in a Massachusetts school at Cambridge's Agassiz Grammar School. As the schoolmaster, she supervised 12 teachers, all white, who presided over a 98% white student body. The Agassiz School has since been renamed the Maria Baldwin School in her honor. The Baldwin House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parker Cleaveland House</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Parker Cleaveland House is a historic house at 75 Federal Street in Brunswick, Maine. It was the home, from 1806 to 1858, of Parker Cleaveland (1780–1858), a mineralogist and a professor at nearby Bowdoin College. While he was a professor at Bowdoin College, Cleaveland conducted some of the earliest studies of mineralogy in the United States. His 1816 work Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology, which included a volume on types and localities of American minerals, became the standard textbook on the subject in American higher education and the model for future mineralogy scholarship and publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLellan-Sweat Mansion</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The McLellan-Sweat Mansion is a historic house museum on High Street in Portland, Maine. It forms the rear component of the Portland Museum of Art complex. Built in 1800–01, the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as a well-preserved Federal style brick townhouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Story House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Joseph Story House is a historic house facing the Salem Common in Salem, Massachusetts. Built in 1811, this house was home from then until his death of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Joseph Story (1779–1845), a leading jurist of the time, and an influential figure in the early years of Harvard Law School. A well-preserved example of Federal architecture executed in brick, it is a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardner–Pingree House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Gardner–Pingree House is a historic house museum at 128 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts. It is judged to be a masterpiece of Federal architecture by the noted Salem builder Samuel McIntire, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972 for its architectural significance. It is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum as part of its architectural collection, and is open to the public for guided tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark Houses</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Clark Houses are historic houses in Natick, Massachusetts. The houses were built in 1870 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Beard House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Benjamin Beard House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1850s, it is a well-preserved example of a distinctive local variant of Greek Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Daniels Cottage</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Blake Daniels Cottage is a historic house at 111–113 Elm Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built in 1860, it is a good example of a Greek Revival worker's residence, with an older wing that may have housed the manufactory of shoe lasts. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caleb Wiley House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Caleb Wiley House is a historic house at 125 North Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built c. 1826, this 2+12-story wood-frame house is one of Stonham's best-preserved late Federal period houses. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Goulding House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Henry Goulding House is an historic house at 26 Harvard Street in Worcester, Massachusetts< USA. Built in 1850-51 for a major local industrialist, it is one of the city's most opulent Italianate houses. In 1921, the house became the Swedish Lutheran Home for the Aged after the Goulding heirs gave it to the Swedish Lutheran Church of Worcester. The house was owned by Lutheran Social Services, Inc. in 1980 when the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is now owned by the Sheehan Health Group and is operated as the Lutheran Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East 80th Street Houses</span> Historic houses in Manhattan, New York

The East 80th Street Houses are a group of four attached rowhouses on that street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They are built of brick with various stone trims in different versions of the Colonial Revival architectural style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiddenhurst</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Hiddenhurst is the former estate of businessman Thomas Hidden, on Sheffield Hill Road in the Town of North East, New York, United States, south of the village of Millerton. It is an elaborate frame house built at the beginning of the 20th century in the neo-Georgian architectural style.

The Mann House is a historic house at 422 Forrest Street in Forrest City, Arkansas. Designed by Charles L. Thompson and built in 1913, it is one of the firm's finest examples of Colonial Revival architecture. The front facade features an imposing Greek temple portico with two-story Ionic columns supporting a fully pedimented gable with dentil molding. The main entrance, sheltered by this portico, is flanked by sidelight windows and topped by a fanlight transom with diamond-pattern lights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John W. Busiel House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The John W. Busiel House is a historic house at 30 Church Street in Laconia, New Hampshire. It was built in 1865 by John W. Busiel, owner of a local textile mill. It is now, as it was at the time of its construction, one of the finest 19th-century houses in the city, and is an excellent and little-altered example of Second Empire style. Since 1905 it has served as the rectory for the St. Joseph Roman Catholic church. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruggles House (Maine)</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

Ruggles House is a historic house museum at 146 Main Street in Columbia Falls, Maine. Built from 1818 to 1820, in Adamesque style, it is noted for its flying staircase and handcrafted woodwork. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheeler-Beecher House</span> United States historic place

The Wheeler-Beecher House is a historic house at 562 Amity Road in Bethany, Connecticut. Built in 1807, it is a good example of Federal period architecture, designed by New Haven architect David Hoadley. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Asa Gray House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
  3. Dupree, A. Hunter (1988). Asa Gray, American Botanist, Friend of Darwin. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 134. ISBN   978-0-801-83741-8.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Polly M. Rettig and S. Sydney Bradford (December 9, 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Asa Gray House" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1867 and 1963  (32 KB)

Images