Bedford Block

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Bedford Block
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Location Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′11.44″N71°3′29.04″W / 42.3531778°N 71.0580667°W / 42.3531778; -71.0580667
Built1875
ArchitectCharles Amos Cummings; Willard T. Sears
Architectural style Venetian Gothic
NRHP reference No. 79000368 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 21, 1979

The Bedford Block is an historic commercial building at 99 Bedford Street Boston, Massachusetts, in an area called Church Green. Built in 1875 in a style promoted by John Ruskin called Venetian Gothic. The style may also be referred to as Ruskinian Gothic. [2]

Contents

It was designed by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears for Henry and Francis Lee [3] as a retail shoe center in an area that had been destroyed by the Great Boston Fire of 1872. [4] The building was added to the National Historic Register in 1979. Building was renovated in 1983 in conjunction with the Bay-Bedford Company. [2]

The Bedford Block's exterior is constructed of polychromatic bands of New Brunswick red granite, Tuckahoen marble, and pressed terra-cotta panels manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [2] [5] It was the first building after the Great Fire to use New Brunswick red granite as a material. [4]

The first floor features rough rustic blocks. Upper floor details include arched bay windows, Viollet-le-Duc inspired iron balconets [4] and flat column pilasters. [2] Each roof gable is topped with a finial crown. [2] There is a glazed tile clock is located in a 5-story tower at the corner of Bedford and Summer streets.

See also

Footnotes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Susan Southworth; Michael Southworth (2008). AIA Guide to Boston (3rd ed.). Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot. ISBN   978-0-7627-4337-7.
  3. Richard M. Candee; Naomi Miller; et al. (2009). Morgan, Keith N. (ed.). Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston.. University of Virginia Press. p. 71. ISBN   978-0-8139-2709-1.
  4. 1 2 3 Mary Melvin Petronella; Edward W. Gordon (2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours . UPNE. pp.  58. ISBN   978-1-55553-605-3.
  5. Richard M. Candee; Naomi Miller; et al. (2009). Morgan, Keith N. (ed.). Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston.. University of Virginia Press. p. 72. ISBN   978-0-8139-2709-1.

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