Mary Fisk Stoughton House
Encyclopedia
The Mary Fiske Stoughton House at 90 Brattle Street
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, is a National Historic Landmark and an icon of American architecture. Henry Hobson Richardson
designed the house in 1882 in what is now called the Shingle Style
, with a minimum of ornament and shingles stretching over the building's irregular volumes like a skin.
Soon after its completion, art critic George William Sheldon wrote, "few cottages of equal dimensions were ever planned, in this country or abroad, which show better results in point of convenience, spaciousness, and architectural purity." In the 20th century, architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock
wrote, "This is one of his [Richardson's] most successful works and is, perhaps, the best suburban wooden house in America. It is comparable only to the finest of Frank Lloyd Wright's."
Mrs. Stoughton's son, the philosopher John Fiske, made major alterations in 1900: expanding the kitchen wing westward, and the whole rear of the house southward.
A 1925 alteration created a new kitchen as a projecting bay to the front facade, and a 3rd story was added to the east facade's bay window. Sometime after 1969, the kitchen wing was altered again, with the 1900 and 1925 kitchens merged and converted into a garage.
The house was added to the National Historic Register in 1989.
Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, called the "King's Highway" or "Tory Row" before the American Revolutionary War, is the site of many buildings of historic interest, including the modernist glass-and-concrete building that housed the Design Research store,and a Georgian mansion where...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, is a National Historic Landmark and an icon of American architecture. Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson
Henry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
designed the house in 1882 in what is now called the Shingle Style
Shingle Style architecture
The Shingle style is an American architectural style made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style in Queen Anne architecture....
, with a minimum of ornament and shingles stretching over the building's irregular volumes like a skin.
Soon after its completion, art critic George William Sheldon wrote, "few cottages of equal dimensions were ever planned, in this country or abroad, which show better results in point of convenience, spaciousness, and architectural purity." In the 20th century, architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock
Henry-Russell Hitchcock
Henry-Russell Hitchcock was the leading American architectural historian of his generation. A long-time professor at Smith College and New York University, he is best known for writings that helped to define Modern architecture.-Biography:...
wrote, "This is one of his [Richardson's] most successful works and is, perhaps, the best suburban wooden house in America. It is comparable only to the finest of Frank Lloyd Wright's."
Mrs. Stoughton's son, the philosopher John Fiske, made major alterations in 1900: expanding the kitchen wing westward, and the whole rear of the house southward.
A 1925 alteration created a new kitchen as a projecting bay to the front facade, and a 3rd story was added to the east facade's bay window. Sometime after 1969, the kitchen wing was altered again, with the 1900 and 1925 kitchens merged and converted into a garage.
The house was added to the National Historic Register in 1989.
External links
- Stoughton House photos at Historic American Buildings Survey
- Stoughton House history at Historic American Buildings Survey