Fleeting Clouds

The Intercontinental Hotel in Boston has an ever-changing glass surface that is fun to photograph.
Happy Monochrome Monday!

Thursday is "This Old House" Day

Today's "old house" is my favorite Romanesque "house of knowledge" designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, funded by the Crane family, and dedicated in 1880.  It is Quincy's magnificent winter castle.  It is one of the 150 favorite works of Great Buildings Online and you can read an excellent account of this H.H. Richardson library masterpiece HERE.

Travel Tuesday: Concord, New Hampshire

The Concord Public Library seen here, was erected at the end of the Art Deco movement or about 1940.  It is an unusual architectural style for Concord.  The main entrance is a magnificent.

Holy Domes

The Christian Science Mother church and reflecting pool on an overcast day.

Travel Tuesday: Springfield, Massachusetts

The U.S. Federal Courthouse in Springfield, Massachusetts, designed by the renowned Moshe Safdie, was completed in 2008 for $53 million dollars.  I would like to photograph this modern ediface at dusk.

Quincy's Guggenheim

Quincy has its own Guggenheim . . . sort of . . .the Quincy Adams train station.    Happy Monochrome Monday!

Elizabethan Quincy

This Tudor/Jacobethan Revival Adams Building in Quincy Center was designed by William J. Beal in 1880, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Thursday is "This Old House" Day

Today's old house was built in 1910, and is located on Bellevue Road in the Squantum section of Quincy.  This Prairie-Bungalow style house may have been built to function as a summer house that was well situated to catch the cool breezes off Quincy Bay.

Our Navy's Long History

In 1832, Alexander Parris designed this granite block building that now houses the museum for the U.S. Frigate Constitution anchored nearby in the Charlestown Navy Yard. I would hazard a guess that this was built with Quincy granite but I haven't been able to document that.   Parris was an innovator of naval architecture and much of his naval architectural work can be viewed here.

"Free To All"

The Thomas Crane Library, one of H.H. Richardson's most successful designs, really shows beautifully with its spring landscape which was designed by famous landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted.  I  wish funding was provided so people could visit the interior of the library on Sundays.

"Upon This Rock..."

Built in 1844, from great blocks of Quincy granite, is the former Church of Saints Peter & Paul in South Boston. Gridley J.F. Bryant, son of the famed railroad pioneer, was the architect on this Gothic revival church. This was the first Roman Catholic Church in South Boston; it was closed in 1995, and turned into condos.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

This 1767 saltbox was the birthplace of our 6th president, John Quincy Adams. I like the asymmetry of the saltbox, which takes its name from a wooden lidded box that was once used to hold salt.

The saltbox style was a popular architectural style in early colonial America because it was considered a single-story building (from the back) and was therefore exempt from Queen Ann's tax on houses greater than 1-story.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

The owners of this 1880s mansard style home on South Central found a perfect place to display their patriotism.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

This grand double residence at 39-41 Grandview Avenue was built in the shingle style in the early 1890s. This is one of the grandest Queen Anne houses in the area with the status symbol of the period: a tall three story corner tower. Of particular note are the Richardsonian Syrian arches on the second floor porch which were once probably unglazed. They recall the entrance of the 1882 Crane Library by H. H. Richardson which can be seen here.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

This 1797 colonial is one of the oldest houses I have posted. I captured this fine Federal style residence on East Squantum Street about a month ago. East Squantum Street was a former Indian trail which became a public highway in 1646.

In spite of a damaging fire in 1983, it has retained its architectural integrity. It has the traditional five bay facade with a central entrance topped with an arched pediment and framed with sidelights to the floor. This door could well have replaced an earlier simpler door. The windows of the second floor are set close to the eaves, indicating an early 19th century date.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

This is one of Quincy's finest examples of a "shingle style" home. Built in 1885, this impressive residence is located in the Atlantic section of North Quincy.

After the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia there arose a strong interest in American colonial architecture and one of the first manifestations of this antiquarian interest was the presence of the gambrel roof in residential architecture as seen here. Another feature to note are the massive stucco columns holding up the porch on the end. The snow and blue sky really set a nice background for this week's old house in Quincy.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

This week's old house is a 1940s cape cod style located at 43 Hillside Avenue. The doorway is very inviting; I especially like the arched window above the doorway.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

This is the second posting of my favorite 3-family Queen Anne house in Quincy. It is located at 10 Winthrop Ave. (See previous post by clicking here).The late afternoon light really celebrates the curved, balustraded, wrap-around porches set on their granite foundations.

The other side of the house includes these fantastic conical towers.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

[click image to enlarge]

This impressive residence at 310 Adams Street, began life in 1880. It is a distinctive example of the Colonial Revival work of Shepard and Stearns with some wonderful Georgian details. This building has gone through extensive renovations over the last couple years to become the present site of Quincy's Montessori School. It was purchased from the St. Columban's Mission Society.

Thursday is "This Old House Day"

[click image to enlarge]

This is a Cape Cod style house located off of Adams Street. Reverend Timothy Dwight, a president of Yale, is credited with recognizing these houses as a class and coining the term "Cape Cod" for them. The early ones were symmetrical, with a center chimney, clapboard shingles and shutters to protect the double hung multiple pained windows in howling Northeast storms. If you enlarge this image you will see a wonderful old street light as well.