[MassHistPres] Help Save Tappan House

[Dennis De Witt]

Charlie

Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman, an English poet, writer and broadcaster who was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture when such "Victorian horrors" were completely out of favor. Starting his career as a journalist, he ended it as Poet Laureate.  

He coined Jacobethan to describe the "English Revival" (an early sort of national romanticism, contemporaneous with the Sir Walter Scott inspired Scottish Baronial).  Dating from the 1830s and continuing through much of the century, it derived most of its inspiration and its stylistic repertory from the English Renaissance (1550 - 1625), with elements of Elizabethan and Jacobean -- hence  "Jacobethan".  It is also called by the more straight-laced "Jacobean Revival".  It's most characteristic examples are totally lacking in restraint and reticence -- as is clearly true of this Tappin house.  Like the Queen Anne (another fictitious name -- albeit a coinage more contemporaneous with the buildings to which it was applied) American and British examples can look rather different.  The shingling and wood frame construction of the Tappin house is obviously American.  British examples would have walls of exposed masonry or stucco or possibly tile hung.  The adaptation of the vernacular tile hanging into high stye houses by Richard Norman Shaw (whose work you should look at) in the 1860s was an inspiration for the adoption of vernacular wood wall shingles for high style houses by HH Richardson and others. 

A little googling suggests the term clearly has crossed the Atlantic and is commonly -- sometimes loosely -- applied.

Dennis



On Dec 17, 2010, at 12:48 PM, Charles Adler wrote:

> I am a newcomer to this list, and a resident of Attleboro involved with Scott Winkler and others in trying to save Tappan House from demolition.  I found Dennis' comment about the architectural style immensely helpful.
> 
> As someone with no training in architecture, I did a quick scan of the Internet, and it does seem that Tappan House is best classified as Jacobethan (or Jacobethan Revival?), rather than Colonial Revival.  However, the Jacobethan style seems to encompass great latitude in the features employed.
> 
> The features of the Tappan House that seem to fall into the Jacobethan category are the chimneys, the finials at the gable peaks, and the clusters of rectangular windows.  On the other hand, the Tappan House exterior is wood and the front facade is symmetrical with Ionic columns, characteristics which don't seem as common in the Jacobethan style.
> 
> I would love to hear more on the Jacobethan style, and any other examples in New England.  This can't help but aid us in trying to save this building, which could be demolished as early as the day after Christmas.  Any leads on the identity of the architect would be of particular value.
> 
> As to the building's condition, the exterior seems pretty well preserved.  The biggest difference in comparing old and new photos is the window trim is white rather than the original dark finish, probably due to replacements.  I haven't seen the interior.
> 
> There are recent pictures of the building here:
> http://attleboro.patch.com/articles/support-to-save-tappan-house-from-demolition-grows-stronger
> 
> Pictures showing the original appearance of the house are in this YouTube video:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RszpoxCn1hM
> 
> Thank you all,
> 
> Charlie Adler
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