[MassHistPres] West Indies or Jamaica Planter style summer houses

[Stephen Jerome]

A drawing of 141 Walnut Street, with the unusual L-shaped with two-story
verandah, appears in a 19th c. artist's sketchbook owned by the Brookline
Historical Society,. My recollection is that the sketch was done prior to
alterations to accommodate a second floor. In its original appearance,
based on my recollection, it reflected the Green Hill and Cottage Street
examples, albeit on a much more modest scale.

[image: image.png]

On Sat, Jan 16, 2021 at 8:45 PM Dennis De Witt <abtdewitt at rcn.com> wrote:

>
> The columned core of Henry Hobson Richardson’s house at 25 Cottage St.
> Brookline, a.k.a. the Perkins-Richardson house, which is currently under
> threat of demolition, is normally dated to ca. 1803.  The two story
> northern wing was added/extended by Richardson.  The single story southern
> wing seems to be from the 1850s.  This specific summer house form, with a
> two-story columned semi-encompassing verandah, is often said to be somewhat
> peculiar to Brookline — although clearly not exclusively so.  Still extant,
> very close-by examples are Old Green Hill which acquired its columned
> southern wing ca. 1796 and Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Green Hill of ca.
> 1808.  These three houses are sometimes referred to as being in the West
> Indies or Jamaica Planter style, although I wonder if these terms might be
> retrospectively applied, as is so often the case.  Also, I wonder about two
> aspects of Perkins-Richardson columns the feel to me perhaps somewhat
> premature for 1803? They have Greek-Doric capitals and the columns have
> full length inset panels that feel to me somewhat Italianate.
>
> I would be interested in hearing from anyone who may have studied this
> type — which is not recognized as a style on Macris.  I would also like to
> about similar buildings (extant or gone) elsewhere in the state.  (Note: I
> am interested specifically in houses with similarly proportionately thin
> two-story columns wrapping around at least two sides of the building, and
> without a second floor balcony.)
>
> Dennis De Witt
> Brookline
>
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