[MassHistPres] Daniel Chester French pavilion is demolished; National Trust fails to take action to save it

[edandrews at earthlink.net]

Most readers are aware of the immensely important sculptor, Daniel Chester
French, who worked in late 19th-early 20th America, and is best known for
his Lincoln Memorial statute.  French's summer home and studio in
Stockbridge, Mass. is a historic site owned and operated by the National
Trust for Historic Preservation.  While in summer residence, French designed
in 1915 a superb garden pavilion for a Stockbridge estate that was a rare
example of his architectural talent.  In December a property developer
needlessly demolished the garden pavilion.  

Despite having an office in Stockbridge and being made fully aware of the
planned demolition a full eighteen months in advance, the National Trust
took no action to preserve the pavilion.  What actions could the National
Trust have taken to save the pavilion? It could have published a notice in
its Preservation magazine offering the pavilion to a historic-minded
homeowner, or it could have circulated an email to its membership that made
known the opportunity for acquiring the pavilion.  I recall a preservation
crisis in which an Andrew Jackson Downing-designed gatehouse in the Hudson
River Valley was saved from demolition through disassembly and re-location
to another site.

As an ardent preservationist, it pains me to criticize the National Trust
over this incident, but I feel that something must be said.  The dismal lack
of action on the part of the Trust to save a historic structure in the
Trust's own backyard and intimately connected to one of its own properties
makes me seriously question the ability of the Trust's management to fulfill
its preservation mission.

For more photos and detail about this tragic incident, see
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/daniel-chester-french
-stockbridge-tea-house-demolition/article_59bb58d6-9294-11ed-acd9-1748a5dabf
43.html

Ted Andrews

Shaker Farm

Richmond, Mass. 

 

 

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