Colonial Homes and Their FurnishingsNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture, Colonial; Furniture -- United States
To attempt even a brief description of each and every doorway would be a
herculean task. Rather, it is better to depict the different types,
studying with critical eye the various examples. One is the semicircular
entrance, with its rounded front, a type shown in many a New England
home. The Andrew porch, numbered among the finest in the city, belongs
to this class. Under this doorway passed the late war governor, John
Andrew, during visits to his uncle, John Andrew, builder of the
dwelling, that he always coveted for his own. The dwelling was one of
three built in 1818 on three sides of a training field, which is now the
Common. The fine elm trees that characterize the Common were planted in
the same year. The other two houses were the John Forrester dwelling and
the Nathaniel Silsbee house. The Andrew porch shows straight columns,
and a roof topped with a balustrade; the simplicity of outline renders
it most attractive.
[Illustration: PLATE VI.--Gardiner House Doorway, 1804.]
Another porch of the same type is that of the John Gardiner house on
Essex Street, built in 1804. Here is an entrance considered by good
judges of architecture to be one of the best examples of its type,
characterized by perfect symmetry of outline. Numbered among its
features are quaint indentations in the door head. This dwelling was
formerly the home of Captain Joseph White, one of the worthy and noted
Salem merchants. Other porches of similar contour, though differently
ornamented, are to be found on Chestnut Street.
[Illustration: PLATE VII.--Nathan Robinson House Doorway, 1804.]
It is only when one carefully studies doorways such as these,
contrasting them with latter-day porches, which are often little more
than holes in the wall, fitted with a cheap framing and entirely out of
keeping with the exterior, that their worth is viewed in the true light,
and the opportunity to turn to the old-time types for inspiration is
appreciated.
Perhaps the most Puritanical of all the doorways are the simple narrow
ones that generally stand at one side of the house, although sometimes
they are used as the main entrance. These show either fluted side
pilasters, or severely plain columns, surmounted by a pediment. The door
is always dark in coloring, trimmed with a polished brass knocker and
often with a brass latch.
One of the most elaborate of these is that of the dwelling known as the
Cabot house on Essex Street. This house was designed in 1745 by an
English architect for Joseph Choate, and later came into the possession
of Joseph Cabot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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