The Architecture of Colonial AmericaEberlein, Harold Donaldson
History
The Architecture of Colonial America
Eberlein, Harold Donaldson
Architecture -- United States; Architecture, Colonial
Both Wynnestay and Wyck, different as they may be in national tradition,
are alike in their thoroughgoing staunchness, their straightforward
simplicity of expression and detail and their utter lack of all
conscious attempt at adornment. It is true, both houses have distinct
elements of charm and embellishment, arising from such details as the
trellises and long transoms with little lights at Wyck, or the hoods
above the doors and the extension of the cornice across the gable-end
walls at Wynnestay, but the effect is wholly fortuitous and not the
result of design. Both houses are thoroughly typical of most of the
contemporary dwellings, and because of their escape from damaging
alterations no part of their charm has been impaired. Both, too, well
exemplify architectural modes that have continued uninterruptedly in use
to our own day. In the portions of the country where the English
element predominates, the little peculiarities of English tradition are
still plainly observable in modern work, while in the parts of the
country where the Pennsylvania German element is most numerous, it is
easy to trace, even in small matters, the enduring influence of German
architectural tradition, introduced by the early German settlers.
Indeed, we may very properly compare the persistence of architectural
minutiæ to the persistence of family traits and features in the human
race. So much, then, for worthy specimens of Pennsylvania styles that
are truly Colonial. The instances given are by no means isolated, but
stand as representatives of a numerous class of buildings to be found
not only in Pennsylvania, but in Delaware and New Jersey.
Before leaving the subject it should be noted that the brick farmhouses
of New Jersey, while often following closely the type noted in
Pennsylvania, occasionally assumed, as the period wore on, much more
bulky proportions than the dwellings of the early settlers, the roof
rising to a considerable height, and the body of the structure assuming
great depth as well as breadth. Some of these great brick structures
date from a comparatively early period, and may be attributed to the
rapidly increasing prosperity of the West Jersey planters, who had the
advantage of the Pennsylvania settlers
[Illustration: MERION MEETING HOUSE, PENNSYLVANIA.
Built by Welsh settlers, 1695.]
[Illustration: MORAVIAN SISTERS’ HOUSE, BETHLEHEM, PA. 1748.]
[Illustration: THE SAAL, EPHRATA, PA.
Strong German influence.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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