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31-708: The John Tucker Daland House (1851–1852) is an imposing, Italianate house designed by architect Gridley James Fox Bryant and is located at 132 Essex Street, Salem, Massachusetts , United States in the Essex Institute Historic District and now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum . The Italianate-style building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was built to house the Salem Athenaeum,

62-680: A building boom. The city had been bombarded during the Revolution by the Royal Navy , reducing three-quarters to ashes in 1775. But following the war, its trade recovered, almost challenging Boston as the busiest port in New England . Parris received numerous residential and commercial commissions, working in the fashionable style of architect Charles Bulfinch . Like most housewrights of the era, he often used elements derived directly from English architectural books, or those published in

93-412: A client's wishes should always come first when constructing and designing for them he, "frequently persuaded a client to spend more than he might have planned, in the interests of erecting a structure with greater aesthetic value to the community." Although his firm was relatively new and had start-up funds he worked and often collaborated with hundreds of draftsmen around the city. A notable trait of Bryant

124-508: A draftsman, he drew up minor additions and renovations to already established buildings in that city, and he struggled initially to find footing in the competitive field. At age twenty-one, amid an economic depression, he established his own architectural firm called Bryant and Associates. A common fault ascribed to Bryant is that he valued the art form of architecture over the commercial validity of his designs which proved to be counterproductive for his budding practice. With an understanding that

155-627: A few luxury private residences with John Hubbard Sturgis . Bryant's only known commission in the American South is Thornbury, a plantation house built in the 1840s for Henry King Burgwyn in Northampton County, North Carolina . Together with Arthur Gilman , Bryant's firm devised the gridiron street pattern of Boston's Back Bay , laid out starting in the late 1850s. Bryant designed so many buildings that his practice in Boston

186-459: A full listing of Bryant's projects see Reed, pp. 177–198. Alexander Parris Alexander Parris (November 24, 1780 – June 16, 1852) was a prominent American architect - engineer . Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival . Parris taught Ammi B. Young , and was among the group of architects influential in founding what would become

217-544: A net loss to him. On the other hand, larger, wealthier educational institutions like Harvard College paid him top dollar for their administration buildings—for which he was often asked to give input in their construction as well. During the Great Boston Fire of 1872 , 152 of the 776 buildings destroyed had been designed by Bryant. As a measure of his reputation, he was commissioned to rebuild 110 of them. Although brick predominated in construction in Boston at

248-544: A position in the office of Charles Bulfinch. Like his famous employer, Parris produced refined residences, churches and commercial buildings. When in 1817 Bulfinch was called to Washington to work on the U.S. Capitol Building , Parris helped complete the Bulfinch Building home of the Ether Dome at Massachusetts General Hospital . With Bulfinch's departure, Parris soon became the city's leading architect, and

279-529: A private library. The three-story brick house was originally built for John Tucker Daland, a prosperous merchant. The Dalands lived in the house until 1885, when it was acquired by the Essex Institute . It was then remodeled as offices by architect William Devereux Dennis (1847–1913) and in 1907 connected to the adjacent Plummer Hall (former home to the Salem Athenaeum ). The house was among

310-793: A proponent of what would be called "Boston Granite Style", with austere, monolithic stonework. Around 1818-1823 he kept an office on Court Street . He belonged to the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association . In 1824, however, he began a twenty-year association working for the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown . He would end his career as chief engineer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine . With

341-602: A red brick exterior, designed in the Georgian style, showcasing red print doors and darkened ridge sides. Moreover, in all academic buildings Bryant produced, Gothic influence can be seen as well. Bryant died on June 8, 1899, in his townhouse in Boston, Massachusetts . He was survived by his wife, Louisa Bryant, whom he married on September 9, 1839. Upon his death his wife assembled all his books and drawings in his home study and burned down his house, as stipulated in his will. For

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372-568: A staple of neoclassical design, can be found in the entrances of many of his buildings, including residential. Many of his collegiate buildings feature a mint-green bell tower, and building caps and tips. This practice can be traced to 18th-century Independence Hall , Philadelphia . Many of his college buildings are in the Georgian style, constructed with wood and clapboards, their columns made of timber, framed up and turned on an oversized lathe. Bryant also designed many campus buildings featuring

403-481: A time when few architects gained prominence in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts , and he struggled to find commercial success in the profession. Accordingly, formal training and education in architecture was not available to him so his passion of building soon moved to him learn building design , and construction analysis at an early age all self-taught. Although the American Institute of Architects

434-759: The Adroscoggin County Courthouse and Jail , the largest courthouse-jail building in Maine at the time. He worked with Mansur to construct Aroostook County Courthouse and Jail , the largest courthouse complex in Maine, in 1859. In 1862, he worked with Gilman to design and eventually build Boston's Old City Hall , one of the first to be built in the French Second Empire style in the United States. In 1869 he collaborated with Rogers to construct Gloucester City Hall . He also did

465-514: The American Institute of Architects . He is also responsible for the designs of many lighthouses along the coastal Northeastern United States . Parris was born in Halifax, Massachusetts . At the age of 16, he apprenticed to a housewright in Pembroke , but talent led him towards architecture . Married to Silvina Bonney Stetson in 1800, he moved to Portland, Maine , which was then experiencing

496-515: The Massachusetts State House , and other projects in the city's commercial district. Although his projects demanded large commissions and incurred high construction costs, he traveled often to rural areas for promotional work, and designed many lower-priced buildings providing "high societal value." Most notable was Hathorn Hall at Bates College , Maine, which he designed and which he constructed in part by himself, resulting in

527-521: The United States by Asher Benjamin . Unfortunately, some of his designs were lost in the Great Fire of 1866 , but early photographs and Parris' surviving drawings bespeak works of neoclassical artistry and taste. The boom would end, however, with Jefferson's Embargo of 1807 , which lasted 14 months and devastated Portland's mercantile base. Merchants went bankrupt. The Portland Bank, its building designed by Parris, failed. By 1809, construction in

558-669: The building's revised design. Consequently, the Wickham House is considered a watershed design by Parris, marking the shift from his earlier Adamesque period towards his later, more severe, monumental and architectonic period. In the War of 1812 , he served in Plattsburgh, New York as a Captain of the Artificers (engineers), gaining knowledge of military requirements for engineering. In 1815, he moved to Boston, where he found

589-645: The city had come to a halt. Parris left for Richmond, Virginia , where he designed the Wickham House and the Executive Mansion . But architect Benjamin Latrobe examined Parris' preliminary plans for the Wickham House, which resembled his previous Federal style works in Portland, and gave it a blistering review. Latrobe's advice left a profound imprint on the future work of Parris, beginning with

620-485: The early 1830s. Bryant flourished in an era of what Roger B. Reed calls "unregulated building," when "traditions of craftsmanship were being replaced by products of the machine age." He created a new template for the construction of buildings in New England. Early in his career, he faced competition from larger firms that sought to monopolize the design and construction of buildings in the greater Boston area. As

651-482: The federal government as patron, Parris produced plans for numerous utilitarian structures, from storehouses to ropewalks, and was superintendent of construction at one of the nation's first drydocks , located at the Charlestown base. Today, he is fondly remembered for his stalwart stone lighthouses, commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department . They are often of a tapered form termed "windswept." Parris balanced

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682-567: The height of Bryant's work, he often used granite for increased stability. Accordingly, Bryant was a leading proponent of the Boston "Granite Style." Many of Bryant's buildings showcase neoclassical entrances, for example Boston's Old City Hall . As an industrial engineer and architect in New England , Bryant participated in the Colonial Revival architecture movement . Consequently, his buildings include such features as cornice -embellished moldings and multi-plane windows. White pillars,

713-637: The last detached brick houses to be built in Salem. Features of interest include rusticated corner quoins and foundation, fine cornices, both arched and flat-entablatured windows, and an imposing front porch supported by Corinthian columns and topped with a Palladian window. At one time the house also featured roof and porch balustrades, as well as panelled brick chimneys. 42°31′19.24″N 70°53′29.37″W  /  42.5220111°N 70.8914917°W  / 42.5220111; -70.8914917 Gridley James Fox Bryant A native of Massachusetts , his early life

744-689: The public eye and earned him expensive and large commissions. Bryant was born to Maria Winship Fox and Gridley Bryant , noted railway pioneer, in Scituate, Massachusetts . In his youth the younger Bryant moved to Gardiner, Maine and attended the Gardiner Lyceum for his secondary education. He studied mathematics and engineering there before leaving joining his father's engineering office. Outside his secondary schools studies, he interned at local lithographers and artists to experiment with design and artistic manipulation. Bryant's career started at

775-482: The use of Second Empire architectural templates . His training under Parris, grounded in neoclassicism, played an important role in his first building drafts. Working primarily as a student in his early days, he quickly a member of Parris' newly opened architectural firm at the corner of Court and Washington Streets. His first achievement was the design for the Broadway Savings Bank, South Boston, in

806-663: Was able to provide guidance to his firm's operations while in other areas of the country, which contributed to increased financial success. He used the lithography he learned in secondary school to promote his firms and their projects to attract clients and donors. He was one of the first people in the city of Boston to use colored advertisements to promote his work, which contributed to even more financial success. Bryant's firm attracted as partners noted architects such as Alexander Rice Esty , Edward H. Kendall , Albert Currier , Wilfred E. Mansur , Arthur Gilman and Louis P. Rogers. He worked with Albert Currier to construct

837-589: Was beginning to establish itself it prompted aspiring architects to practice regulated construction and proper licensing, practices rejected by the young Bryant. Although never traveling abroad, Bryant read extensively on the architectural practices of Europe, specifically in London and Paris . The Second Empire architectural design , as seen in the Élysée Palace , played a key role in his later designs. He began informal training with fellow Boston architect Alexander Parris , who introduced him to neoclassical design and

868-410: Was called the "Bryant Commission." His largest commissions were from municipal and state governments, in which he worked frequently with John Hubbard Sturgis , most notably on upscale projects in the 1860s. At this time Bryant was the most commissioned architect in New England. He is also the most commissioned architect in the history of Boston. He received many commercial commissions in Boston including

899-615: Was due to the low level of economic validity to hire countless draftsmen to draw up buildings and their specification he wrote length and thoroughly detailed written specifications to describe how a building should be built. His firm utilized thousands of un-retained draftsmen throughout its life and contributed to the unprecedented amount of building being constructed throughout the United States. However, his designs specifically were reserved for high-value projects, meaning those with high personal value, societal value, or sufficiently large remuneration. Due to his firm being largely un-retained , he

930-602: Was heavily influenced by his father's work in construction engineering. His father, Gridley Bryant , built the Granite Railway , the first publicly chartered railway in the U.S. The younger Bryant received no formal training in architecture but taught himself industrial engineering and construction analysis as well as building design. Bryant's first informal mentor was Alexander Parris , who introduced him to neoclassical design and Second Empire architectural templates . His self-started firm, Bryant & Associates,

961-403: Was one of the most selective and popular architectural firms in New England. Bryant designed institutions providing high personal or societal value, or when sufficient payment was made to him personally, oftentimes described as "ludicrously expensive". He was the first architect to be featured on London's The Builder. A record three of his designs were featured. Such publicity propelled him into

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