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Coordinates: 42°33′44″N 70°46′17″W / 42.562222°N 70.771444°W / 42.562222; -70.771444
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{{Infobox building
⚫
[[Image:Kragsyde.jpg|250px|thumb|Kragsyde]]
| name = Kragsyde
'''Kragsyde''' is the name of a mansion built on Smith's Point at [[Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts]], [[United States]], in 1883 and demolished in 1929. The house was commissioned by Bostonian George Nixon Black, Jr. to the famous architectural firm of [[Peabody and Stearns|Peabody & Stearns]] .
| image = Kragsyde, Manchester, MA.jpg
| image_size = 275px
| caption = Kragsyde, from the south, {{circa|1890}}
| alternate_names =
| location = 27 Smith's Point Road<br />[[Manchester-by-the-Sea]], [[Massachusetts]]
| coordinates = {{coord|42.562222|-70.771444|region:US-MA|display=inline,title}}
| completion_date = 1885
| renovation_date =
| status =
| demolished_date = 1929
| building_type = Summer cottage<br />[[Shingle style]]
| roof =
| floor_count = 3.5
| elevator_count =
| cost = $60,000 (1885)
| floor_area =
| architect = [[Peabody & Stearns]]<br />[[Frederick Law Olmsted]] (landscape design)
| structural_engineer =
| main_contractor = Roberts & Hoare
| developer =
| owner = George Nixon Black Jr.
| management =
| references =
}}
'''Kragsyde''' (1883&ndash;85 &ndash; 1929) was a [[Shingle style]] mansion designed by the Boston architectural firm of [[Peabody and Stearns|Peabody & Stearns]] and built at [[Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts]]. Although long demolished, it is considered an icon of American architecture.


==History==
Kragsyde is generally regarded as the zenith of "[[Shingle Style]]," a subtype of American Queen Anne architecture. Architectural historian [[Vincent Scully]] has called the house a masterpiece and stated that the two architects "never again...created house of such quality." <ref>Vincent J. Scully Jr., The Shingle Style and the Stick Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Richardson to the Origins of Wright (1955; Yale University Press, New Haven, 1971), pp. 99-100.</ref> Rambling, haunting and evocative, the beautiful house set high on a dramatic headland was famous in its day and was published several times both in Europe and America. Nixon and his family occupied the house every summer from May until October to the end of their lives.<ref>www.woodlawnmuseum.com/Summer2006_web.pdf</ref>
Kragsyde was commissioned by George Nixon Black Jr. (1842&ndash;1928), heir to a Boston real estate fortune, who had been a [[Harvard]] classmate of architect [[Robert Swain Peabody]]. In 1882, Black paid $10,000 (${{Inflation|US|0.01|1882|r=2|fmt=c}} million today) for the 6 acre (2.4 ha) oceanfront plot on a peninsula called Smith's Point, overlooking Lobster Bay. Local contractor Roberts & Hoare built the house, 1883–85, for approximately $60,000 (${{Inflation|US|0.060|1884|r=2|fmt=c}} million today). Dramatically set upon a high rock outcropping, the rambling house was famous in its day and was published both in North America and Europe. Black and his sister occupied it every summer from May to October until the end of their lives.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.woodlawnmuseum.com/Summer2006_web.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215160956/http://www.woodlawnmuseum.com/Summer2006_web.pdf |archive-date=2016-02-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


Architectural historian [[Vincent Scully]] described Kragsyde as "a masterpiece," and stated that "Peabody & Stearns never again, to my knowledge, created a house of such quality."<ref>Scully, pp. 99-100.</ref>
==Interior==


==Design==
Kragsyde's footprint followed that of broad "V". The image accompanying this article shows the seaside facade and service court of the house. From structures approach, the massiveness of Kragsyde was hidden as its broadest facades faced the ocean. Peabody and Sterns did this to not only allow for the view, but also to capture the cool sea breezes within the house.
[[File:Kragsyde sketches.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Sketches of Kragsyde (1885).]]
Kragsyde's footprint was that of broad "V" &ndash; the three-and-a-half-story main house (75 x 45&nbsp;ft / 22.9 x 13.7 m) facing the Atlantic Ocean, and a secondary wing (20 x 55&nbsp;ft / 6.1 x 16.8 m) set at a 45-degree angle.<ref>Sheldon, plate 39.</ref> It was designed not only to maximize the views, but to capture the cool sea breezes. The house's most dramatic feature was a massive arch that formed a [[porte cochere]] and supported the loggia (open porch) and glass-enclosed billiard room above. Guests arriving by carriage would be dropped off under the arch, enter through the front door, and climb an interior stair to the main floor, which featured formal rooms for entertaining. Service rooms and the kitchen were located on the ground floor, and a service stair kept the servants out of sight. A [[Dumbwaiter (elevator)|dumbwaiter]] carried food from the kitchen to the butler's pantry on the main floor. A piazza (deck) the length of the house faced the ocean, and a covered section [[cantilever]]ed out over the rocks. The parlor was surrounded on three sides by the piazza and an L-shaped covered porch. Stairs led down from the loggia to a series of terraces. The second floor contained bedrooms for the Blacks and their guests. The third floor contained bedrooms for servants.


The terraced landscape surrounding the house was designed by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]]. Some of his original walls survive.
Plans published by Peabody and Stearns show that service rooms and the kitchen were located on the ground floor of Kragsyde. Elevated above the ground floor was the house's main floor which contained parlors for entertaining and the dining room. Adjacent to the dining room was a service pantry and stairs to the kitchen; food was raised to the pantry via a [[Dumbwaiter (elevator)|dumbwaiter]] system. Leading from the parlor and dining room were broad porches and decks. Separating the service court from the front of the structure was a wing dominated by a massive arch. Within the arch was an entrance into the house on one side, and access to a billiard room on the other. A single room, with windows on three sides was situated above the arch along with a private loggia. Stairs from the loggia led down to the property below helped to add length to the structure.
{{clear}}
⚫
[[Image:kragsyde_2009.jpg|thumb|Kragsyde Today]]


==Subsequent “Kragsydes”==
==Replicated==
⚫
[[Image:kragsyde 2009.jpg|thumb|Kragsyde (1975), in 2011]]
Kragsyde was replicated in mirrored form in 1982 on Swan's Island, off the coast of [[Maine]] near Bar Harbor. <ref> [https://secure.downeast.com/store/product.php?productid=1064&cat=19&page=1 Down East: At Home in Maine: Houses Designed to Fit the Land] </ref> <ref> [http://www.downeast.com/Down-East-Magazine/September-2001/Kragsyde-Reborn/ Down East:Kragsyde Reborn] </ref> <ref> [http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1020096823.html;jsessionid=324A29D6A929BFDD387E3B4B14008F0A.ehctc1 Old-House Interiors:Kragsyde] </ref>
⚫
[[File:Kragsyde2014.jpg|thumb|Kragsyde (2014), in 2016]]


The original Kragsyde was demolished in 1929. Three subsequent homes have been built upon its foundations:
The location of the replica is {{coord|44|8|38.88|N|68|23|40.13|W|}}

* "Kragsyde" (1930s): A stuccoed house built by Boston lawyer Pierpont Stackpole.<ref>Mary Grauerholz, "Rooted in History," ''Northshore Magazine'', March 2014, p. 160.</ref>
* "Kragsyde" (1975), a.k.a. "The General's House": Like the original, it featured a wing with porte cochere set at a 45-degree angle to the main house.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kragsyde.com |title = Kragsyde}}</ref> This was built for [[Georges Doriot]], founder of [[American Research and Development Corporation]], and his wife Edna.
* "Kragsyde" (2014): In 2014, a fourth house was built upon the original's foundations.

===Related houses===
*"[[Cragside]]" (1863), a house in [[Northumberland]], [[England]] designed by [[Richard Norman Shaw]], cited as influencing the design of Kragsyde.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kaufmann Jr. |first=Edgar |url=http://www.abbeville.com/excerpts.asp?ISBN=0896596621 |title=Fallingwater |publisher=Abbeville Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-89659-662-7 |contribution=Introduction: The House and the Natural Landscape: A Prelude to Fallingwater |access-date=2016-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419192543/http://www.abbeville.com/excerpts.asp?ISBN=0896596621 |archive-date=2015-04-19 |url-status=dead |contributor=Mark Girouard}}</ref>
* Kragsyde's carriage house (1882), also by Peabody & Stearns, stands at 29 Smith's Point Road.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/29-Smiths-Point-Rd-Manchester-MA-01944/56934038_zpid/| title = 29 Smiths Point Rd, Manchester, MA 01944 {{!}} Zillow}} </ref>
* * "Kragsyde II" (1982), a house based on the original (but a mirror image) was built on Swan's Island, near [[Bar Harbor, Maine]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20110725145940/https://secure.downeast.com/store/product.php?productid=1064&cat=19&page=1 Down East: At Home in Maine: Houses Designed to Fit the Land]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.downeast.com/Down-East-Magazine/September-2001/Kragsyde-Reborn/ |title=Down East:Kragsyde Reborn |access-date=2008-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123235124/http://downeast.com/Down-East-Magazine/September-2001/Kragsyde-Reborn |archive-date=2010-11-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4jAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=old+house+interiors+kragsyde&pg=PA54 "Kragsyde,"] ''Old-House Interiors'', August/September 2001.</ref> Its location is {{coord|44|8|38.88|N|68|23|40.13|W|}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


===Sources===
⚫
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1883]]
{{commons category}}
⚫
[[Category:Peabody and Stearns buildings]]
* ''The American Architect and Building News'', March 7, 1885.[https://archive.org/stream/americanarchitec17newyuoft#page/n251/mode/2up]
⚫
[[Category:Shingle Style houses]]
* Annie Robinson, ''Peabody & Stearns: Country Houses and Seaside Cottages'' (W.W. Norton, 2010).
* Vincent J. Scully Jr., ''The Shingle Style and the Stick Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Richardson to the Origins of Wright'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955; reprinted 1971).
* George William Sheldon, ''Artists Country-Seats: Types of Recent American Villa and Cottage Architecture with Instances of Country Club-Houses'', volume II (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1887).
{{Peabody & Stearns}}
[[Category:Houses in Essex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Houses in Essex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Former houses in the United States]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1885]]
⚫
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1929]]
[[Category:1885 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1929 disestablishments in Massachusetts]]
⚫
[[Category:Peabody and Stearns buildings]]
[[Category:Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1929 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Shingle Style houses]]
⚫
[[Category:Shingle Style architecture in Massachusetts]]

[[Category:Gilded Age mansions]]

{{Massachusetts-struct-stub}}

Latest revision as of 19:17, 20 November 2024

Kragsyde
Kragsyde, from the south, c. 1890
Map
General information
TypeSummer cottage
Shingle style
Location27 Smith's Point Road
Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°33′44″N 70°46′17″W / 42.562222°N 70.771444°W / 42.562222; -70.771444
Completed1885
Demolished1929
Cost$60,000 (1885)
OwnerGeorge Nixon Black Jr.
Technical details
Floor count3.5
Design and construction
Architect(s)Peabody & Stearns
Frederick Law Olmsted (landscape design)
Main contractorRoberts & Hoare

Kragsyde (1883–85 – 1929) was a Shingle style mansion designed by the Boston architectural firm of Peabody & Stearns and built at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Although long demolished, it is considered an icon of American architecture.

History

[edit]

Kragsyde was commissioned by George Nixon Black Jr. (1842–1928), heir to a Boston real estate fortune, who had been a Harvard classmate of architect Robert Swain Peabody. In 1882, Black paid $10,000 ($0.32 million today) for the 6 acre (2.4 ha) oceanfront plot on a peninsula called Smith's Point, overlooking Lobster Bay. Local contractor Roberts & Hoare built the house, 1883–85, for approximately $60,000 ($2.03 million today). Dramatically set upon a high rock outcropping, the rambling house was famous in its day and was published both in North America and Europe. Black and his sister occupied it every summer from May to October until the end of their lives.[1]

Architectural historian Vincent Scully described Kragsyde as "a masterpiece," and stated that "Peabody & Stearns never again, to my knowledge, created a house of such quality."[2]

Design

[edit]
Sketches of Kragsyde (1885).

Kragsyde's footprint was that of broad "V" – the three-and-a-half-story main house (75 x 45 ft / 22.9 x 13.7 m) facing the Atlantic Ocean, and a secondary wing (20 x 55 ft / 6.1 x 16.8 m) set at a 45-degree angle.[3] It was designed not only to maximize the views, but to capture the cool sea breezes. The house's most dramatic feature was a massive arch that formed a porte cochere and supported the loggia (open porch) and glass-enclosed billiard room above. Guests arriving by carriage would be dropped off under the arch, enter through the front door, and climb an interior stair to the main floor, which featured formal rooms for entertaining. Service rooms and the kitchen were located on the ground floor, and a service stair kept the servants out of sight. A dumbwaiter carried food from the kitchen to the butler's pantry on the main floor. A piazza (deck) the length of the house faced the ocean, and a covered section cantilevered out over the rocks. The parlor was surrounded on three sides by the piazza and an L-shaped covered porch. Stairs led down from the loggia to a series of terraces. The second floor contained bedrooms for the Blacks and their guests. The third floor contained bedrooms for servants.

The terraced landscape surrounding the house was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Some of his original walls survive.

Subsequent “Kragsydes”

[edit]
Kragsyde (1975), in 2011
Kragsyde (2014), in 2016

The original Kragsyde was demolished in 1929. Three subsequent homes have been built upon its foundations:

  • "Kragsyde" (1930s): A stuccoed house built by Boston lawyer Pierpont Stackpole.[4]
  • "Kragsyde" (1975), a.k.a. "The General's House": Like the original, it featured a wing with porte cochere set at a 45-degree angle to the main house.[5] This was built for Georges Doriot, founder of American Research and Development Corporation, and his wife Edna.
  • "Kragsyde" (2014): In 2014, a fourth house was built upon the original's foundations.
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2014-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Scully, pp. 99-100.
  3. ^ Sheldon, plate 39.
  4. ^ Mary Grauerholz, "Rooted in History," Northshore Magazine, March 2014, p. 160.
  5. ^ "Kragsyde".
  6. ^ Mark Girouard (1986). "Introduction: The House and the Natural Landscape: A Prelude to Fallingwater". Fallingwater. By Kaufmann Jr., Edgar. Abbeville Press. ISBN 978-0-89659-662-7. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  7. ^ "29 Smiths Point Rd, Manchester, MA 01944 | Zillow".
  8. ^ Down East: At Home in Maine: Houses Designed to Fit the Land
  9. ^ "Down East:Kragsyde Reborn". Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  10. ^ "Kragsyde," Old-House Interiors, August/September 2001.

Sources

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kragsyde.
  • The American Architect and Building News, March 7, 1885.[1]
  • Annie Robinson, Peabody & Stearns: Country Houses and Seaside Cottages (W.W. Norton, 2010).
  • Vincent J. Scully Jr., The Shingle Style and the Stick Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Richardson to the Origins of Wright (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955; reprinted 1971).
  • George William Sheldon, Artists Country-Seats: Types of Recent American Villa and Cottage Architecture with Instances of Country Club-Houses, volume II (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1887).
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