Stuart
A. Drake
Inside SPNEA:
Drawings from the Office of Ogden Codman, Jr. The wide-ranging interests and skills of Ogden Codman, Jr., whosefamily home is today one of SPNEA’s on display at SPNEA
N
ineteen
historic houses,are documentedin his drawings,
during the centennial of his most important designtreatise. hundred
provide inescapable evidence of the depth
and ninety-seven
of historical learning that not only informed
marks the one hun-
his work but helped make The Decorationof
dredth anniversary
Housesthe definitive work on the subject.
of the publication of
When SPNEA acquired The Grange,
The Decorationof Houses,written by Edith
the Codman
Wharton and her young protege, the archi-
Massachusetts,as a bequest from Dorothy
tect and decorator Ogden Codman, Jr. In
S. F. M. Codman and began the daunting
recognition, Old-Time New England pre-
task of inventorying the contents of the
family home at Lincoln,
sents a selection of Codman’s work from
house and outbuildings, staff discovered in
the more than 1,700 of his architectural
the stable loft more than two dozen labeled
drawings preserved in SPNEA’s Library
tubes containing rolled-up architectural
and Archives. Chosen for their visual
drawings and a golden oak architect’s chest
appeal and to give a brief overview of the
whose great shallow drawers held more
nature ofthe collection, thesedrawings also
drawings+verything
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from pencil sketches Old-Time
New England
Inside SPNEA
to blueprints to finished watercolor render-
into apartments.3Of great interest to archi-
ings. Three large portfolios sectioned from
tectural historians was the discovery of
A to Z held further groups of drawings. A
many of Codman’s measured drawings of
material legacy from the architectural
colonial and Federal houses,often made on
career of Ogden Codman, Jr., these 1,700
the occasion of their demolition4
drawings represent his personal part of his
Until the discoveriesat Lincoln were
office archives. They came to Lincoln in
catalogued,the principal sourceof Codman
1926 when Codman sold his New York
drawings (some three thousand of them)
house, 7 East 96th Street, furnished, reserv-
was the Avery Architectural
ing for himself only personal items, books,
Columbia
and objects with a family provenance.
closed his office in 1920 and went to live
Becausehe had been living in France since
in France, he turned over to the Metro-
1920, the drawings went to storage at Lin-
politan Museum his office archives, con-
University.
Library at
When Codman
coln along with the other family memora-
sisting of plans, drawings, photographs,and
bilia. By the early twenties, Codman and
all of his architectural library. In 1947, the
his siblings had decided to the leave The
Metropolitan petitioned him for permis-
Grange to SPNEA because,of the five, only
sion to transfer to the Avery all the draw-
Ogden, Jr., had married, and he had no
ings, which he granted. The Metropolitan
children. These drawings, relegated to the
kept the rest, including plans of historic
stable, remained unseen until 1968 when
houses and a remarkable set of watercolor
the last sister, Dorothy Codman, died and
renderings of interior elevations, largely
SPNEA took possession.’
from the 1890s. Some of Codman’s architectural projects are represented in both the
The labels on the tubes and on the portfolios were for the most part reliable,
Avery
but there was much loose material unsorted
Archives,5but much Boston and NewYork
and the SPNEA
Library
and
and unidentified. Not until 1980 were the
work from the 1890s appears only in the
drawings catalogued by Frieda Cohen,
latter collection, while many NewYorkjobs
funded by a grant from the National En-
are documented only in the former. There
dowment for the Humanities. They were
is no logic to the division, nor to the fact
found to date from 1883 (a sketch of the
that, for example, almost everything that
Doric order, done while Codman was a stu-
survives of the many projects executed for
dent at MIT) to 1919 (the final, unexecuted
the Thayer family, whether in Boston,
project, for an office building at 32 Beacon
Lancaster,or Newport, is held by the Avery.
Street). While
practice was
SPNEA is unique in preserving a number
almost exclusively residential, the collec-
of early sketchbooks in which Codman
Codman’s
tion held such surprises as plans for a the-
recorded the plans and measurements of
ater, designsfor a Boston apartment house,’
houseswhose interiors he was to decorate,
and plans for the conversion of a Provi-
as well as sketch plans and details of old
dence property belonging to D. B. Updike
houses,6which he would use in 1918 when,
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Inside SPNFA
in a burst of activity, he drew the plans of
tice for himself and was succeededin 1897
Federal houses he had visited twenty or
by Charles Wulff, who remained with
more years earlier. Fiske Kimball mined the
Codman as a draftsman, office manager,
Metropolitan’s share of these drawings for
and chief designer until
his 1922 DomesticArchitectureof theAmerican
Codman was abroad during the summers
1919. While
Colonies and of the Early Republic, as did
before 1914, shoppingwith clients or trav-
Harold Kirker for his 1969 The Architecture
eling, Wulff ran the office and was left to
of Charles Bu@zck.
make designs on his own, which he would inventory,
forward to Codman for approval or cor-
appropriately enough, are all of Codman’s
rection. Wulff was joined during the teens
drawings of The Grange, both those show-
by Chester Griswold Burden (Harvard
Included
in SPNEA’s
ing the house as he found it and those
‘1 l), a nephew of Codman’s wife, who also
resulting
from his researches into its
assumed some design responsibilities, and
appearanceafter the remodeling of the late
by Frederic Rhinelander Church, a nephew
1790s. This research formed the basis for
of Edith Wharton.12 The names of some
his recreation in 1899 of the paneled fire-
draftsmen are known from office records,i3
place walls in the bedrooms, which had
but as Codman drawings are only haphaz-
been swept away by his uncle John Sturgis
ardly dated and rarely signed or even ini-
in the 186Os.‘With the collection also came
tialed, it is difficult to attribute any group
drawings by other architectural firms for
to a particular hand.i4 A relative chronol-
houses for which Codman was contracted
ogy can be established because the name
to do decorative finish work8 or in which
of the client always appears. So does the
he had a scholarly interest.9
office address, and because the succession
Besidesthe early sketchbooksand the
of office locations and their datesis known,
drawings of historic houses derived from
a job can at least be identified as “early,”
them, little in the collection can be ascribed
“middle,” or “late” Codman.i5
with certainty to Codman’s hand. Emery
Attempting to date drawings from
Roth, a New York architect who appren-
stylistic content is somewhat less certain.
ticed in the Codman office from 1895 to
Louis XV and Rococo revivals were popu-
1897, remembered that his boss “did not
lar during the 1890s but were less so after
possessdrawing skill~,“~~and Codman later
1900 when an interest in neoclassicismtook
told how, when in Paris in 1894 to design
hold and lasted through the war years. But
the bedrooms
for
Codman was not bound by such stylistic
Cornelius Vanderbilt, he got a talented
limitations: he was ascapable of producing
for The
Breakers
group of students from the Ecole desBeaux
neoclassicdesigns in the early 1890s (such
Arts to draw them up.” Roth could do
as the Louis XVI
beautiful renderings, but he was untrained
Randolph Coolidge house, 147 Beacon
in producing working drawings. He left the
Street, Boston) as he was in 1912 (for
Codman office to buy an architectural prac-
example, the austere halls and salons at 7
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interiors
Old-Time
for the J.
New England
Inside SPNEA
East 96th Street, New York, which he
hand control in depicting the carvings of
designed for himself). A surer indication is
moldings or plasterwork and complete
the style of lettering on a drawing-florid,
assurance of scale and relief. Watercolors
idiosyncratic, and somewhat undisciplined
of interior elevations date largely from the
in some early casesand balanced, assured,
1890s (Edith Wharton took Codman to task
even grand during the teens.
in 1897 for showering his clients with large
The drawings themselves show a
numbers of these expensiveitems) l6and are
wide variety of skills and finish from a
often rendered with a degree of perfection
number of hands.Working drawings, blue-
that one would expect in the execution of
prints, plans in ink on linen-all
display a
the object itself They represent in the high-
minimum professional competence. Pen-
est degree the talent of these draftsmen and
cil drawings on tissue of interior elevations
the rigor of their training in the offices and
and details often show extraordinary free-
academies of the day.
*
Elevation, fireplace wall, southeastor paneled room, The Grange, Lincoln, Massachusetts,1890s.
Pencil and ink on heavypaper, 131/s x 20”. This drawing, probably by Codman himself, reflects his intent both to record the surviving eighteenth-century elements of his family seat and to obliterate the changes made by John Sturgis in the 1860s. By 1900 Codman had restored all the bedroom fireplace walls to as close an approximation of their 1740 appearance as he could produce.
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Inside SPNEA
Detail of unidentij?eddrawing, probably a designfor the stair hall in the William Starr Miller House, Staatsburg New York. Pencil on heavypaper with wash, 25 1/zx 15”.
This drawing, captioned in French and probably executed in Paris by a French draftsman, is a tour de force of combined mechanical drawing and freehand rendering of details. The balustrade is inspired by Parisian models of the 1770s. The house was designed for William Starr Miller by Warren and Wetmore and Francis L. V Hoppin, 1904-06, and it is thought (but not documented) that Codman did some of its interior finish work.
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Old-Time
New England
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Photographof the Morton-Taylor House, Roxbury, Massachusetts,cu. 1890.
Detail of elevation,Morton-Taylor House, Roxbuty, Massachusetts,1890. Ink and pencil on heay papeG 14 x 197/811.
In 1890, Codman was on the spot making measured drawings of this house, designed by Charles B&inch
and completed in 1796, while it was being
demolished. Codman’s friend and fellow architect, Arthur Little, had bought the right to remove from the site anything he wanted. Codman later developed his sketchesinto formal elevations and helped Little incorporate salvaged woodwork in his new Boston house, 2 Raleigh Street, built in the same year.
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Inside SPNEA
Pagefrom Codman’s sketchbook, Elmwood,
6318 x 33/4’l.
Elevation, Elmwood, the Crafts-Howe-Browne House, 1618 Tremont Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts,n.d. Pencil, ink, and watercoloron heavypaper; 2s3/4 x 391/a”.
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Old-Time
New England
Inside SPNFA
Photograph of Elmwood, ca. 1865.
This Federal mansion was the childhood home of Codman’s friend and fellow architect, Herbert W C. Browne.The beautifully detailed facade elevation probably was rendered by Codman himself from rough sketchesansd measurements he made in March and April 1892.The Howes had altered the house in the 185Os,adding a mansard roof Codman, ever the archaeologist, eliminated it in his rendering, replacing it with a Federal hip.
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Inside SPNEA
Elevation of a bay window, boudoirfor Mrs. E BrockholstCutting, Newport, Rhode Island, 189192. Pencil and watercoloron heavypaper, 1911/x x 25l/2”.
While rich, these window curtains are a great simplification of the drapery styles of ten or fifteen years earlier. The gilded planter filled with foliage, however, still evokes the spirit of a Victorian parlor. Codman made the drawing as part of a project to enlarge and redecorate Mrs. Cutting’s
house at Bellevue Avenue and Gordon Street. This elevation,
in green in the Louis XVI taste, was made for a boudoir scheme. Codman’s
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first Newport job, the project was never executed.
1997
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hide
Unident&d
SPNEA
elevation,perhapsfor a second-poorroom of Corn&us Vanderbilt’s The Breakers,
Newport, Rhode Island, 1894. Pencil and watercoloron heavypaper, 16718x 251/z”.
This beautifully detailed rendering belongs stylistically to a group done from Codman’s designs by students at the l?cole des Beaux Arts for the decoration of the bedrooms in The Breakers. The deep cove, however, is unlike any room in The Breakers. The subtlety of the watercolor execution places it in the first rank of interior depictions in Codman’s papers.
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Inside SPNEA
Photogruphofthe north sideofEast 51st Street,betweenFifth and Madison avenues, New York City, ca. 1906. Codman built three houses (numbers 9, 15, and 17) in this block facing the north flank of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On the right is the red brick and limestone Louis XIII facade of 15 East 51st Street, built in 1904 for Mrs. H. Walter Webb. Second from left, under construction, is number 9, designed for E. Rollins Morse and derived from the early nineteenth-century designs of Boston architect Charles B&inch.
On the far right, number 17, under construction for Frank K.
Sturgis, is a literal copy of Robert Adams’s number 20 St. James Square, London, of 1772. Page 60
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Old-Time
New England
Insldc SPNEA
Facadeelevation, 15 East 51st Street, New York City, 1904. Pencil and coloredpencil on tracing paper, 253/8x 1 13/4’/411.
Codman built this house for the widowed (Griswold)
Leila Howard
Webb in 1904 and
married her in the same year. Loosely derived from the Pavillon du Roi, Place des Vosges, Paris (built after 1605), its scale was always at odds with the rest of the block. Codman
sold the house in
1911 to build 7 East 96th Street, and by 1930 it had become a bookshop. The house has since been demolished.
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Inside SPNEA
Elevation ofu conservatoryforMrs.].].
Emory, 5 East 68th Street, New York City, 1912.
Pencil on tracingpaper; 26 x 23”.
Codman had pioneered the interior use of trellis work as early as 1900 in Newport, predating the celebrated trellis room designed by Elsie de Wolfe at NewYork City’s Colony Club by five years. The Emory house had been built by Peabody and Stearns a scant sixteen years before Codman was called in to classicize its interior. The fountain was designed and executed in Paris by Jules Visseaux, Codman’s favorite decorative sculptor. Page 62
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Old-Time
New England
InsideSPNEA
Stuart A. Drake has been researching
Browne, ca. 1890, and this firm’s
Codman since the early 1970s. He has
Wayland, Massachusetts, for Frank Shaw,
a masterof arts degreein art historyfrom
1892-93. 10. Steven Ruttenbaum,
Boston University and has donegradu-
house in
Mansionsin the
Clouds:The Skyscraper Palazzi of Emery
ate work at Harvard University.
Roth (New York: Balsam Press, 1986), 34. 11. William
H. Jordy and Christopher
NOTES 1.
For information
on the last Codman
IslandArchitecturalDrawings, 1825-1945
generation at The Grange, see the special
(Providence:
issue on the house of Old-Time New
Rhode Island Historical
England71, 258 (1981). 2.
12. Information
Avenue and
Magee and George streets in Providence
Metropolitan
and had been built for Updike’s
James D. Geddes and J. L. Stanford.
grandfa-
14. A watercolor
For example, the Morton-Taylor
House in
rendering of Codman’s
the SPNEA
architect Charles Bulfinch
Protz and dated 1903. In the same year
in 1796 and
collection is signed by W.F.
razed in 1890.
Protz produced a superb watercolor
For example, the house for Oliver Ames
perspective, now in the Metropolitan
at Pride’s Crossing, Massachusetts (1904),
Museum
or the building of 3 East 89th Street and
Codman at Newport
of Art, of Faxon Lodge, built by in 1902-03
Codman Family Manuscripts
for
Frank K. Sturgis. 15. Codman’s
offIces were at 100 Chestnut
Street, Boston (1891-92);
(hereafter cited as CFMC),
Collection
53 State Street,
Boston (1893); 5 West 16th Street, New
box 216,
York (also his residence; 1893-97); 281
SPNEA Library and Archives.
Fourth Avenue (Church Missions
Pauline C. Metcalf,
“Ogden Codman, Jr.,
Building,
and T ‘ he
Old-Time New England
Fifth Avenue (Windsor Arcade, October
Grange,“’
71, 258 (1981): 68-83. Richard Morris
Hunt,
1901-May Peabody and
Stearns, Warren and Wetmore, McKim, 9.
list the names
projected east facade of The Grange in
(1913-16).
8.
Museum
Roxbury, Massachusetts, built by Boston
New York City, for Archer Huntington
7.
Codman Papers,
13. OffIce account books from 1915-16 at the
the alteration of 1083 Fifth Avenue,
6.
from Henry Hope Reed to
vol. 49, Boston Athenaeum.
This building stood at the corner of
ther by Richard Upjohn.
5.
The
Society, Rhode
David M. K. McKibben,
Parkway in Boston; the plans are undated.
4.
Brown University,
Island School of Design, 1982), 52.
This apartment house was to be built at the corner of Commonwealth
3.
P
Buildingson Paper:Rhode
Monkhouse.
and
1918). He
occupied an office in Newport,
at 18
Bellevue Avenue, as early as October 1891.
For example, the house built for General
Old-Time New England
1901); 571
1911); and 340 Madison
Avenue (May 191 l-August
Mead and White.
Strong in Washington, D.C.,
1894-September
16. Edith Wharton
by Little and
to Ogden Codman, Jr.,
May 28, 1897, folder 1671, CFMC.
1997
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