Asher Benjamin 2351374 198178581 2008-03-14T12:32:27Z Habashia 5243567 [[Image:Asher Benjamin.jpg|thumb|right|Asher Benjamin]] '''Asher Benjamin''' ([[June 15]], [[1773]] – [[July 26]], [[1845]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[architect]] and author whose work transitioned between [[Federal style architecture]] and the later [[Greek Revival]]. His 7 handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout [[New England]] until the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Builders also copied his plans in the [[Midwest]] and in the [[Southern United States|South]]. ==Life and work== [[Image:Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, MA.jpg|thumb|right|Leavitt-Hoyt House, 1797, now the Greenfield Public Library]] Asher Benjamin was born in rural [[Hartland, Connecticut]], shortly after which his father died. The first 30 years of his life would be spent in the [[Connecticut River Valley]]. He received his early training from a local builder, and showed an aptitude for architecture by carving [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[capital (architecture)|capitals]] for the 1794 modifications to the [[Oliver Phelps]] House at [[Suffield, Connecticut]]. In 1795-1796 he designed and built a stone [[spiral]] [[staircase]] in the [[Old State House (Hartford)|Old State House]] at [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], which had been designed by [[Charles Bulfinch]]. The latter's use of overall [[symmetry]], [[blind arch]]es, [[fanlight]]s and smooth brick greatly influenced Benjamin, who would help spread the urbane Federal style into the countryside. [[Gideon Granger]] would write of Benjamin that: :"From a poor boy unaided by friends, by his indefatigable industry and talents in a few years he has raised himself to the first rank of his profession." He first settled in [[Greenfield, Massachusetts]], where he built 2 large houses and published his first handbook, ''The Country Builder's Assistant'' (1797). On [[November 30]], [[1797]], he married Achsah Hitchcock of [[Brookfield, Massachusetts|Brookfield]], who bore him 4 children. He would move to [[Windsor, Vermont]], where he built 3 large houses and the Old South Congregational Church (1798). By 1803, he was in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]. Listed in the city directory as a housewright, he designed numerous churches and houses. He also appears to have conducted the country's first architecture school, credited with teaching Robert Henry Eddy, Elias Carter, [[Solomon Willard]], Samuel Shepherd and [[Ithiel Town]]. After his first wife died on [[January 30]], [[1805]], on [[July 24]] he married Nancy Bryant of [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], who bore him another 4 children. [[Image:Asher Benjamin, House Design.jpg|thumb|left|Federal style house, from ''The Country Builder's Assistant'', 1797]] In 1823 and 1824, Benjamin was elected [[alderman]] of Boston as part of the "Middling Interest," a coalition of middle class entrepreneurs and artisans opposed to the [[Federalism (United States)|Federalists]], and who supported [[Josiah Quincy]] for mayor. He would help Mayor Quincy and [[Alexander Parris]] plan [[Quincy Market]]. But his political ambitions were curtailed by financial problems, which led to [[bankruptcy]] in 1825. From 1825-1827 he left Boston to supervise construction of [[lock (water transport)|locks]], [[canal]]s, roads and mill buildings for the [[Nashua Manufacturing Company]] in [[Nashua, New Hampshire]]. He also designed 2 churches there before returning to Boston. Benjamin's greatest influence, however, is due to his pattern books. They were the first written by an American architect, bringing architectural history, style and geometry to ordinary builders in the field. He adapted many designs by [[James Gibbs]] and [[Colen Campbell]] of [[Great Britain]] to fit the scale and finances of New England communities. These handbooks provided superb drawings and practical advice for full house plans, including such details as circular staircases, doorways, [[fireplace mantel]]s, [[dormer window]]s, [[pilaster]]s, [[baluster]]s and [[fence]]s. He sketched proposals for dwellings and churches, even a courthouse. The archeological sources of his designs were scrupulously cited, from the [[Temple of Hephaestus]] in [[Athens]] to the [[Arch of Titus]] in [[Rome]]. Other architects, including Ithiel Town and [[Ammi B. Young]], freely assimilated his plans, as did innumerable carpenters. Indeed, the charm of many early New England towns owes a debt to Asher Benjamin. The Ridge in [[Orford, New Hampshire]] features a series of houses based on designs from his books, many of which remain in print. And although he helped disseminate the Federal style, he was not averse to changing fashion. In fact, his book published in 1830, ''The Architect, or, Practical House Carpenter'', helped redirect American taste towards the Greek Revival. But as architectural historian Talbot Hamlin writes: :"...he, more than any other person is responsible for the character we roughly call 'Late Colonial'; his moldings, his doors and windows and his mantels and cornices decorate or at least inspire the decorations of numberless houses up and down the New England coast and in the New England river valleys." Asher Benjamin died in Springfield at the age of 72. ==Books== * ''The Country Builder's Assistant'', 1797 * ''The American Builder's Companion'', with Daniel Raynerd, 1806 * ''The Rudiments of Architecture'', 1814 * ''The Architect, or, Practical House Carpenter'', 1830 * ''The Practice of Architecture'', 1833 * ''The Builder's Guide'', 1838 * ''The Elements of Architecture'', 1843 ==Designs== [[Image:Asa Waters House, Millbury, MA.jpg|thumb|right|Asa Waters House, 1826, Millbury, Massachusetts]] [[Image:Asher Benjamin, Ionic Order.jpg|thumb|right|Ionic order, from ''The Architect, or, Practical House Carpenter'' 1830]] [[Image:Unitarian Church, Nashua, NH.jpg|thumb|right|Unitarian Church, 1827, Nashua, New Hampshire]] * 1796 -- Luke Baldwin House, Brookfield, Massachusetts (demolished) * 1796 -- Samuel Hinckley House, [[Northampton, Massachusetts]] (demolished) * 1796-1797 -- Coleman-Hollister House, Greenfield, Massachusetts * 1797 -- Leavitt-Hovey House (now Greenfield Public Library), Greenfield, Massachusetts * 1797-1798 -- First Deerfield Academy Building (now Memorial Hall), Deerfield, Massachusetts * 1798-1799 -- Stebbins House, Deerfield, Massachusetts * 1798 -- Old South Congregational Church, Windsor, Vermont * 1800 -- Fullerton House, Windsor, Vermont (demolished) * 1802 -- Harriet Lane House, Windsor, Vermont (demolished) * 1803 -- Hubbard House, Windsor, Vermont (demolished) * 1804 -- [[Charles Street Meeting House]], 70 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1806 -- [[Old West Church, Boston, Massachusetts|Old West Church]], 131 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1808 -- Colburn House, 54-55 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1808 -- 60 or 61 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1808 -- Fourth Meeting House of the First Church, Chauncy Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1811 -- Alexander House, Springfield, Massachusetts * 1811-1812 -- Fourth Meeting House, Northampton, Massachusetts (demolished) * 1812-1814 -- Center Church, [[New Haven, Connecticut]] (with [[Ithiel Town]]) * 1817 -- Rhode Island Union Bank, [[Newport, Rhode Island]] (demolished) * 1820 -- Ransom Stiles House, [[Argyle, New York]] * 1826-1832 -- Asa Waters House, [[Millbury, Massachusetts]] * 1827 -- Unitarian Church, Canal Street, Nashua, New Hampshire * 1827 -- Olive Street Church, Nashua, New Hampshire (demolished) * 1828 -- 70-75 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1830 -- Isaac Munson House, [[Wallingford, Vermont|South Wallingford, Vermont]] * 1832 -- Cambridgeport Town Hall, [[Cambridgeport, Massachusetts]] (demolished) * 1833 -- Asher Benjamin House, 9 West Cedar Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1833 -- 7 West Cedar Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1834 -- Thatcher Magoun Mansion, [[Medford, Massachusetts]] (demolished) * 1835 -- Lexington-Concord Battle Monument, [[Peabody, Massachusetts]] * 1836 -- Dr. George Shattuck Monument, [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]], Massachusetts * 1836 -- William Ellery Channing House, 83 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1836 -- ''Forest Home'', the F. O. J. Smith House, [[Westbrook, Maine]] (demolished) * 1837 -- Proposal for the Custom House, Boston, Massachusetts (competition lost to [[Ammi B. Young]]) * 1838-1839 -- Fifth Universalist Church (now the [[Charles Playhouse]]), 74 Warrenton Street, Boston, Massachusetts * 1840 -- Richmond Street Church, [[Dorchester, Massachusetts]] (demolished) * 1841 -- Edmund Hastings House, Medford, Massachusetts (demolished) ==Gallery== <gallery> Image:Charles Street Meeting House, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts.JPG|Charles Street Meeting House (1804), Boston Image:Old West Church, Boston (Asher Benjamin, 1806).JPG|Old West Church (1806), Boston </gallery> ==References== * Mary Wallace Crocker, "Asher Benjamin: The Influence of His Handbooks on Mississippi Buildings," ''The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 38, No. 3 (October, 1979); pp. 266-270 * Florence Thompson Howe, "More About Asher Benjamin;" ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 13, No. 3, (October, 1954); pp. 16-19 * Juliette Tomlinson, "Asher Benjamin -- Connecticut Architect," ''Connecticut Antiquarian 6'' (1954) ==External links== * [http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=charlesStreetMtgHouse Charles Street Meeting House (1804)] * [http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/activities/architecture/coleman.html Coleman-Hollister House (1796-1797)] * [http://www.spnea.org/resources/articles/pdf523.pdf Samuel Hinckley House (1796)] * [http://www.stileshouse.org/History/ History of the Stiles House (c. 1820)] {{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Asher}} [[Category:1773 births]] [[Category:1845 deaths]] [[Category:American architects]] [[Category:People from Connecticut]] [[Category:People from Massachusetts]] [[Category:People from Franklin County, Massachusetts]] [[Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts]] [[fr:Asher Benjamin]]