Description:
Fanlight from the Leavitt-Hovey House, Greenfield (now the Greenfield Public Library), which was designed by Asher Benjamin (1773-1845) circa 1797. Asher Benjamin probably apprenticed as a house-wright; by 1795, he designed and built a circular staircase in the Charles-Bulfinch designed Connecticut State Capital in Hartford, the first such staircase to be built in New England. After moving to Greenfield, Mass. in 1796, he completed at least two imposing house, and published the "Country Builder's Assistant in 1797, which is widely recognized as the first American architectural handbook; in 1798 he designed and built the original Deerfield Academy. Benjamin moved to Windsor, Vermont, in 1799, and to Boston in 1803, where he continued to work as an architect and author. He published pattern books (7 in 47 different editions between 1797 and his death in 1845) and builders' guides that both established and spread popular taste in Federal or Roman classical architecture in New England in the earlier books and the Greek Revival style of the later books throughout the eastern United States. The window was repaired by Julian Goralski, Historic Deerfield Maintenance Department, Summer 1998.
Label Text:
A pair of elliptical fanlights is incorporated into the facades of flanking pavilions attached to the 1797 Leavitt house in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Although Asher Benjamin’s tenure in Greenfield was short-lived (c.1796-1798), he managed to design and construct several imposing houses in the emerging neoclassical style, including the Leavitt house, while also compiling the first American builders guide, The Country Builder’s Assistant. That publication, along with his later builder’s guides, became influential in popularizing the new Federal style of architecture in which the elliptical form became a key design element. The Leavitt house with its paired pavilions and the nearby Benjamin-designed Coleman house, were cutting edge, and signaled the beginning of a new style of domestic architecture in the region and beyond. This house provided an elegant setting for Sarah Leavitt’s pole screen (HD 2007.19).
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+77.149 |
