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Snowden International High School (Boston Art Club)

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Boston Art Club
1881, William Ralph Emerson. 270 Dartmouth St./150 Newbury St.
  • Snowdon International High School (Boston Art Club) (NRD) (Keith Morgan)
  • (Damie Stillman)
  • (Damie Stillman)

Now maintained as a public high school, the former Boston Art Club weds the picturesque massing of the Shingle Style summer cottages for which architect William Ralph Emerson is best known with the expressive yet essentially monochromatic masonry palette explored by H. H. Richardson at Trinity Rectory (BB31) and Sever Hall at Harvard (HY13). Florid cutbrick detail, including the sunflower motif synonymous with the Queen Anne style, further enriches elevations already lively with Longmeadow-stone quoins, gables, balconies of stone and iron, and helmet-roofed dormers and turrets, the last a dramatic corner accent. Such is the vigor of the design that it has endured the loss of chimneys and absorbed the adjacent building to the west (the former Boston Bicycle Club) without detriment.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan

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