You are here

Metropolitan Boston » Cambridge » Brattle Street » Mrs. Edwin Stoughton House

Mrs. Edwin Stoughton House

-A A +A
1882–1883, Henry Hobson Richardson; 1900, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. 90 Brattle St.
  • Mrs. Edwin Stoughton House (Keith Morgan)
  • (Damie Stillman)
  • (Damie Stillman)
  • (Damie Stillman)
  • (Damie Stillman)

A masterpiece of domestic architecture, the Stoughton House was Richardson's purest engagement with the American Shingle tradition. The thin envelope of wood and shingles covers the roof and wraps an open interior plan focused on the living hall behind the conical stair tower. Richardson emphasized simple solid-void relationships, best seen in the central horizontal band of windows surmounting the inset porch. It was built for the mother of Harvard historian John Fiske. In 1900 Fiske commissioned Richardson's successor firm to add a wing for his library on the west end. Set behind a brick wall that unfortunately limits views of the main elevation, the house has been beautifully restored.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
×

Data

What's Nearby

9 Ash Street
Henry Vassall House
Burleigh House
Episcopal Divinity School (Episcopal Theological School)
Oliver Hastings House

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "Mrs. Edwin Stoughton House", [Cambridge, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-BS3.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 348-348.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,