The Arcade (Massachusetts)
| The Arcade | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 Exterior view of the building |
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| location | Oak Bluffs , Massachusetts , United States | ||
| Coordinates | 41 ° 27 '21.4 " N , 70 ° 33' 30" W | ||
| Built | 1871 | ||
| architect | Samuel Pratt | ||
| Architectural style | Gothic | ||
| NRHP number | 94000813 | ||
| The NRHP added | 5th August 1994 | ||
The Arcade is a 1871-built building in Oak Bluffs in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 .
architecture
The most prominent building in the area for its size and architectural details is on the west side of Circuit Avenue in the center of the Oak Bluffs business park .
Exterior design
In its original design it has a square floor plan and has three floors, which, like the roof, were built from wood on a stone foundation. A one-story extension was added to the rear in 1981; Smaller extensions on the north side date from 1880 and 1980. An open passage leads from Circuit Avenue through the middle to the rear of the building at ground level.
The two-stage saddle roof with shingles from cedar covered, and also the sides of the building are covered with wooden shingles. The first two floors extend over three bays , while the top floor forms a single bay in the middle of the building and has a steep gable roof. The two-part, wooden sliding windows are largely symmetrically distributed over the building.
The eastern facade is dominated by a porch rising over all three floors, which forms a veranda on each floor and is decorated with Gothic details - including artfully carved verges and balustrades . On the ground floor there are shop windows of local shops to the left and right of the passage.
The north of the two shops has been protruding to the pillars of the porch since 1890. The entrance and the shop windows were changed several times over the years, until they lost all historical reference by 1980. In 1981 they were returned to their original appearance together with other parts of the house as part of an extensive restoration program. The facade of the southern shop consists of a large, one-piece shop window and a side entrance with a glazed wooden door.
On the first floor there is an entrance in the middle with an ogival double door, which is immediately flanked on both sides by smaller windows. To the left and right of the door there are also sliding windows to the rooms behind. The upper end of all three openings are formed by protruding gable triangles with cut out ornaments. On the third floor there is a round window above the centrally placed entrance. The door is flanked by two narrow sliding windows. The other sides of the building are much less elaborate and hardly have any decorations.
Interior design
The original plans of the room layout on the ground floor of the building have not been preserved. It is known, however, that as early as 1884 several commercial shops had settled on the ground floor; While there was a single shop on the north side of the passage, there were three smaller rooms on the south side, which were probably occupied by different tenants. The sales rooms have been continuously changed over the years and walls have been added or removed. Today the southern area again has three individual business rooms, which correspond to the historical model in their division. The central staircase has been preserved in its original form and was also restored in 1981. The business area north of the passageway is divided into two rooms, which now house a restaurant.
The original blueprints are still largely available for the two upper floors. It can be deduced from them that office space was most likely located there. In 1980 the first floor was converted into an apartment and the third floor was divided into smaller rooms. In the course of the restoration, the first floor was divided into two apartments in 1981, with an essential goal being to restore the original appearance. A single apartment was set up on the third floor.
Historical meaning
The building dates from the time the city was founded and, along with the Union Chapel, is one of only two structures by the architect and inventor Samuel Pratt that remain in Oak Bluffs. It is an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic architecture as it has all the major design features of that style. These include in particular the multi-storey porch with carved ornaments on the balustrades, the richly decorated window gables, the carved verges and the ornate arches. However, Pratt was commercially successful with the invention and patenting of a sewing machine.
Before 1866 there was nothing where Oak Bluffs is today but a notorious Methodist camp established in 1835 at Wesleyan Grove . In the 1860s this attracted a large number of middle-class visitors who came from Boston and the surrounding cities and used the place as a summer retreat; In 1868 there were already around 600 rented tent and residential properties.
In 1866, six people, four of whom were from the island, founded the Oak Bluff Land & Wharf Company with the aim of turning this attraction into economic profit by founding a secular vacation spot. The company acquired 75 acres (30.4 hectares ) of land immediately adjacent to Methodist territory from its co-founder, Shubael Norton . In 1867 the company built a small jetty in Nantucket Sound and divided the land available to them into a total of 1,000 individual parcels .
They hired Boston landscape architect Robert Morris Copeland to design the streets and basic layout of the new community. Up to this point Copeland was best known for cemeteries in Concord , Waltham and Gloucester , which he had designed together with HWS Cleveland in the 1850s. His design for Oak Bluffs (until 1907 Cottage City ) was possibly the first, but in any case one of the first planning work for residential areas in the USA.
The formation of the Land & Wharf Company led Methodists to fear that the secular activities in the immediate vicinity might compromise the serenity and purpose of the camp. They threatened to relocate the camp, but the company was able to reassure them with the assurance that they would only sell the building plots under notarized restrictions - some of which are still valid today. The land was only allowed to be used for the construction of family houses, the grantor of the license retained the right to refuse or resell, no alcohol was allowed to be produced or sold and gambling, the production of goods and trade were prohibited. In addition, the holy Sabbath was preserved, as ships were not allowed to dock on Sundays and restaurants had to remain closed.
In the first two years, however, the properties sold only slowly, so that in 1867 only five houses had been built. In 1868 another seven houses and 30 tents followed, in 1869 60 new houses could be built. The Gothic-style houses built by the Methodists were modeled on the new settlers, so most of the houses in Oak Bluffs also had this style.
By 1870, the Land & Wharf Company had gained so much confidence in their venture that they began building their own homes. The first in this series was The Arcade, completed in 1871 and also designed by Samuel Pratt, in which the company set up its offices and from there controlled the development of the city. The one-level passageway in the center of the building connected the Methodist camp to the center of the Oak Bluffs business park.
The Arcade building changed hands several times until it was completely owned by William H. Pearson in 1922. It was the first house in what would later become the city's industrial park and is still the most outstanding building on Circuit Avenue to this day. From 1879 to the beginning of the 20th century it contained the local post office, later also the library and shops that changed several times. It is still used as a commercial building today.
See also
literature
- Beard, Christine S .: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. ( PDF ) National Park Service , June 28, 1994, accessed on March 12, 2015 (English, accessible via the "NR" button).