The Devoted Classicist Speaks

A Garden Room created by John Tackett Design
during a renovation in University Park, Dallas

It is hoped that all in the Baltimore area can join me on the evening of April 12, 2017, at Evergreen Museum & Library, 6:30 pm.  John J. Tackett will speak on the topic of the legendary firm Parish-Hadley and how it served as a training ground for me and dozens of other interior designers and architects.  I will also discuss current trends in residential architecture and design and take audience questions on the subject -- with cocktails and a light supper -- all in the beautiful Bakst Theatre in historic Evergreen Mansion, 4545 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21210.  The event is part of The House Beautiful Lecture Series of Johns Hopkins University.  Advance registration is required.  For more information and tickets, click here.

More on Baltimore

"View of Baltimore from Howard's Park" by George Beck, c. 1796
The Maryland Historical Society.

Continuing on my tour of some of Baltimore's highlights, the second part of the previous post of The Devoted Classicist, it was a treat to finally meet David Wiesand of Mclain Wiesand, surely one of Baltimore's most creative and talented classicist artisans.

The Baltimore showroom of Mclain Wiesand.
Photo from the firm's website.

David is phasing out his inventory of antiques and decorative accessories, but take a look at his website to see the catalogue of new home furnishings, represented in To-The-Trade Showrooms around the country.

A vintage view of the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, now the Engineer's Club.
Photo from the Maryland Historical Society.

A tour of the Engineer's Club, located in the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion on Mount Vernon Place, was a real eyeful.  Robert Garrett was the older brother of T. Harrison Garrett of Evergreen House; dead at age 49, his wealthy widow, the former Mary Frick, married her late husband's personal physician Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs.  The original house which had been expanded and remodeled by Stanford White, was expanded again by John Russell Pope who also made some alterations to the original house, eventually growing to occupy four lots.  It is all well-preserved by the club.  Although not normally open to the public, a viewing of the rooms of the main floor is permitted as schedule allows.

Peabody Institute, Baltimore.
Photograph by William Henry Jackson, Prints and Photographs Collection.

The real surprise of the day was the George Peabody Library, formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore, which opened in 1878, designed by Baltimore architect Edmund G. Lind.  I was familiar with the area because my associate Hector Alexander Samada had completed an interior design project on the top floor of a Romanesque Revival townhouse just on the other side of the Washington Monument.  But I had never been inside the library, a research facility open to the public, now part of Johns Hopkins University.

The Stack Room of the George Peabody Library.
Photo from Johns Hopkins University.

The Stack Room would rank high on the list of the most fabulous spaces open to public in the whole country.  The over 300,000 volumes, most dating from the 18th to early 20th century, cover just about every subject for research except music, a reflection of the scholarly interests of the 19th century.  This interior, along with the fashionable urban neighborhood that surrounds it, is a not-to-be-missed atttraction to visitors of Baltimore.

Evergreen House as it appeared circa 1930.
Photo from Johns Hopkins University, jhu.edu

Evergreen House Museum & Library is full of books as well, with several rooms devoted to valuable volumes.  In addition to notable architecture there are interesting furnishings and fine art throughout the mansion, too.  Although I knew about the historic house because of its influence on the legendary decorator Billy Baldwin, I had never visited it before being invited to come speak, as related in a previous blog post here.

Evergreen's ballroom-sized library addition of 1928 by Lawrence Hall Fowler
included a dumbwaiter to lower the rare coin collection into the vault.
Photo from Johns Hopkins University, jhu.edu

There are many features to interest visitors, not the least being the notable bathrooms of various styles and periods, several of which are on view during the tour.  And the kitchen is currently undergoing restoration.

A view of the Lobby area adjacent to the Theatre at Evergreen House,
with painted decoration by Leon Bakst.
Photo from Johns Hopkins University.

My talk was given in the Leon Bakst-decorated theatre which was formerly a gymnasium.  The small stage can display one of three fantastic scenic backdrops that Bakst painted, and the adjacent space, used as the theatre lobby, is covered with his designs;  the decoration is original but the white background has been refreshed.  I was happy to meet Meg Fairfax Fielding of Pigtown*Design and a number of other Devoted Readers who had come from Washington, DC, Old Town Alexandria, VA, and even one from West New York, NJ.  Also, it was a pleasure to meet the JHU architect Travers Nelson, Program Manager, Design & Construction. 

The cover of the catalog from the exhibit at Evergreen Museum & Library.
Image by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist blog.

Tours of Evergreen begin and end in the former Billiard Room in the added wing.  Believed to have been designed by Stanford White, it bears many similarities to the Parlor Stairhall from the Metcalfe House, Buffalo, designed by McKim, Mead and White now installed in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  The space is now used as the Gift Shop and contains many interesting items for sale including the books by the authors from their speaker series and publications that accompanied special Evergreen exhibitions.  Those wishing to order publications such as BALTIMORE'S BILLY BALDWIN by James Archer Abbott may do so through the link or by calling the museum.

A view of the rear of Evergreen House before the 1928 library additon on the left.
The greenhouse with its onion dome turret is no longer extant.
The theatre wing can be seen on the right, extending out towards the garden.
Photo from the Maryland Historical Society.

One of Evergreen's best attended annual events is the Alice's Wonderland Garden Party, this year to be held on Thursday, May 10, 2012.  In addition to being an evening of fun, it is a fund-raiser for the museum with additional revenue being raised with a silent auction.  There are many fine items that have been donated, not the least being a pair of Louis XVI style fauteuils with hand-painted velvet upholstery.

A pair of fauteuils stamped JANSEN to be auctioned to benefit Evergreen House
at the Alice's Wonderland Garden Party, May 10, 2012.
Photo from Evergreen Museum & Library.

In addition to the curator-director of Evergreen, Jim Abbott, I owe great thanks to Nancy Powers, Museum Services Coordinator, and Ben Renwick, Facilities and Operations Coordinator, for all their help in making my presentation a success.  It was a memorable experience, seeing the highlights of Baltimore and meeting some of its most interesting residents.

Apple Core, Baltimore

Evergreen House, Baltimore
Photo by John J. Tackett, April 25, 2012, for
The Devoted Classicist blog.

Last Wednesday was the most beautiful day in Baltimore, Maryland.  As a pre-schooler, my first association with the city's name was through the active children's game "Apple Core, Baltimore," a variation on "Red Rover," if I'm remembering correctly.  But now I associate Baltimore with early 19th century classicism.  I was in town to give a talk, A Devotion to Classicism:  The Enduring Popularity in Decorative Arts -- The South, at Evergreen House Museum & Library and was graciously shown some of the city's highlights.

Homewood House, a five-part Palladian villa in inspiration, was built
starting in 1801 as summer house for Charles Carroll, Jr., and his bride,
Harriet Chew Carroll, as a wedding gift from the groom's father,
Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Photo from HOMEWOOD HOUSE,
by Catherine Rogers Arthur and Cindy Kelly.

Homewood, a particularly outstanding example of architecture and decorative arts, is well known because of its having been recorded with measured drawings by out-of-work architects in the depths of The Great Depression for publication in GREAT GEORGIAN HOUSES IN AMERICA to benefit the Architects' Emergency Committee.  The house has been duplicated, to some degree, many times as exposition pavilions and private homes all over the country.  So I was very familiar with the house despite never seeing it in person.

The main floor plan of Homewood.
Image from HOMEWOOD HOUSE
by Catherine Rogers Arthur and Cindy Kelly.

Pictures do not do Homewood justice, however.  Originally located on 130 acres with distant views to the harbor, the siting of the main house and its relationship to the two surviving brick out-buildings, the barn/carriage house and the privy, is quite unexpected.  The scale of the house is not surprising, but the proportions, both inside and out, are even more impressive in person.

The prinicpal front of Homewood, under repair April 25, 2012.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist blog.

An exterior repair project is currently underway.  In stabilzing the entrance portico, grapevine mortar was found behind the marble steps, leading the curatorial staff to believe that there were wood steps first, with the grander marble steps coming soon afterwards.  (The son's insistence on only the finest materials and craftsmanship and the father's reaction to the cost is well-documented).  Also, it was discovered that the portico floor was built on vaults instead of ruble within the foundation walls as expected.  The museum's curator, Catherine Rogers Arthur, graciously showed me the finished attic, now used as administrative offices.  The dormers are not thought to be part of the original design, although they must have come soon afterwards as there was a fireplace.  The Madeira Garret, providing a safe, warm place for the liquor to mellow, is not part of the usual tour but delightful to see as an ususal hold-over from the past.

Wood shingles in a space below the later roof still cover the original rafters.
Photo from HOMEWOOD HOUSE
by Catherine Rogers Arthur and Cindy Kelly.

Also, it was a real treat to be invited to poke my head through a hatch (the advantage of being tall) to see the wood shingle roof in its original configuration below the existing structure, now roofed with sheets of standing seam lead-coated copper.  The original roof had an unusal form intended to collect water for cisterns, but there is evidence that it leaked almost from the beginning.  The second roof was standing seam metal, later replaced by large pieces of slate that proved too heavy for the structure.  During the 1980s renovation, the house was re-roofed in metal.


Homewood in the 1930s with a slate roof.
Photo from HOMEWOOD HOUSE
by Catherine Rogers Arthur and Cindy Kelly.

The interior of the house has been beatifully restored and furnished as part of the Johns Hopkins University museums.  The original estate is now the university's Homewood Campus.

The Carriage House at Homewood as it appeared in 1890.
Photo: JHU Museums.

The brick Carriage House, thought to have originally been a barn, survives with an adapted use by the university.  Although there was also a bath-house, dairy, smokehouse, springhouse, fenced-in well, and icehouse, the brick privy is the only other outbuilding to survive.

The location of the privy at Homewood.
Image from HOMEWOOD HOUSE
by Catherine Rogers Arthur and Cindy Kelly.

The privy, built of brick at the same time as the house but with less refined details, is impressive none-the-less.  The location is unusual, especially when viewed in person, but the siting is apparently the result of a mathematical plan, as shown in the drawing above.

The Privy at Homewood was located to the rear of the Main House,
with the interior divided into two compartments, each with its own door,
presumably for men on one side, and women & children on the other.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist blog.

The interior of the privy is also unusually high-style.  The walls are panelled in chesnut and painted "en grisaille" in imitation of stone as noted in HOMEWOOD HOUSE.  The pits below the seats are lined in stone and could be "sweetened" by the periodic addition of lime to neutralize the waste.

The Privy interior with panelled walls painted in imitation of stone.
The seats are painted white, as is the baseboard,
undoubtedly often repainted for sanitary reasons.
Also note the domed plaster ceiling.
Photo from HOMEWOOD HOUSE
by Catherine Rogers Arthur and Cindy Kelly.

The rear of Homewood during a period of repair, April 25, 2012.
This illustrates one of The Devoted Classicist's principal points of residential design:
all elevations are important.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist blog.

A nearby landmark is the Baltimore Museum of Art designed by John Russell Pope and built 1927-29 with later additions.  A remarkable example of twentieth century classicism, it has an impressive permanent collection that includes the world's largest holding of works by Henri Matisse and several period rooms, all open free to the public.  (Incidently, the museum's very popular restaurant Gertrude's served the best crabcakes I have ever eaten).

William Woodward Gallery designed by Billy Baldwin in circa 1956 view.
The Baltimore Museum of Art photo appears in the catalog to accompany
the exhibit "Baltimore's Billy Baldwin" by James Archer Abbott,
2010, at Evergreen Museum & Library.
(Contact the Evergreen Gift Shop to purchase a copy).

No post on Baltimore would be complete without at least a menion of one its most notable natives, Billy Baldwin.  Although no longer completely intact, the William Woodward Gallery at the Baltimore Museum of Art in the added Woodward Wing (by architects Wrenn, Lewis, and Jencks) reveals a sensitive and interesting approach to presentation.  Intended by benefactor Mrs. William Woodward, Sr., to showcase her late husband's renown collection of British sporting paintings in a setting that more resembled a Georgian country house hall than a typical museum gallery of the time, Baldwin was brought in to design the installation in conjunction with the patron, architect, and museum director. 

Completed in 1956, the catalog written by James Archer Abbott to accompany a 2010 exhibit at Evergreen Museum & Library, "Baltimore's Billy Baldwin," describes the walls and wood panelled wainscot painted in two tones of the same light fawn color, and upholstery fabric in red silk damask on a sofa and arm chair, with oxblood colored leather seats on the Queen Anne and Rococo side chairs.  A single scroll-arm easy/wing chair read as tribute to the departed Mr. Woodward, noted the catalog.  Baldwin personally selected the furnishings with approval from Mrs. Woodward, and it is believed that many if not all may have come from Woodward houses, according to Abbott who has done extensive research on the legendary decorator. The false fireplace with an 18th century English chimneypiece was a concession by Baldwin who generally thought such a feature was a sign of bad taste, notes author Abbott.  Several Persian carpets also added to atmosphere of a private home.  One of the most innovative features, created with the help of Baldwin's friend Joseph B.Platt who designed Hollywood sets, was a recess around the perimeter of the room's dropped plaster ceiling that concealed the illumination that washed the walls with light. eliminating the usually distracting lighting of the time.  Today, the rugs and some of the furnishings have been removed to allow the room to easily be adapted for use for special events, and the adjacent lobby, also designed by Baldwin, is now a catering pantry.

More highlights of The Devoted Classicist's trip to Baltimore will follow in the next post.

John J. Tackett To Speak At Evergreen Museum

The Entrance Vestibule of a new house in Miami Beach Florida.
Ink and colored pencil drawing by John J. Tackett, 2011.
John Tackett Design.

Baltimore-area readers of The Devoted Classicist might be interested in The House Beautiful lecture series at Evergreen Museum and Library.  On Wednesday evening, April 25, 2012, John J.Tackett will speak on the topic "A Devotion to Classicism:  The Enduring Popularity in Decorative Arts".

Evergreen, the Garrett mansion, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Photo from Evergreen Museum and Library.
www.museums.jhu.edu/evergreen.php

The presentation will be made at Evergreen, the historic Garrett mansion now one of the museums of the Johns Hopkins University, in the Baskt Theatre starting at 6:30 pm, followed by a reception in the Far East Room.

The Baskt Theatre at Evergreen as it appeared during the time of Billy Baldwin.
Photo from BILLY BALDWIN REMEMBERS.

Fans of Billy Baldwin will remember that Mrs. John W. (Alice) Garrett and her mansion Evergreen had a great influence in the legendary decorator's development in taste.  Their meeting and subsequent friendship is fondly related in Chapter 2 of BILLY BALDWIN REMEMBERS. 

Alice Garrett as a Russian peasant in a portrait by Leon Baskt.
Image from BILLY BALDWIN REMEMBERS.

It was dancing that first brought them together.  She chose Billy to be her partner in productions that she often performed for her friends in the brilliantly decorated theatre in an added wing of the house that had been converted from the former gymnasium and school room.  The first space in this annex, however, is a long gallery lined with vitrines filled with Oriental porcelains and bronzes;  formerly a billard room and bowling alley, this is now known as The Far East Room. 

The Far East Room at Evergreen Museum.
Photo from www.eventective.com.

More pictures of Evergreen can be seen in a linked post by my blogging friend Meg of Pigtown*Design.

The House Beautiful 2012 Lecture Series.

Other speakers in the series will be Hermes Mallea who will present "Great Houses of Havana:  A Century of Cuban Style" on March 28, and Donald Albrecht who will present "The American Style:  Colonial Revival And The Modern Metropolis" on May 16.  View and/or download the brochure for more information.  Seating is limited and advance ticket purchase, either for the series or the individual events, is recommended.  I am looking forward to meeting some of you in Baltimore!