Architecture
Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson (building) and Pierre LaRose (heraldic crest). (Early 20th c., Renovation of an 1820 Federal Style structure.) Architectural historian Douglass Shand-Tucci includes an in-depth discussion of Signet's building in his history of Harvard's campus, relating the oddity that a firm known for its preeminence in Gothic Revival was utilized to renovate an 1820s Federal Style house. Regarding its distinctive features, Shand-Tucci writes “It is in feeling wildly Baroque (of all things)—a welcome touch of flamboyance for what would otherwise have been a rather staid clubhouse for the Signet… the graphic quality of Cram & Goodhue’s and LaRose’s new frontspiece is actually rather reminiscent of book design (not to mention the Palladianism of several Tory Row mansions), and centers on a two story pedimented Ionic pavilion displaying the Signet arms…. The design concept- cavalier enough, but very successful—discloses another guise of history-making in Harvard architecture: to restore the house, not as it originally was, but in LaRose’s words, as it “ought to have been.” Thus the architectural solecism of the two orders of the porch—the Doric columns and Ionic pilasters—was retained.” (p.92, "The Campus Guide: Harvard University", Princeton Architectural Press ISBN 1-56898-280-1)
Read more about this topic: Signet Society
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