Architecture
The White-Ellery House is one of just a few First Period (c. 1620-1725) houses in eastern Massachusetts that survives intact to this day. It is a 2 ½ story “saltbox” structure with a massive central chimney that once serviced six fireplaces. The building has vertical plank frame construction with an integral lean-to roof. There is a framed overhang on the front façade and rare examples of raised-field paneled doors between rooms on the first floor. The Renaissance-inspired architectural features illustrate the transition from European building traditions to early American ones. Inside there are several examples of early decorative detail, including three different examples of painted wall decoration, elaborate chamfering (decorative plane work) on ceiling beams and one of the most highly developed front staircases of the period in eastern Massachusetts.
Read more about this topic: White-Ellery House
Famous quotes containing the word architecture:
“It seems a fantastic paradox, but it is nevertheless a most important truth, that no architecture can be truly noble which is not imperfect.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)
“Art is a jealous mistress, and if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider, and should be wise in season and not fetter himself with duties which will embitter his days and spoil him for his proper work.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“No architecture is so haughty as that which is simple.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)