VOLUME CXXXI1DECEMBER 20, 1927NUMBER 2535
THE
AMERICAN ARCHITECT
FOUNDED 1876
AN ARCHITECTURAL OASIS
By Alfred Granger, F. A. I. A.
WITHIN the past few years much has been published about the early architecture of Ohio and other middle states. The settlements along the Ohio River and its tributaries sprang into being during the period of the so-called Greek Revival in the early years of the nineteenth century and many fine examples of this type are still standing in Marietta, Chillicothe, Zanesville and Columbus in Ohio, and in Vincennes and Evansville in Indiana; but this type of domestic architecture never really took root because of its inadaptability to the conveniences of domestic life.
The American has always been pre-eminently practical with a sub-conscious sense of beauty, but as he became prosperous he demanded creature comforts in his home and gratified his desire for beauty by demanding it in his churches, schools and institutional buildings. In the past twentyfive years he, or rather his wife, has come to require real beauty in his home, and it is due to this demand that domestic architecture in this country has reached its present high stand
ard—but that is another story—as Mr. Kipling was so fond of saying.
Almost in the center of Ohio, about midway between Columbus and Cleveland, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and only five miles from the quaint little city of Mt. Vernon, lies the village
of Gambier, the seat of
Kenyon College. I know of no other village in the United States so completely English in character and appearance or more lovely in its natural setting. The story of the selection of this spot for a seat of learning is one of real romance and adventure and it is closely interwoven with the great story of the “winning of the West” for these United States.
That portion of the country now known as the State of Ohio, was before the adoption of the Constitution, almost equally divided territorially between the states of Virginia and Connecticut, the northern half belonging to the latter state and known as the Western Reserve,” which name still clings to it in local parlance. Between 1787, the year of the Constitutional Convention,
THE CROSS COMMEMORATING BISHOP CHASE’S CHOICE OF LOCATION OF KENYON COLLEGE
(Copyright, 1927, The Architectural & Building Press, Inc.)
THE
AMERICAN ARCHITECT
FOUNDED 1876
AN ARCHITECTURAL OASIS
By Alfred Granger, F. A. I. A.
WITHIN the past few years much has been published about the early architecture of Ohio and other middle states. The settlements along the Ohio River and its tributaries sprang into being during the period of the so-called Greek Revival in the early years of the nineteenth century and many fine examples of this type are still standing in Marietta, Chillicothe, Zanesville and Columbus in Ohio, and in Vincennes and Evansville in Indiana; but this type of domestic architecture never really took root because of its inadaptability to the conveniences of domestic life.
The American has always been pre-eminently practical with a sub-conscious sense of beauty, but as he became prosperous he demanded creature comforts in his home and gratified his desire for beauty by demanding it in his churches, schools and institutional buildings. In the past twentyfive years he, or rather his wife, has come to require real beauty in his home, and it is due to this demand that domestic architecture in this country has reached its present high stand
ard—but that is another story—as Mr. Kipling was so fond of saying.
Almost in the center of Ohio, about midway between Columbus and Cleveland, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and only five miles from the quaint little city of Mt. Vernon, lies the village
of Gambier, the seat of
Kenyon College. I know of no other village in the United States so completely English in character and appearance or more lovely in its natural setting. The story of the selection of this spot for a seat of learning is one of real romance and adventure and it is closely interwoven with the great story of the “winning of the West” for these United States.
That portion of the country now known as the State of Ohio, was before the adoption of the Constitution, almost equally divided territorially between the states of Virginia and Connecticut, the northern half belonging to the latter state and known as the Western Reserve,” which name still clings to it in local parlance. Between 1787, the year of the Constitutional Convention,
THE CROSS COMMEMORATING BISHOP CHASE’S CHOICE OF LOCATION OF KENYON COLLEGE
(Copyright, 1927, The Architectural & Building Press, Inc.)