Insert Image Joseph
Barrell House (1792-1793)
Location: Somerville, Massachusetts
With the
design of the Joseph Barrell House, Bulfinch introduced French Neo-Classical
floor planning to New England. This country seat of a wealthy Boston merchant,
known as Pleasant Hill, is the first example the young architect gives
of the designs which so greatly influenced Bulfinch during his time in
Europe. Most noticeable in the plan is the oval salon on axis with the
hall and vestibule. This allowed Bulfinch to create a suite of rooms at
an a perpendicular axis, grouping, in the Adam’s mode, the formal rooms
together for convenience and ease of living. Bullfinch has the distinction,
along with James Hoban, architect of the White House, of introducing the
elliptical salon on axis into American architecture. By placing the salon
directly after the hall it created a central focus around that curved form.
It is interesting to note that Bulfinch did not continue the elliptical
projection to the second floor, where it exists as a curved portico supported
by four columns. While this may be seen as the building’s only flaw, a
refinement in Bulfinch’s style is seen in the low hip roof and roofline
balustrade which better compliment the delicate exterior ornamentation
of columns, windows and stringcourse that can be discerned from the elevation.
Again the use of the geometrical staircase complements the interior, its
curved form complementing the motif begun by the elliptical salon.