North Shore Boston 
Houses of Essex County, 1865-1935
by Pamela Fox
Introduction by Jonathan Winthrop
Suburban Domestic Architecture series
9 x 12 inches, 336 pp., over 300 duotone illustrations
Clothbound, dust jacket
ISBN 978-0-926494-28-2
May 2005
Since the mid-19th century, wealthy Bostonians have migrated each summer to the fabled North Shore, drawn by cool sea breezes and the elemental splendor of the rugged coastline. Some settled in prestigious shore communities like Prides Crossing, Beverly Farms, and Manchester-by-the-Sea, constructing waterfront mansions that became progressively more elaborate as the Age of Elegance progressed. Gentleman farmers and equestrians were drawn to inland towns like Hamilton, Wenham, and Topsfield, where they assembled hundreds of acres and built grand country houses with views across the gently rolling hills of Essex County.
The exclusive Myopia Hunt Club, Eastern Yacht Club, and Essex County Club contributed to making the North Shore a summer playground for millionaires from the Midwest and across the nation. Steel baron and art collector Henry Clay Frick built a grand Newport-style summer "cottage" here, as did Chicago plumbing magnate Richard T. Crane Jr. and meat-packing mogul Edwin C. Swift. Nationally-known architects represented in this comprehensive study include David Adler; Henry Hobson Richardson; McKim, Mead and White; Peabody and Stearns; Ogden Codman Jr.; Guy Lowell; Carrerre and Hastings; and Harrie T. Lindeberg. They were joined by Boston eclecticists Arthur Little, Edmund Wheelwright, and J. Harleston Parker, in producing Tudor manor houses, Georgian mansions, and Italian villas complemented by formal gardens.
FROM THE PRESS
"Pamela Fox inspires thoughts of a more elegant time with her magnificent compilation."
—North Shore Magazine |
