Guy Lowell (August 6 1870 – February 4 1927),
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
, was the son of Mary Walcott (Goodrich) and
Edward Jackson LowellEdward Jackson Lowell , a grandson of Francis Cabot Lowell, graduated from Harvard College in 1867.He was admitted to the Suffolk County, Massachusetts bar in 1872, and practised law for a few years.He wrote:,,...
, and a member of Boston's well-known
Lowell familyThe Lowell family settled on the North Shore at Cape Ann after they arrived in Boston on June 23, 1639. The patriarch, Percival Lowle , described as a "solid citizen of Bristol", determined at the age of 68 that the future was in the New World.Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop needed...
.
As
Percival LowellPercival Lawrence Lowell was a businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death...
's third cousin, Guy became the sole trustee of the
Lowell ObservatoryLowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell Observatory is among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965....
after his cousin's death in 1916. His combined practice of architecture and landscape design was perhaps sparked by his father-in-law,
Charles Sprague SargentCharles Sprague Sargent was an American botanist. He was the first director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, and the standard botanical author abbreviation Sarg. is applied to plants he described....
, the first director of the Arnold Arboretum.
Biography
Guy Lowell, born in 1870, was a noted New England architect and teacher of landscape architecture at the Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT). Lowell graduated from
Harvard CollegeHarvard College is one of two undergraduate degree granting schools, and the oldest school, of Harvard University, a private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature...
in 1892, and received his degree in architecture from
MITThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research...
in 1894. He then studied landscape and horticulture at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, KewThe Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. The director is Professor Stephen D. Hopper, who succeeded Professor Sir Peter Crane...
, and architectural history and landscape architecture at the
École des Beaux-ArtsÉcole des Beaux-Arts ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement...
in Paris, with diplomé in 1899. In the middle of these studies he married Henrietta Sargent, the daughter of the director of Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, Charles S. Sargent, of
Brookline, MassachusettsBrookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 57,107.-Etymology:...
on May 17, 1898.
Returning to the United States, Lowell opened his own practice in Boston in 1899 and was successful immediately. By 1906, he had opened a branch office in New York, and later split each week between New York and Boston. His commissions included large public, academic and commercial buildings, as well as many distinctive residences, country estates and formal gardens. He also worked on the
Charles RiverThe Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, USA. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton to Boston on the Atlantic Ocean.-Route:...
esplanades in collaboration with Charles Eliot. Lowell is perhaps most recognized for his design of two public buildings, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1906–09 and later additions) and the
New York State Supreme Court buildingThe Supreme Court of the State of New York is New York State's trial court, and is of general jurisdiction. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
(1912–1914 and 1919–1927). Some of his other commissions included Lowell Lecture Hall at Harvard, and academic buildings at
Phillips Academy AndoverPhillips Academy is a co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12...
,
Simmons CollegeSimmons College is a women's college in Boston, Massachusetts. Simmons is noted for its emphasis on pre-professional undergraduate education.-History:...
, and
Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
.
Guy's work on
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
's
President's HousePresident's House, found at 17 Quincy Street, served as a residence for Harvard Presidents until 1971, when Derek Bok moved his family to Elmwood. In 1995, the building was renamed, and is currently known as Loeb House.-History:...
was commissioned by his cousin,
Abbott Lawrence LowellAbbott Lawrence Lowell was a U.S. educator, historian, and President of Harvard University ....
, during his tenure as Harvard President (1909–1933). The house remained the residence of succeeding presidents until 1971 when
Derek BokDerek Curtis Bok is an American lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University.Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Stanford University , Harvard Law School , and George Washington University...
(1971–1991) moved his young family to the bucolic grounds of the Elmwood colonial mansion. Interestingly, Elmwood was the lifelong home of another of Guy's ancestors, the celebrated American writer, poet, and foreign diplomat
James Russell LowellJames Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets...
(1819–1891).
Lowell also made a name for himself as a landscape architect. His obituary in the New York Times notes that he designed or "fitted up" gardens for the elder J. Pierpont Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and the Piping Rock Club. Additional garden-related projects included those of T. Jefferson Coolidge, Mrs. Oscar lasigi in stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Payne Whitney in Manhasett on Long island. Lowell designed many of the gardens and grounds for his numerous residential commissions as an architect, but the most significant project appears to have been the grounds of Harbor Hill (1905); the estate may have been Lowell's largest landscape architecture commission.
It is in the area of education that Lowell left his lasting mark on the profession of landscape architecture. He founded the shortlived, but influential, landscape architecture program at MIT (1900-1910). under his guidance, the program developed as a synthesis of French planning ideals and Italian garden design, with a significant emphasis on horticulture and engineering. The first students graduated from the program in 1902. It was an undergraduate option from 1900 until 1904 and it continued as a graduate course until 1909, with Lowell offering instruction in landscape architecture until 1912. (He donated his services, asking that his salary be turned over to the Architecture Department.) He taught an important group of landscape architects their trade including Mabel Keyes Babcock (1862-1931), George Elberton Burnap (1885-1938), Marian Cruger Coffin (1876-1957), Martha Brookes Hutcheson (1871-1959), and Rose Standish Nichols. Lowell's program at MIT provided educational opportunities in landscape architecture for women that they could not find elsewhere; many of his female students went on to become outstanding practitioners.
Lowell also published several books including
American Gardens (1902),
Smaller Italian Villas and Farmhouses (1916), and
More Small Italian Villas and Farmhouses (1920). He also contributed to
American Gardens, a photographic magazine.
Guy Lowell died in the Madeira Islands.
Major buildings and gardens
- 1902 Lowell Lecture Hall, Harvard University
Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
, Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
- 1906 Fox
The Fox Club is a male-only club at Harvard University. The Club was founded in 1898 as the Digamma Club. The name "Fox" and the club’s symbol, a rampant fox carrying the letter "F" grew from the similarity between the Greek character for Digamma, HJH, and the letter F. The club is located at 44...
Clubhouse, 44 JFK Street (formerly 44 Boylston), Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
, Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
- 1904 Emerson Hall, Harvard University
Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
, Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
- 1909 Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
- 1912 Natirar
Natirar 491 acres is an estate spanning Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills and Bedminster, New Jersey. In 2003 it was sold by the estate of His Majesty, Hassan II, late King of Morocco, to Somerset County, New Jersey, and is now administered by the Somerset County Park Commission...
, Somerset Hills, New Jersey
- 1913 New York State Supreme Courthouse
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is New York State's trial court, and is of general jurisdiction. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
, New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
- 1913 Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, New York
- 1929 Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club is a private marina and sailing club founded in 1914 and located on the shore of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. It originated in 1914 through the efforts of a group of 25 sailing and iceboating enthusiasts....
, Grosse Pointe Shores, MichiganGrosse Pointe Shores is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. With only 1.1 mi² land area, the city is the smallest of the five Grosse Pointe communities. The city, which is entirely residential, is the location of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club on Lake Saint Clair. The population was 2,823 at the...
Other selected buildings
- 1900 13 Follen Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
, built for Alice Lowell Ropes
- 1901 Tupper Hall (now part of Endicott College
Endicott College is a college located in Beverly, Massachusetts.- History :Endicott was founded in 1939 by Eleanor Tupper and her husband, George O. Bierkoe, as a two-year women’s college. The college was issued its first charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in that year and graduated its...
), Beverly, MassachusettsBeverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,862 at the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing.-History:...
- 1904 Spring Lawn
Spring Lawn is a historic home on Kemble Street in Lenox, Masschusetts. Built in 1904 for John Alexandre, the mansion is considered a unique blend of Beaux-Arts and Classical Revival styles. Spring Lawn was designed by Guy Lowell who was also the architect of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the...
, Kemble Street, Lenox, MassachusettsLenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Set in Western Massachusetts, it is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,077 at the 2000 census. It is the site of Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
- 1907 Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 72,958 at the 2000 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.-History:Pawtucket was the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution...
- 1907 Unitarian Church of Barnstable, Cobb's Hill, Barnstable Village, Massachusetts
- 1909 New Hampshire Historical Society building, 30 Park Street, Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2000 census, its population was 40,765. Its estimated population in 2007 was 42,392.Concord includes the villages of Penacook, East Concord and West...
; the pediment contains sculpture by Daniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Biography:...
that includes the Society's crest flanked by figures representing Modern History and Ancient History
- 1911 Piping Rock Clubhouse, Locust Valley, New York
Locust Valley is a hamlet located in Nassau County, New York. Locust Valley is an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay...
- 1912 Harvard University
Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
President's HousePresident's House, found at 17 Quincy Street, served as a residence for Harvard Presidents until 1971, when Derek Bok moved his family to Elmwood. In 1995, the building was renamed, and is currently known as Loeb House.-History:...
, Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
- 1915 Boscawen Public Library, Boscawen, New Hampshire
Boscawen is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,672 at the 2000 census.- History :The town was incorporated in 1760, named for British Admiral Lord Edward Boscawen....
- 1921 Community House, Hamilton, Massachusetts
Hamilton is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,315 at the 2000 census.- History :Hamilton was first settled in 1638 and was originally a section of Ipswich known as “The Hamlet.” The town was incorporated on June 21, 1793 and named for Alexander Hamilton,...
- 1922 Fuller Memorial Bell Tower, Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12...
, Andover, MassachusettsAndover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....