Samuel McIntire
Encyclopedia
Samuel McIntyre was an American
architect
and craftsman
, Chestnut Street District
, a legacy to one of the earliest architects in the United States, Samuel McIntyre is a primary example of Federal style architecture.
Born in Salem
, Massachusetts
to housewright Joseph McIntyre and Sarah (Ruck), he was a woodcarver by trade who grew into the practice of architecture
. He married Elizabeth Field on October 10, 1778, and had one son. He built a simple home and workshop on Summer Street in 1786.
Starting about 1780, McIntyre was hired by Salem's pre-eminent merchant
and America's first millionaire
, Elias Hasket Derby
, for whose extended family he built or remodeled a series of houses. McIntyre taught himself the Palladian style
of architecture from books, and soon had a reputation among the city's elite for designing elegant homes. In 1792, he entered a proposal in the competition for the United States Capitol
.
After 1797, McIntyre worked in the style of Boston architect Charles Bulfinch
, who had made fashionable here the neoclassical
manner of Scottish
architect Robert Adam
. Unlike Bulfinch, however, whose designs were featured across the East Coast
, McIntyre built almost exclusively in New England
. His wooden or brick houses were typically 3 stories tall, each with 4 rooms around a central hall. In 1799, he went into business with his brothers, Joseph and Angier McIntyre, who erected the structures, while at the workshop he oversaw various ornamentations, including the swags, rosettes
, garlands and sheaves of wheat which dominate their interior wooden surfaces. McIntyre's Salem works include the Peirce-Nichols, the Peabody-Silsbee, the Gardner-White-Pingree, and the Elias Haskett Derby residences. His public buildings, all in Salem, are Assembly Hall, Hamilton Hall
, Washington Hall and the courthouse (the latter 2 demolished).
He was a skilled artisan
, especially in furniture, and his skill extended to sculpting. Among his works are busts
of Voltaire
and John Winthrop
, the first governor of Massachusetts. Both are now owned by the American Antiquarian Society
in Worcester, Massachusetts
.
McIntire's grave is in the Burying Point Cemetery, Salem, where his epitaph reads:
. Containing 407 buildings, it is the city's largest and this district is the location of the largest collection of homes from this colonial period in all of America. Samuel McIntyre house and workshop was located Summer Street, at the intersection of Chestnut Street where many grand mansions designed by Samuel McIntyre display the profits of the Old China Trade
these streets display the roots of the Colonial history of the United States in what is now the
The Samuel McIntyre Historic District represents the greatest concentration of 17th and 18th century domestic structures anywhere in America. It includes McIntyre commissions such as the Peirce-Nichols House and Hamilton Hall. The Witch House or Jonathan Corwin House (circa 1642) is also located in the District. Samuel McIntyre's house was located at 31 Summer Street in what is now the Samuel McIntyre Historic District.
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5401630. The price set a world record for Federal furniture. McIntyre was one of the first architects in the United States and his work represents a prime example of early Federal-style architecture.
Elias Hasket Derby
, Salem's wealthiest merchant and thought to be America's first millionaire, and his wife, Elizabeth Crowninshield, purchased eight chairs as a set that were hand-made and hand-carved in the late 18th century.http://antiquesandartireland.com/2011/01/antique-furniture-record/.
Established in 1981, this district incorporates two previously established districts, the Chestnut Street Historic District (1971) and the Federal Street Area Historic District (1976), with the addition of some 249 structures on upper Essex, Broad, and Warren Streets, Dalton Parkway, and various cross and side streets in between.
The district is named for Salem's celebrated architect-carver, Samuel McIntire, who lived at 31 Summer Street. His first major commission, the Peirce-Nichols House (1782), and several of his mature works including Hamilton Hall (1805), are among the buildings preserved within the district.
This densely settled residential area of the city contains one of the greatest concentrations of notable pre-1900 domestic structures extant in the U.S. With few exceptions, the major architectural styles common to the region during the 1640-1940 period are represented. Of particular interest are the numerous Federal Era townhouses lining Chestnut Street. Collectively, they stand as a monument to the mercantile and maritime ascendancy of Salem in the latter 18th and early 19th centuries and constitute one of the most beautiful streetscapes in America.
The district also includes three churches, the Broad Street Burial Ground (1655) and Friends' Cemetery, several monuments, and the first Salem State Normal School Building (1854).
Interactive Tour of McIntire's Salem
Take an interactive journey through historic Salem, Massachusetts to visit the distinctive buildings designed by Samuel McIntire. An 1820’s map will be your guide to explore private and public buildings, architectural drawings, elaborate interior carvings and furniture, all part of this unique tour. This map is provided by the oldest museum in America, located in Salem and opened since 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum is the largest owner of homes designed by McIntire.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and craftsman
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
, Chestnut Street District
Chestnut Street District
Chestnut Street District is a historic district bounded roughly by Broad, Flint, Federal, and Summer Streets in Salem, Massachusetts. The Chestnut Street District is also known at the Samuel McIntyre Historic District, created in 1981 and containing 407 buildings, it is the city's largest district...
, a legacy to one of the earliest architects in the United States, Samuel McIntyre is a primary example of Federal style architecture.
Born in Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
to housewright Joseph McIntyre and Sarah (Ruck), he was a woodcarver by trade who grew into the practice of architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. He married Elizabeth Field on October 10, 1778, and had one son. He built a simple home and workshop on Summer Street in 1786.
Starting about 1780, McIntyre was hired by Salem's pre-eminent merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and America's first millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
, Elias Hasket Derby
Elias Hasket Derby
Elias Hasket Derby was among the wealthiest and most celebrated of post-Revolutionary merchants in Salem, Massachusetts, and owner of the Grand Turk, the first New England vessel to trade directly with China....
, for whose extended family he built or remodeled a series of houses. McIntyre taught himself the Palladian style
Palladian architecture
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
of architecture from books, and soon had a reputation among the city's elite for designing elegant homes. In 1792, he entered a proposal in the competition for the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
.
After 1797, McIntyre worked in the style of Boston architect Charles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession....
, who had made fashionable here the neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
manner of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
architect Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
. Unlike Bulfinch, however, whose designs were featured across the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, McIntyre built almost exclusively in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. His wooden or brick houses were typically 3 stories tall, each with 4 rooms around a central hall. In 1799, he went into business with his brothers, Joseph and Angier McIntyre, who erected the structures, while at the workshop he oversaw various ornamentations, including the swags, rosettes
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
, garlands and sheaves of wheat which dominate their interior wooden surfaces. McIntyre's Salem works include the Peirce-Nichols, the Peabody-Silsbee, the Gardner-White-Pingree, and the Elias Haskett Derby residences. His public buildings, all in Salem, are Assembly Hall, Hamilton Hall
Hamilton Hall (Salem, Massachusetts)
Hamilton Hall is a National Historic Landmark at 9 Chestnut Street in Salem, Massachusetts in the Chestnut Street District in Salem, Massachusetts. Hamilton Hall is over 200 years old and is still used by many for events, private functions, wedding and is also home to a series of lectures that...
, Washington Hall and the courthouse (the latter 2 demolished).
He was a skilled artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
, especially in furniture, and his skill extended to sculpting. Among his works are busts
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and John Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
, the first governor of Massachusetts. Both are now owned by the American Antiquarian Society
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society , located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and national research library of pre-twentieth century American History and culture. Its main building, known also as Antiquarian Hall, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
.
McIntire's grave is in the Burying Point Cemetery, Salem, where his epitaph reads:
- In Memory of Mr. Samuel McIntyre who died Feb. 6, 1811, Æt. 54. He was distinguished for Genius in Architecture, Sculpture, and Musick: Modest and sweet Manners rendered him pleasing: Industry, and Integrity respectable: He professed the Religion of Jesus in his entrance on manly life; and proved its excellence by virtuous Principle and unblemished conduct.
Samuel McIntyre Historic District
In 1981, Salem created the Samuel McIntyre Historic DistrictHistoric district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....
. Containing 407 buildings, it is the city's largest and this district is the location of the largest collection of homes from this colonial period in all of America. Samuel McIntyre house and workshop was located Summer Street, at the intersection of Chestnut Street where many grand mansions designed by Samuel McIntyre display the profits of the Old China Trade
Old China Trade
The Old China Trade was the name given to the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghsia in 1844...
these streets display the roots of the Colonial history of the United States in what is now the
The Samuel McIntyre Historic District represents the greatest concentration of 17th and 18th century domestic structures anywhere in America. It includes McIntyre commissions such as the Peirce-Nichols House and Hamilton Hall. The Witch House or Jonathan Corwin House (circa 1642) is also located in the District. Samuel McIntyre's house was located at 31 Summer Street in what is now the Samuel McIntyre Historic District.
World Record for Federal Furniture by Samuel McIntyre , $662,500. for one chair
In 2011, a mahogany side chair with carving done by Samuel McIntire sold at auction for $662,500.http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5401630. The price set a world record for Federal furniture. McIntyre was one of the first architects in the United States and his work represents a prime example of early Federal-style architecture.
Elias Hasket Derby
Elias Hasket Derby
Elias Hasket Derby was among the wealthiest and most celebrated of post-Revolutionary merchants in Salem, Massachusetts, and owner of the Grand Turk, the first New England vessel to trade directly with China....
, Salem's wealthiest merchant and thought to be America's first millionaire, and his wife, Elizabeth Crowninshield, purchased eight chairs as a set that were hand-made and hand-carved in the late 18th century.http://antiquesandartireland.com/2011/01/antique-furniture-record/.
Gallery
External links
Established in 1981, this district incorporates two previously established districts, the Chestnut Street Historic District (1971) and the Federal Street Area Historic District (1976), with the addition of some 249 structures on upper Essex, Broad, and Warren Streets, Dalton Parkway, and various cross and side streets in between.
The district is named for Salem's celebrated architect-carver, Samuel McIntire, who lived at 31 Summer Street. His first major commission, the Peirce-Nichols House (1782), and several of his mature works including Hamilton Hall (1805), are among the buildings preserved within the district.
This densely settled residential area of the city contains one of the greatest concentrations of notable pre-1900 domestic structures extant in the U.S. With few exceptions, the major architectural styles common to the region during the 1640-1940 period are represented. Of particular interest are the numerous Federal Era townhouses lining Chestnut Street. Collectively, they stand as a monument to the mercantile and maritime ascendancy of Salem in the latter 18th and early 19th centuries and constitute one of the most beautiful streetscapes in America.
The district also includes three churches, the Broad Street Burial Ground (1655) and Friends' Cemetery, several monuments, and the first Salem State Normal School Building (1854).
Interactive Tour of McIntire's Salem
Take an interactive journey through historic Salem, Massachusetts to visit the distinctive buildings designed by Samuel McIntire. An 1820’s map will be your guide to explore private and public buildings, architectural drawings, elaborate interior carvings and furniture, all part of this unique tour. This map is provided by the oldest museum in America, located in Salem and opened since 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum is the largest owner of homes designed by McIntire.