Amherst College President’s House (1834)

by Dan//Amherst, Colonial Revival, Greek Revival, Houses

The house of the President of Amherst College was built in 1834-1835. An earlier house, built in 1821-1822, had been considered too damp and unhealthy, so the current house was then built on higher ground, across South Pleasant Street from the main campus buildings. The house, originally designed in the Greek Revival style by Warren Slade Howland, was remodeled in 1891 and again in 1932, with a Georgian Revival style entryway on the north side. The above picture was taken while the most recent renovations on the house were underway this past summer.

Old First Baptist Church, Amherst (1835)

by Dan//Amherst, Churches, Greek Revival

The building at 79 South Pleasant Street in Amherst was built in 1834-1835 as the First Baptist Church. The Baptist Society in Amherst began in 1827 as a branch of the New Salem Baptist Church, becoming a branch of the Northampton Baptist Church in 1830. It became an independent organization in 1832. The South Pleasant Street church, designed by Warren S. Howland, was used by the First Baptist Church until 1957, when it moved to a new location at 434 North Pleasant Street. The former church was then used as offices and retail space and was acquired by Amherst College in 2009.

Abbey Chapel, Mount Holyoke College (1897)

by Dan//Churches, Collegiate, Gothic, South Hadley

The Seminary Building at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley was destroyed by fire in 1896. The following year, a chapel was built on the site, called Mary Lyon Chapel and connected to Mary Lyon Hall. The Chapel was renovated and much enlarged in 1938 with a donation from Emily Abbey Gill and was renamed Abbey Memorial Chapel. It was converted in 1999 into the Abbey Interfaith Sanctuary. Since 2009, the Chapel has been open to the public for weddings.

Weigand House (1824)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Natick

The Weigand or Weihgant House, at 24 Eliot Street in South Natick, was built between 1824 and 1830. It is not certain who built the house, but by the mid-nineteenth century it was owned by Samuel Walcott, a shoe manufacturer. In 1856 or 1863, Philip Weihgant, a cordwainer, bought the house. His son, Dr. Frank J. Weigand, graduated from Long Island Medical College in Brooklyn in 1900 and practiced in Richmond Hill, Queens. The Federal-style Weigand House has a front gable added later in the nineteenth-century.

Bullard Tavern, Old Sturbridge Village (1946)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Museums, Sturbridge

Although surrounded by eighteenth and nineteenth century period buildings, Bullard Tavern at Old Sturbridge Village was built in 1946-1947. Although resembling an early New England house or tavern, it was not designed as a strictly accurate historical reproduction. Bullard Tavern was built as a service building, originally intended to provide visitor amenities and exhibit space, but it soon became a restaurant. The woodwork in the Tavern’s Tap Room was salvaged from an eighteenth-century house in Brooklyn, Connecticut.