LANCASTER IN STYLE, PART 34: 260 YEARS, 1719-1979
It’s a wrap.
This is the final edition of the “Lancaster in Style” series and will conclude with a few reflections of the many unique and distinctly different architectural styles that have spanned the past 260 years.
Our community is fortunate to have many fine intact examples of each architectural style dating from the early 1700s through to our present time and all within a very tight geographic footprint.
'Lancaster in Style': A series retrospective in centuries of images [photos]
As Gregory J. Scott's "Lancaster in Style" series within his monthly Design Intervention column comes to an end, he looks back at some of the nearly three dozen Lancaster architectural styles he has profiled. Click the arrows to move through the photos and see 260 years of Lancaster design style.
The 1719 Museum, also known as the Christian Herr House, in Willow Street, is an example of Germanic Style with medieval construction techniques.
The 1738 Wrights Ferry Mansion in Columbia was built in English Traditional design style. The mansion's parlor is shown.
This Georgian style brick townhouse, built circa 1765, is known as the the Jasper Yeates House on South Queen Street.
The John Leaman Mansion was built in the Classic Revival style in 1840.
Old Main at Franklin & Marshall College is a 1854 example of Collegiate Gothic design.
The 1847 rectory of St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster represents the Federal design style. Its red brick structure featureslight and dark shutters and six-over- six window panes.
The Italianate style is represented in the Reuben Baer Mansion, built circa 1873. It has paired brackets, a square tower, bracketed window hoods and half-round windows.
This house on West Chestnut Street, built circa 1875, is an example of the Second Empire Style. it has a signature mansard roof, an asymmetrical tower and a large veranda.
The Andrew Jackson Steinman Mansion, built in 1882 in the 300 block of East Orange Street, is in the Queen Anne style. it has ornate chimneys, cross-gable roofs, decorative clay tile shingles and multi-panes of glass.
An 1889 example of Romanesque Revival architecture, Lancaster Central Market was designed by James H. Warner. It has a unique checkerboard brownstone pattern. with Roman arches and distinctive checkerboard gable detailing.
This Eastlake-style dormer on an 1890 building on East King Street has a polychromatic scroll cut and incised detailing.
Lancaster's City Hall building was built in 1892 and is an example of Venetian Renaissance design style. It has a copper belvedere and limestone detailing.
This Shingle-style Queen Anne structure at West James Street and College Avenue was built in 1895. It has a cut stone foundation, prominent gables, serrated shingles and a dominant Richardsonian arch.
Roslyn, the Peter T. Watt mansion on Marietta Avenue, is a 1896 example of Chateauesque architecture.
This Edwardian Eclectic home, known as the Calvin Shutte residence, on Marietta Avenue in Lancaster was designed by C. Emlen Urban and built in 1910. It has windows with stone trim, an interlocking brick pattern and masonry battlement.
The 1906 Stevens High School for Girls building is an example of French Renaissance design, featuring narrow-gauge gold Roman brick, decorative limestone trim, arched French-inspired windows and copper acanthus roof trim.
The French Baroque style of architecture is shown in the Kirk Johnson building, built in 1911, with its white glazed terra cotta tiles and Parisian detailing.
The Hager Building on West King Street, Lancaster, built in 1911, is an example of French Renaissance design style.
The Beaux Arts-style Keppel Wholesale Confectionary building on North Queen Street has glazed terracotta consoles and cartouche. C. Emlen Urban was the architect for the building built in 1913.
This 1913 community mausoleum in Lancaster's Greenwood Cemetery is an example of Egyptian Revival style. The granite sphinx is on on a plinth block, near smooth columns with lotus capitals, bronze doors and rolled molding.
The Spanish Revival 1915 S Frank Totten residence on East King Street has strong symmetry, smooth stucco walls, a shaped parapet over the entry and a red barrel tile-hipped roof and hipped dormer.
This Marietta Avenue home built in 1920 has the signature gambrel roof of Dutch Colonial Revival design style.
This example of English Tudor design is the Herman A. Wohlsen mansion, built in Lancaster in 1922. it has half-timber detailing with decorative quatrefoil and a clay-tile roof.
This 1925 Storybook-style cottage is on President Avenue in Lancaster. It has parged and painted brick walls, a round-top entry and door, exaggerated shutters and diamond casement windows.
This 1925 home on Columbia Avenue is an example of Bungalow Style design, with transverse low-pitch dormer, a broad three-bay porch and rustic shingle siding.
The 1927 French Eclectic Fred S. Miller Residence in School Lane Hills has a dominant slate hip roof, rustic stucco, casement windows, half-timbering and a stone entry surround.
The Norman Cottage style of design is shown in this School Lane Hills home, built in 1928, with a center tower, conical roof, flared eaves, stone, brick and stucco walls, half-timbering, hipped roof on dormers and a side addition.
This 1928 English Cottage-style home on Wilson Drive has a stone exterior, wall dormers, chimney adjacent to main entry with arch opening, cat-slide roof and casement windows.
This red brick home on Marietta Avenue was built circa 1940 in the Colonial Revival style, with a center entry.
The mid-century modern Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church on West Walnut Street was built in 1952 with cast stone walls and tower, glazed terra cotta insets and a copper cap.
This late-post-war Ranch style home was built circa 1955 with a large picture window and matching gables.
This Swiss Chalet-style bi-level home, built around 1970, has a large transom over double front doors and projected triple living room windows over the den.
Other Colonial East Coast cities may claim to have the same number of styles, but certainly not within the reasonable walking distances that Lancaster offers.
The average center city historic walking tour reveals more than 34 different styles of architecture in less than two hours! That represents 70% of the 46 documented styles in Lancaster County; the balance are found in the surrounding suburbs.
An 1889 example of Romanesque Revival architecture, Lancaster Central Market was designed by James H. Warner. It has a unique checkerboard brownstone pattern. with Roman arches and distinctive checkerboard gable detailing.
Why is this?
Lancaster city grew like a tree; the center of the city, like a tree, contains the oldest growth — being German, Georgian and Federal styles. Many original structures, but not all, were razed and replaced with “new growth” rings compacting the density and expanding the girth around the original core.
The newer styles included Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Beaux-Arts, Gothic Revival, etc.
Roslyn, the Peter T. Watt mansion on Marietta Avenue, is a 1896 example of Chateauesque architecture.
Another reason is Lancaster was fortunate to have a preponderance of clay pits and stone quarries within arm’s reach. This meant that the community core used fire-resistant materials for residences, religious, civic and commercial structures because masonry was plentiful and cost effective.
Why so many styles in such a small city compared to others?
Lancaster is equidistant from Philadelphia and Baltimore; both cities were arbiters of design and fashion in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. As transportation improved, architects and civic leaders were exposed to the latest architectural trends and brought the ideas home with them.
Our research has found no less than 56 Philadelphia architects with commissions in our city and another 34 architects from cities as far away as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles Those 90 architects, in addition to our own design professionals, kept Lancaster at the leading edge of design innovation.
This 1925 Storybook-style cottage is on President Avenue in Lancaster. It has parged and painted brick walls, a round-top entry and door, exaggerated shutters and diamond casement windows.
What influenced design styles and trends?
World and domestic wars, international expositions, increased world travel, the development of photography, advancements in industry and technology, societal shifts and archaeological discoveries all contributed to and influenced architectural styles. For instance, the 1911 Hager Building is the result of structural steel availability; the 1925 art deco Shaub Shoe Store followed the discovery of Ancient Egypt’s King Tut’s tomb in 1922; and, lastly, the demise of the Queen Anne style coincided with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.
This example of English Tudor design is the Herman A. Wohlsen mansion, built in Lancaster in 1922. it has half-timber detailing with decorative quatrefoil and a clay-tile roof.
Interestingly, very few architectural styles are homegrown; the majority are adaptations and imports from European and Asian cultures.
We live in a truly amazing community, rich in the arts, architecture and culture! It is no wonder we’ve caught the attention of so many people “from away.”
This 1913 community mausoleum in Lancaster's Greenwood Cemetery is an example of Egyptian Revival style. The granite sphinx is on on a plinth block, near smooth columns with lotus capitals, bronze doors and rolled molding.
What will the next series be for Design Intervention, starting next month?
Back by popular demand, we will revisit “The Architects’ Alphabet” from A-Z; using only examples from Lancaster County! I’m already working on Z!
This Swiss Chalet-style bi-level home, built around 1970, has a large transom over double front doors and projected triple living room windows over the den.
How do you accumulate all the information?
I have the great fortune of having research historian extraordinaire Deb Oesch at my side culling through endless newspapers, obituaries, census reports and other historic documents.
This column is contributed by Gregory J. Scott, FAIA, a local architect with more than four decades of national experience in innovation and design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Email GScott@rlps.com.
