Nomination for Gardner, Isabella Stewart, Museum

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries-complete applicable sections 1. Name For HCRS use only received DEC 27 1982 date entered historic (Isabella Stewart, Gardner, Nuseum Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and/or common 2. Location street & number 280 The Fenway N/A- _ not for publication city, town Eoston N/A vicinity of congresstotat distriet 8thl state Massachusetts 3. Classification code 025 county Suffolk code 025 Category district X building(s) structure site object Ownership public & private both Public Acquisition N/A in process being considered Status * occupied unoccupied .

work in progress Accessible X yes: restricted yes: unrestricted _ no Present Use agriculture commercial educational entertainment government industrial military * museum park X private residence _ religious - scientific transportation - other: 4. Owner of Property name Trustees of the Isabella Stewart Cardner Museum street & number 2 Palace Road city, town Boston N.A vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Mass courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. street & number Registry of Deeds Suffolk County Courthouse Pemberton Square city, town Boston state Ma 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of Historic Assets of the title Cormonwealth of Massachusetts has this property been determined elegible? yesn0 date November 2, 1979 federal * state - county - _ local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Conmission city, town Boston state MA. 02109 7.

DescriptionIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway, Boston, Mass. Condition _ excellent X good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one . unaltered X altered Check one X original site moved date N/A Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum faces north on the Fenway, across this roadway from the Muddy River section of Frederic Law O1msted's "Emerald Necklace" park system. It is in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston which dates from the first decade of thetwentieth century and consistslargely of attached apartment buildings plus many of the city's cultural and medical institutions including The Museum of Fine Arts, SymphonyHall, andvariouscolleges,art and music schools, and hospitals. The Gardner Museum property consists of almost an entire block. The Museum Building proper occupies the northern portion, and the walls of the building and gardens enclose the entire property. A coach house (now apartment) faces south, mid- block, set into the inner garden wall. It looks toward an outer rear garden and modern greenhouses.

Behind the greenhouses at the southeast corner of the property is the Museum staff parking lot. It abuts a privately owned early-twentienth-century apartment building at the southwest corner of the block, which is not part of this nomination. The Gardner Museum, constructed 1900-1902, is a large but unpretentious building on the exterior, inward toward gardens and a central courtyard. The four- story masonry building is an Italian in form with buff-colored brick walls and a red-tiled hip roof surroumounted by a gabled glass skylight. The front is a narrow side of the basic rectangle, six bays across. At the east side it is extended by a two bay wide, two-story, tlat rooted wing. A two-story, gable-rooted ottice annex, extending back along the west facade, is the building's only addition (con- structed 1933). Several tall chimneys add to the lively skyline. .

Structurally, the granite foundation is built on wood pilings, and the first floor is reinforced by steel beams and brick vaulting. The front (north) elevation is symmetrical and fairly stark. Rectangular windows are large and dominant at the second and third floor Tevel; smaller windows shatlowa teddat reeesise aarre fimendne sfits, ead simple tarickkonks cheawal bp The wall plane is broken at the center of the facade, at the first floor, by a small flat-roofed stone entrance portico with a carved rellet of st. George and the Dragon over the It is flanked by a pair of white marble lions. The decoration above og highly personaltzed: an extertor chimey rises tnea on, which Mes. Gardner toek as her initial in later years, and it is set with a stone date plaque and another "C'est mon plaisir" and a phoenix rising.

angyed tatert is cra thedon the brantoing cestey shazts, trate fobreh toosis imple wrought iron work provides a front fence and some window grilles. There is a plain porticoed entrance where the east wing joins the main block. The west elevation abuts the sidewalk. It is approximately twice as long as the There is a closed entrance portico toward the rear of this wall, and the office addition is stucco- walled and windowless on this side. The other facades are less formal and more interesting, as they face in on the gardens instead of out on the streets. The east elevation has multi-paned floor-to- ceiling expanses of windows at the first floor and fourth floor, and a four-part Venetian window at the second story level. The south wall has a scattering of Venetian, round, and round-arched windows which hint at Mrs. Gardner's eclectic collection of architectural fragments inside.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway, Boston, Mass. Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 X 1900- Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below - archeology-prehistoric community planning _ archeology-historic conservation agriculture _ economics X architecture education X art engineering commerce exploration/settlement. communications - industry - invention . landscape architecture law literature . military .music philosophy - politics/government - religion science sculpture X social/ humanitarian theater transportation other (specify) Specific dates 1900 - 1902 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect Willard T. Sears Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (originally called Fenway Court) possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and association. chief significance is two-fold: association with a woman who contributed greatly to the cultural and civic life of Boston during her lifetime, and early representation of an American residence dually designed to house a substantial museum collection. It meets criteria A, B, and C of the National Register. Isabella Stewart was born in New York City in 1840, and married vohn : Garaner ot Boston shortly before her 20th birthday. Mrs. Gardner contributed greatly to the cultural and civic life of Boston during her lifetime. She awarded prizes to citizens Tomag torises nd eonerene ioe seti aie efein erenudt itine and fenasten She sponsored refugees.

She entertained such international figures as Sarah Bernhardt, Pablo Casals, Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats, and John Singer Sargent. Her greatest contribution, however, was her museum, built on Boston's Fenway at the turn of the century. Built after her husband's death, as a home for herself and setting for her works of art, it is significant as such and is reminiscent of an Italian palazzo design, incorporating the collection of architectural and sculptural fragments brought home by Mrs. Gardner from her several trips abroad. The Gardner Museum preceded, by a few years, other notable house/public gallery efforts including New York's Frick (1913-14) and Gloucester's Beauport (1907). Mrs.

Gardner's museum also was the first of several cultural and educational institutions to choose as 1ts site the reclaimed Fens area in Boston, much of which was converted in the 1880's by Frederick Law Olmsted from mudflats into parkland. The collection itself issmall and unusual in its quality and diversity. panningthirty centuries 1t includes examples from art of Egypt classical Greece ana kome, the rar and Near tast, Europe and North and South America, and contains sculpture, furniture, stained glass, ceramics, metal work, textiles, rare books, manuscripts, prints and drawings. The collection is best known for its paintings, ncludingwks b tttnd Dutc masters. A patron of contemporary artists, Mrs. Gardner collected works by Whistler, Sargent and Degas, of which the Sargent Collection is particularly notable.

She owned the first painting by Matisse to become part of an American collection. Her collection of Medieval and Romanesque sculpture was the first of its kind to be brought to this country. As architect, Mrs. Gardner commissioned Willard T. Sears. From before the Civil Warto c. 1890,Sears (1837-1920) was apartner in the active Boston firm of Cummings (Charles A.) & Sears. Among their most notable Boston buildings are the New 0ld South Church in the Back Bay and the Bedford Building, downtown. Both are superb examples of High Victorian Gothic Revival design and are listed in the National Register. The New O1d South Church and Parsonage buildings (1872-1875) are particularly Venetian Gothic in derivation, and it's very likely Mrs. Gardner chose Sears due to her own fondness for Venetian architecture. On Fenway Court, the architect was closely supervised by the owner.

Building design is treated as a frank backdrop for Mrs. Gardner's eclect_ic and highly per- 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Carter, Morris, Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court,Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co.1925 Willard Sears' Diary - ISGardner Museum Archives Stout, George, Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, New York, Crown Publ.Inc. Tharp, Iouise Hall, Mrs. Jack, Boston, Little Brown and Co., 1965 1969 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property 76,193 sq. ft. l.? Quadrangle name Boston South Quadrangle scale 1:25,000 UMT References A Zone 3270RP 4EBPRAR Easting Northing CLL Zone Easting DULITTL LUILLL Northing GL1 Verbal boundary description and justification The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is bounded by Palace Road to the west, the Fenway to the North, Evans Way to the east, and Tetlow Street to the south. On the same block, but excluded from the nominationis an apartment complex at #l1 Tetlow St.corner of Palace Rd.

List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county code 11. Form Prepared By Hope Coolidge, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Judith McDonough name/title Candace Jenkins, Registration Dir.,Mass. Hist. Corm Boston Jandriarks Cormission organization Massachusetts Fistorical Conmission date September 1982 street & number 294 Washington St telephone 617/727-8470 city or town Boston state MA 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national - state _ local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated accordingto the criteria and procedures set forth by the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. State Historic Preservation Officer signature Valuie Ann lalmage title Executive Director, Mass.

Historical Cormission date Decembu 15,1982 For HCRS use only I hereby certity that this property is included in the National, Reginter Uous Entered Mational Register date 1/27/83 eeper of the National Register Attest: Chief of Registration date Tonde 102 GPO 938 835 FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form For HCRS use only received date entered Isabella Stewart Continuation sheet Gardner Museum Item number 7 and 8 Page 1 The central courtyard measures 45' x 65' , under the clear glass skylight. pink stucco walls are bejewelled with carved stone treasures including Venetian Its windows and columned arcades. The floor has an Italian mosaic and rich changing horticultural displays from in the Museum greenhouses. The coach house is another of Mrs. Gardner's gems.

Its parapeted, vaguely churriqueresque south wall and single-pitched, red-tiled roof match the court for personalized dramatic effect. Additions and alterations to the complex are few and unintrusive. The 1933 office annex compatibly closes in the rear inner garden with buff brick walls, simple rectangular fenestration, and a red-tiled roof. greenhouses and paved staff parking lot were completed in 1972 on land purchased the year before and cleared of its former building, the Leland Powers School. The sliding-glass doored cafe opening on a patio at the rear of the east wing was created in 1978-79 from a conservation laboratory. 8. Significance (cont'd) sonalized collection, and specifically as the setting for the gems of architectural fragments. The centerpiece is literally the interior court, a homage to the Venetian Doges Palace, Today, Mrs.

Gardner's tradition of music continues along with that of flowers. Concerts are given three times a week, except in summers. The museum is open six days a week. Financing is largely provided by an endowment, and management is partially governed by the provisions of Mrs. Gardner's will.

AIVER 00 COLLEGE 13,302 ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM Boston (Fenway), Massachusetts 1" = 100' UIM = 19/327060/4689290 source: Assessors Map 1980 BACK N FENWAY GARDNER- MUSEUM WAY EVANS WAY 163 GARDNER MUSEUM 45,862 PALACE PO 20,932 4534 6/56 TETLOW 5000 2100 2299 STREET EVANS EVANS WAY- 12,100 06303 D7128 6263 0,199 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES - States De e el uhe interie al Park Servie EVALUATION / RETURN SHEET Gardner, Isabella Stewart, Museum Suffolk County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Working No./2/21/82-3196 Fed. Reg. Date:2 2 Date Due: 1/27/83 2/10/83 Action: ACCEPT- 1127182 Entered in the - RETURN National Register - REJECT. Federal Agency:. -sample - request - appeal - NR decision Reviower's comments: -Nomination returned for: Recom. /Criteria - Reviewer.

Discipline Date see continuation sheet - technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Pomerahd Procon Ueo 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys ls property teeen emcerusined oligebte? - - 7. Description scelle good fale dedrion ruins Check ane _ unaitered _ aitered ad ertginel (ll tueawe) ptogetoed summaryparagraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection choch em _ moved 8. Significance Peried Arses ef SignificanceCheok and justify below Specific dates Builder Architeet Statement of Significanee (in one paragraph) summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9.

Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreege of nominated property Qusdrangle neme - UMT Reterences Verbel boundery deacription and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: _ national . state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date ttle 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed -Date Phone: 202 272 -3504 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission Date: April 1981 Identification: Coach House, south elevation Photo #1019 ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM 2 Palace Road, Boston 15, Massachusetts Photograph No.

B1908 Date 2l-DT-73. Artist_ Subject the Court, north This print is supplied for private use only. Specific permission is required for its nuhtiration ir public disolay.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Gardner Museum Negative filed: Gardner Museum Date: 1973 Identification: Interior Courtyard photo#zo9 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission Date: April 1981 Identification: East elvation(left) anc north elevation (front facade), from The Fenway pheto #30/9 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission Date: April 1981 Identification: West elevation with office annex to right (south elvation above it), (looking northeast) phototluolg Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts hoto Credit: Ellen Lipsey Veaatives filed: Boston Landmarks Commissior Identification: Looking west from the Fenway- Coach House, left; Museum, right photo#5ol9 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo Credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission Date: April 1981 Identification: East elevation photo #6019 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission April 1981 Identification: East wall, looking north photo#709 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission April 1981 Identification: Office annex, east elevation (potion of south elevation of Museum to the right) photo nteol9 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 280 The Fenway Boston Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo credit: Ellen Lipsey Negative filed: Boston Landmarks Commission Date: April 1981 Identifcation: Portion of greenhouses, looking east pheto #9019 ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM RECEIVED JUN 2 - 1973 Boston Landmarks Commission City Hall, Room 944 One City Hall Square Boston, Mass.

02201 June 21, 1979 To the Commission: I hereby request that the Boston Landmarks Commission nominate the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for the National Register of Historic Places. I am enclosing a description and statement of significance, two black and white photographs of the museum and a rough map that indicates its location. Please feel free to call me, Hope Coolidge or Deborah Gribbon, if you have questions or need other materials. Thankyou for your consideration. Sincerely, Nudal-Aewitt Linda V. Hewitt Assistant Director MUSEUM OFFICE - 2 Palace Road, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION December 15, 1982 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Office of the Secretary of State 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 617-727-8470 MICHAEL JOSEPH CONNOLLY Secretary of State Ms.

Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, DC 20243 Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed you will find the following nomination forms: Boston - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (national) Colrain - Arthur A. Smith Covered Bridge (state) Concord - Colonel Roger Brown House (local) Tisbury - William Street Historic District (local) Al1 have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30-75 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Comments received to date are attached to the nomination forms. Sincerely, Candace fenkins Candace Jenkins Registration Director Massachusetts Vistorical Conmission CJ/pg RECEIVED DEC 27 1982 NATIONAL REGISTER