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Analysis <strong>of</strong> Historical Significance and Integrity by Resource Type<br />

McKim, Mead & White's earliest design phase began in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> America's<br />

Victorian period. Richard Guy Wilson refers to this first period as <strong>the</strong> firm's attempt "to create<br />

evocative images based on America's past":<br />

The partners were reacting against <strong>the</strong> High Victorian architecture with which <strong>the</strong>y had<br />

grown up and begun <strong>the</strong>ir pr<strong>of</strong>essional careers. They disliked <strong>the</strong> unselective and<br />

unscholarly eclecticism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> High Victorians and, while <strong>the</strong>y would always remain eclectic<br />

in <strong>the</strong>ir work, <strong>the</strong>y attempted to provide a raison d'être for <strong>the</strong>ir selection <strong>of</strong> styles. 1258<br />

This early period manifested itself in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> shingled country houses, ei<strong>the</strong>r<br />

with formal Colonial Revival plans and forms or with more naturalistic and free-flowing<br />

elements, which have been classified <strong>the</strong> Shingle Style. McKim, Mead & White began with<br />

its peer firms to develop and promote this American style, and <strong>the</strong>ir firm evolved into a<br />

leader <strong>of</strong> its expression. The Newport Casino (1881) in Rhode Island may be <strong>the</strong> most<br />

famous <strong>of</strong> this type, but o<strong>the</strong>r representative domestic commissions included <strong>the</strong> H. Victor<br />

Newcomb house (1880) at Elberon, New Jersey, and <strong>the</strong> William G. Low house (1887) at<br />

Bristol, Rhode Island. 1259 Wilson concludes that shared elements and details <strong>of</strong> this type<br />

were elicited from a consortium <strong>of</strong> sources: <strong>the</strong> English Queen Anne style, <strong>the</strong> American<br />

colonial past, and European forms. 1260<br />

The Samuel Tilton House (1880-2), also in Newport, displays <strong>the</strong> firm's foray into using a<br />

combination <strong>of</strong> construction materials. While <strong>the</strong> overall style <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> house can be classified as<br />

Shingle Style, McKim, Mead & White also used granite and half-timbering - an English element<br />

- filled with pebbledash to construct and decorate <strong>the</strong> exterior. 1261 This represents Stanford<br />

White's approach to design during <strong>the</strong> earlier periods, experimenting with "disparate<br />

component elements and . . . textured surfaces and ornament. 1262 Pebbledash continued to be<br />

used within contained elements and with a combination <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r materials in later work, but was<br />

used exclusively only for <strong>the</strong> entire body <strong>of</strong> White's own country home, Box Hill (1885-1902), at<br />

St. James, Long Island, and <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> body <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pavilion at <strong>the</strong> Frederick Vanderbilt<br />

estate, Hyde <strong>Park</strong>. 1263<br />

White attributes <strong>the</strong> firm's move into its transitional period to one <strong>of</strong> its competitors,<br />

Richard Morris Hunt, and his several works for <strong>the</strong> Vanderbilt family and o<strong>the</strong>r wealthy<br />

Americans. 1264 While Hunt was experimenting in finding a satisfactory expression or<br />

expressions for a proper residence for America's old wealth and nouveau riche, McKim, Mead<br />

more individually responsible for his own work. But it was never an <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> isolated teams, and ideas<br />

and work continued to be traded back and forth."<br />

1258 Robert B. MacKay, Anthony K. Baker, and Carol A. Traynor, eds., Long Island Country Houses and<br />

Their Architects, 1680-1940 (New York: Society for <strong>the</strong> Preservation <strong>of</strong> Long Island Antiquities in<br />

association with W.W. Norton & Company, 1997), 277.<br />

1259 Roth, 67-78.<br />

1260<br />

MacKay, 277.<br />

1261<br />

White, 36-45.<br />

1262<br />

Roth, 29.<br />

1263<br />

White, 118-120, 126.<br />

1264<br />

White, 75-6.<br />

227

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