John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine.
Early life Stevens was the son of Maria Wingate and Leander Stevens, a cabinet maker and builder of fancy carriages. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but when he was two, his family moved to Portland, Maine.Stephen Abbott, John Calvin Stevens, the Early Years, Maine Home & Design 2007
Stevens wanted to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but lacked the money to attend. Instead, he apprenticed in the Portland office of architect Francis H. Fassett, who in 1880 made him a junior partner to open the firm's new Boston office. Another architect working in the same building was William Ralph Emerson, whose historicist aesthetic in the Queen Anne Style had a profound effect on Stevens. He married Martha Louise Waldron in 1877, and they had four children. Stevens opened his own office in Portland in 1884.
Career
In 1888, Stevens formed a partnership with Albert Winslow Cobb. Together they wrote the book Examples of American Domestic Architecture (1889), an early study of the Shingle Style. Cobb wrote the prose and Stevens provided the illustrations. The partnership was dissolved in 1891. Stevens' son, John Howard Stevens, became an architect and joined his father's firm in 1898. John became a full partner in 1904, and the firm was renamed Stevens Architects.
His most-acclaimed early house, the 1886 James Hopkins Smith House in Falmouth Foreside, Maine, was featured in George William Sheldon's Artistic Country Seats (1886–87).George William Sheldon, Artistic Country Seats I (New York, 1886–87), pp. 177–80, plate 41. In The Shingle Style (1955), Vincent Scully described the Smith house as a "pièce de résistance" and a "masterpiece", "a more sweeping and coherent version of Stevens' own house". Sheldon also praised his "powerful alterations" to a summer hotel called the Poland Springs House.Vincent J. Scully Jr., The Shingle Style (Yale University Press, 1955), p. 118.
Houses designed by Stevens can be found along the Maine coast, as well as in Portland (particularly the West End) and its suburbs. He also designed public libraries, municipal buildings, hotels, and churches, as well as nine buildings for the campus of Hebron Academy, including the Psi Upsilon Fraternity House on the Bowdoin College campus.
In one of his rare commissions outside of Maine, he created a master plan for and designed a chapel and at least six barracks buildings at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Southern Branch) in Hampton, Virginia.
Other interests Stevens was a landscape painter. He belonged to the Brushians, a Portland art group which went on weekend outings. He exhibited his work with the Boston Art Club, the Portland Society of Art, and elsewhere. His oil painting Delano Park, Cape Elizabeth (1904) is in the collection of Blaine House, the Maine governor's official residence.
He was an avid art collector. He lent Afternoon Fog by Winslow Homer to the L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries, now part of the Portland Museum of Art.Currently owned by Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester. id=v07EmzFCkt8C&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=%22john+calvin+stevens%22+painting&source=bl&ots=yLRkZTbI02&sig=2JGic9b0CsC6vIDSBb1jWK6rXpA&hl=en&ei=B3qYS4K7K5CsswOF74nCAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22john%20calvin%20stevens%22%20painting&f=false Portland Society of Art, Maine, American Art Directory, Vol. 11, R. R. Bowker, 1914
In 1889, Stevens was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects."John Calvin Stevens," in Harrie B. Coe, Maine: A History, Volume 1 (Clearfield, 1928), p. 35.
Death and legacy Stevens died on January 25, 1940, aged 84. He is buried in Portland's Evergreen Cemetery.
In recognition of his architectural contributions on the Portland peninsula, the city declared October 8, 2009, to be John Calvin Stevens Day. The ceremony included a Congressional Record of Recognition presented by the office of Senator Olympia Snowe.
Selected buildings
Churches Congregational Church, Berlin, New Hampshire (1882), Fassett & Stevens, architectsCongregational Church Sanford Baptist Church, Sanford, Maine (1888), Stevens & Cobb, architectsSanford Baptist Church from Maine Memory Network.Henry Sweetser Burrage & Albert Roscoe Stubbs, Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, Volume 3, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York 1909 First Baptist Church, Yarmouth, Maine (1889)Images of America: Yarmouth, Alan M. Hall (Arcadia, 2002), p.28 First Baptist Church, 47 Church St., Gardiner, Maine (1890), Stevens & Cobb, architects Alterations to State Street Congregational Church, Portland, Maine (1892–93)State St. Church from Maine Memory Network. Freeport Baptist Church, Freeport, Maine (1896)Freeport Baptist Church from Maine Memory Network. Hancock Point Chapel, Hancock, Maine (c.1900)Hancock Point Chapel from Flickr. Parish House, Williston Congregational Church (now Williston-West Church, UCC), Portland, Maine (1904)
Libraries Zadoc Long Free Library, Buckfield, Maine (1900–01) Brown Memorial Library, Clinton, Maine (1899) Rumford Falls Library, Rumford, Maine (1903)Rumford Fall Library from Maine Memory Network. Cary Library, Houlton, Maine (1903–04) Knight Library, Waterford, Maine (1911–12)Knight Library from Maine Memory Network. Davis Memorial Library, Limington, Maine (1912)Davis Memorial Library Charles M. Bailey Public Library, Winthrop, Maine (1916)History of Winthrop, Maine 1771–1925, p. 111. Paris Public Library, South Paris, Maine (c.1925)Plan for Paris Public Library from Maine Memory Network.Elevation for Paris Public Library from Maine Memory Network. Bethel Public Library, Bethel, Maine (1937–38)Bethel Library
Houses A. R. Wright cottage, Pine Point, Scarborough, Maine (c.1881), Fassett & Stevens, architectsWright cottage from Maine Memory Network. John Calvin Stevens House, 52 Bowdoin St., Portland, Maine (c.1883–84, altered)Stevens house from Maine Memory Network. Winslow Homer house and studio, Prouts Neck, Maine (c.1884)Winslow Homer house Brown-Donahue house, Delano Park, Cape Elizabeth, Maine (c.1885–86) James Hopkins Smith house, 143 Foreside Rd., Falmouth Foreside, Maine (1886, altered)J.H. Smith house from Maine Memory Network. Additions to "Thornhurst," General John Marshall Brown house, Falmouth Foreside, Maine (pre-1888)Thornhurst from Maine Memory Network. "Belfield," Henry St. John Smith house, Cape Elizabeth, Maine (c.1890 altered)Belfield from Maine Memory Network.Belfield from Maine Memory Network. Captain John W. Deering house, Kennebunkport, Maine (c.1890), Stevens & Cobb, architectsDeering house from Maine Memory Network. "Bonnie Brae," Erskine H. Bronson house, Kennebunkport, Maine (c.1895–96) "Braemar Cottage," Edwin Packard house, Kennebunkport, Maine (c.1897) "Endcliffe," Frederick W. Moss house, Kennebunkport, Maine (c.1897–99)Endcliffe from Maine Memory Network. Henry Merrill house, Munjoy Hill, Portland, Maine (c.1898) "Ledge Rock", Prouts Neck, Maine Wil C. Johnson house, Hallowell, Maine (c.1899)Johnson house from Hallowell Phototour. "Oak Bank," Cumberland Foreside, Maine (c.1900) Psi Upsilon Fraternity House, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine (c.1900–03)Psi Upsilon Now a student residence known as Quinby House Governor John Freemont Hill house, Augusta, Maine (c.1901–02)Hill house Now St. Paul Center, Catholic Charities Maine Edward W. Cox house, 111 West St., Portland, Maine (c.1905)Cox house Richard Webb house, 29 Bowdoin St., Portland, Maine (c.1906–07)Webb house from Maine Memory Network. Professor George W. Files house, Brunswick, Maine (c.1910)Files house from Maine Memory Network. "Shorelands," Edward M. Hagar house, Camden, Maine (c.1912) Charles Fox house (now Oxford House Inn), Fryeburg, Maine (c.1913)Oxford House Inn "Elmhurst," John S. Hyde house, Bath, Maine (c.1913–14)Elmhurst from Fotki. Now Hyde School, Bath campus "Channelside," Frederick & Daisy Walker House Cape Elizabeth, Maine (c.1914) Louisa Spring house, 305 Danforth St., Portland, Maine (c.1920)Spring house from Maine Memory Network. "Stone House," Stanley Wood house (now Stone House Conference Center, University of Southern Maine), 642 Wolf Neck Rd., Freeport, Maine (1922)Stone House from USM. L. Brooks Leavitt house, Wilton, Maine (c.1925) Warren F Pope House, East Machias, Maine 1897 William H. Roberts, Jr. house, Parkside, Portland, Maine (c.1898) Remodel of Brewster house, Dexter Maine c.1932. Home of former Maine Gov and US Congressman/Senator Ralph Owen Brewster and his wife Dorothy (Foss). Currently a B&B, The Brewster Inn.
Other buildings
The Breakwater Court hotel (now The Colony Hotel), Kennebunkport, Maine (1914) "The Shelter" (gazebo), Cushing's Island, Maine (1886, restored 2001)Gazebo Alterations to Poland Spring House, Poland, Maine (c.1888–91), Cobb & Stevens, architectsPoland Spring House dining room from Maine Memory Network. Sturtevant Hall, Hebron Academy, Greenwood, Maine (1891) Biddeford City Hall and Biddeford's City Theater, Biddeford, Maine (1895–96)City Theater Rebuilt by Stevens after a December 1894 fire Riverton Trolley Park Casino, Portland, Maine (1896) Cape Cottage Casino, Cape Elizabeth, Maine (1898–99) Bay of Naples Inn, Naples, Maine (1899, demolished 1964) New Belvidere Inn (now Tides Inn-by-the-Sea), Kennebunkport, Maine (1899)Tides Inn-by-the-Sea Belgrade Hotel, Belgrade Lakes, Maine (c. 1900, burned 1956) Master plan, chapel and barracks buildings, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers ("Southern Branch"), Hampton, Virginia (1906–08) from NPS. Nathan Clifford Elementary School, Portland, Maine (1907)Nathan Clifford Elementary Municipal Building and Opera House, Skowhegan, Maine (1907–09) L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine (1910) Camden Yacht Club, Camden, Maine (1912)Camden Yacht Club Alterations and Annex to The North School, Portland, Maine (1921) Pike Memorial Building (Town Hall), Cornish, Maine (1925)Pike Hall York Institute (now Saco Museum), Saco, Maine (1926)Saco Museum Portland Water District Building, Portland, Maine (1928) Forest Avenue Post Office, Portland, Maine (1933–34)Forest Avenue Post Office from Maine Memory Network. Albert Fells Cottage Jefferson, Maine (1937). Featuring a sleeping porch and piazza Uptown Theatre, Bath, Maine (1938)Uptown Theatre from Maine Memory Network. Sanford Country Club - Reconstructed barn into Club House (Bauneg Beg Country Club), Sanford, Maine (1924) Woven Together in York County, Maine: A History 1865-1990 by Madge Baker, 1999
Gallery
References
Further reading John Calvin Stevens, Domestic Architecture, 1890–1930, by John Calvin Stevens II, and Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. Scarborough, Me. : Harp Publications, 1990. . John Calvin Stevens on the Portland Peninsula 1880–1940, A Listing of his Work by Address, Client, and Chronology, by Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., Director, Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
External links
Photographs in the Maine Memory Network "Lindbergh Slept Here" , Portland Magazine, Winter guide 2013. Vol. 27. Article about Castillo Del Mar, a tiled Spanish beachfront villa designed by Stevens "In Maine, Acquiring a Homer Landscape". The Washington Post, 1 October 2004 John Calvin Stevens architectural drawings, circa 1882-1925, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University