Wrote seven pattern books to help elevate American architectural taste
Asher Benjamin (June 15, 1773 – July 26, 1845) was an American
architect and author whose work transitioned between
Federal architecture and the later
Greek Revival architecture. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout
New England until the
Civil War. Builders also copied his plans in the
Midwest and in the
South.
"From a poor boy unaided by friends, by his indefatigable industry and talents in a few years he has raised himself to the first rank of his profession."[2]
Upon leaving Connecticut, Benjamin settled in
Greenfield, Massachusetts. There he built two large houses, including the Leavitt House (today's
Leavitt-Hovey House) for Judge
Jonathan Leavitt, and published his first handbook, The Country Builder's Assistant (1797). On November 30, 1797, he married Achsah Hitchcock of
Brookfield, with whom he had four children. Benjamin relocated to
Windsor, Vermont, where he built three large houses and the Old South Congregational Church (1798).
By 1803, Benjamin was living in
Boston, listed in the city directory as a housewright. He designed numerous churches and houses, and also appears to have conducted the country's first architecture school. Robert Henry Eddy, Elias Carter,
Solomon Willard, Samuel Shepherd and
Ithiel Town are credited among his pupils. After his first wife died on January 30, 1805, on July 24 he married Nancy Bryant of
Springfield, whom he had four more children with.
In 1823 and 1824, Benjamin was elected
alderman of Boston as part of the "Middling Interest": a coalition of middle class entrepreneurs and artisans opposed to the
Federalists, who supported
Josiah Quincy for mayor. He assisted Mayor Quincy and
Alexander Parris in the planning of
Quincy Market. Finding himself under a financial strain that led him to declare
bankruptcy in 1825, Benjamin's political ambitions were soon curtailed. From 1825 to 1827 he left Boston to supervise construction of
locks,
canals, roads and mill buildings for the
Nashua Manufacturing Company in
Nashua, New Hampshire. He designed two churches there before returning to Boston.[3]
Benjamin's greatest influence is derived from his pattern books. The first written by an American architect, they introduced architectural history, style and geometry to ordinary builders in the field. He adapted many designs by
James Gibbs and
Colen Campbell of
Great Britain to fit the scale and finances of New England communities. These handbooks provided superb drawings and practical advice for full house plans, including such details as circular staircases, doorways,
fireplace mantels,
dormer windows,
pilasters,
balusters and
fences. He sketched proposals for dwellings and churches, even a courthouse. The archeological sources of his designs were scrupulously cited, from the
Temple of Hephaestus in
Athens to the
Arch of Titus in
Rome. Other architects, including Ithiel Town and
Ammi B. Young, freely assimilated his plans, as did innumerable carpenters. Indeed, the charm of many early New England towns owes a debt to Asher Benjamin. The Ridge in
Orford, New Hampshire features a series of houses based on designs from his books, many of which remain in print.[4] Although he helped disseminate the Federal style, he was not averse to changing fashions. In fact, his book published in 1830, The Architect, or, Practical House Carpenter, helped redirect American taste towards the Greek Revival movement.
"...he, more than any other person, is responsible for the character we roughly call 'Late Colonial'; his moldings, his doors and windows and his mantels and cornices decorate or at least inspire the decorations of numberless houses up and down the New England coast and in the New England river valleys."[5]
^[1]Archived 2010-07-09 at the
Wayback Machine Kenneth Hafertepe, "Asher Benjamin Begins; The Samuel and Dorothy Hinckley House", Old-Time New England, Spring/Summer 1999, p. 19
Mary Wallace Crocker, "Asher Benjamin: The Influence of His Handbooks on Mississippi Buildings," The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 38, No. 3 (October, 1979); pp. 266–270