Muhlberger wrote an unpublished manuscript on William H. Ranlett and an article that was published in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s magazine (Muhlberger, “William H. Ranlett, 19th –Century Architect and Publisher,” Historic Preservation, 22 (Jan-March 1970),10-15.
The publication received favorable reviews such as
the one in The United States Democratic Review of December 1846 that
stated that “It has opened a charming vista to our mental vision.” The
designs were collected into an imposing, book, also called The Architect.
The first volume of this book was published in 1849 (vol. 1). Some of
Ranlett’s architectural designs were published in Godey’s Lady’s Book,
the influential fashion guide. To see his design for an Anglo Grecian Villa
which was published in The Architect (Vol. I, plate 31) and in
Godey’s Lady’s Book (Jan. 1850) go to
http://www.history.rochester.edu/godeys/01-50/agv.htm.
To see his design for a Cottage Villa in the Earliest English Style which was
published in The Architect (Vol. II, plate 61) and in
Godey's Lady's Book (March 1852)
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/images/glb3-1852c1.jpg
and
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/images/glb3-1852p173.jpg
Roseland Cottage is now operated as a historic house museum by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Ranlett’s Architectural Philosophy
Because Ranlett was a writer as well as an architect, we are able to excerpt the following quotes and share his opinions with you.
On architecture
But the most important feature of this subject, is its moral aspect. There is so intimate a connection between taste and morals, aesthetics and Christianity, that they, in each instance, mutually modify each other: hence whatever serves to cultivate the taste of a community, will be likely to improve their morals; and whatever promotes their knowledge of beauty, will give Christianity increased opportunity and means of charming the heart and governing the life. For this view, it follows that he who corrects a vicious or improper development of public taste; or opens the way or provides the means of proper aesthetic gratification, is to be looked upon as a public benefactor. The Architect, I, p. 3
Architecture is not the imitation of any thing in nature or science—it is wholly artificial, hence improvements in it are more difficult, being new intellectual creations. The Architect, I, p. 4
Expression of Purpose
The form and character of a building, should be expressive of its use and destination, while particular features indicate its purpose to a marked degree. Thus, very large plain doors and the absence of chimneys, denote a stable or barn—very high chimneys indicate a factory—a spire designates a church, and heavy columns should denote a public building, but in the tasteless use that is often made of them, it is difficult to distinguish a bank from a church -a town hall or even sometimes a private dwelling. Verandas, piazzas and porches are very expressive of purpose, and a dwelling should always have one or more of them; and balconies, which are decidedly ornamental and not without use. Windows are among the most expressive features that denote purpose. They should be well proportioned to the size and style. Bay and oriel windows are highly expressive of purpose and are very ornamental and useful features. Chimney tops denote the use of an edifice, and they should be so elevated as to prevent the wind from interfering with the smoke, by the influence of the roof or gables. They may, with great propriety, be ornamented and made pleasing to the eye, rendering them important features of the scene. The front door is highly expressive of purpose, and may be made an important part of the scene by a graceful porch or campanile. Color is another expressive feature. A stable or barn should have an unobtrusive tint, while the cottage or villa has a pleasing mellow hue, harmonizing with the verdure of the surrounding scenery. The dazzling white so common on wooden buildings in this country, is in decidedly bad taste, and should be avoided in all cases. The Architect, I, p. 21-22.
Style in architecture
They [historic buildings in the style of different countries] were intimately connected with the most important characteristics and interests of the nations in which they arose; hence they are monuments to their intelligence and tastes, as well as of their greatest refinement and highest artistical skills. This renders the various styles of architecture expressive of certain sentiments, which are as legible to the intelligent eye, as the written productions of the poets, statesmen, and sages of those times. The indications of these sentiments, with the varied beauty of the forms, is the expression of style. It is manifest from these considerations, that an expensive building, in which no particular style of architecture is recognized, may be compared__in an aesthetic view__to a fine book in which no particular language is perceived; and one containing a combination of styles, to such a book in a confused mixture of languages¼. The Architect, I, p. 22.
The best style is always that which best suits the taste of the builder,¼. The Architect, II, p. 10.
ALTHOUGH we cannot, in the United States, lay claim to any national style of Architecture, yet in adapting to our own necessities the architectural forms which were originated in other nations, we must, of necessity, so vary them as to give them, to a certain extent, an American expression. The Architect, II, p. 70.
It has often been made a reproach to our national character that we imitate all other people in our architecture, while we have nothing that we can claim as our own. But so far from this being a reproach, it is rather a credit, that having a knowledge of the old world’s experience we have the intelligence to avail ourselves of the wisdom of our ancestors¼.Our architecture, like our language, is made up of borrowings from the rest of the world, with a portion of our own inventions; and notwithstanding that it is so diverse in its character it will be found that we have invented more than we have imitated. If any of the great architects of antiquity were to visit our houses, they would confess that we had so materially improved upon the models which their genius has furnished us, that our domestic dwellings and public buildings are as worthy of the name of original edifices as any that antiquity can boast of.
In all the interior arrangements of our houses, it is not in the mere grandeur of external show, there cannot, of course, be any comparison of ancient with modern domestic buildings; and it is for their habitableness-their comfort-affording capacities alone, that houses are valuable; lacking these qualities they lack everything. We can well afford to allow the pre-eminence of outside grandeur to the ancients, while we can claim a thousand aids to pleasure and health which they never dreamed of. The Architect, II, p. 71
¼A man’s Cottage is, in this country, the casket which contains his most precious jewels; it is the nursery of his best affections, the real temple of his truest worship, where he retired to give vent to his joys or his griefs, and its should honestly conform to his tastes and his means; the fashion of it should be peculiar to himself. The Architect, II, p. 11.
Existing buildings that were designed by William H. Ranlett
The Hermitage (Waldwic Cottage), 335 North Franklin Turnpike, Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. Gothic Revival remodeling and enlargement of earlier house, 1847-48. National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places. Published in The Architect, II, pages 31-32, 43, plate 29.
William H. Ranlett House, Castleton, Staten Island, New York City, New York. Gothic Revival. c. 1841. Cover of The Architect. Extensively altered today.
Tudor Hall, Bel Air, off MD 22, Maryland. Gothic Revival. 1847. National Register of Historic Places. Built from design in The Architect.
Eureka, Robert D. Baskerville House, Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Italianate. 1858-59. Modeled on Design 31 in The Architect. Builder: Jacob W. Holt.
Lakeside, Myron Pardee
House, now Sigma Tau Chi Faternity House, 8 Montcalm St., Oswego, NY. Italianate. 1848.
National Register of Historic Places. Design in The Architect
http://www.sigmatauchi.org/househistory.html
Cooleemee, terminus of state route 1812 , Mocksville, North Carolina. Italianate. 1850-55. National Historic Landmark. National Register of Historic Places. Modeled on design in The Architect.
Joseph H. Atkinson
House, 1032 Broadway, Russian Hill, San Francisco, California. Italianate.
1853. Attributed to Ranlett. San Francisco City Landmark #97. In Russian
Hill-Vallejo Street Crest District on the National Register of Historic
Places.
http://www.rhn.org/bd1032.htm
“The House of Many Corners,” William H. Ranlett House, 1637 Taylor St., San Francisco. Italianate. 1853-54. North half removed ca. 1895, much altered in 1940s-50s. http://www.rhn.org/rhnwalka.htm
Hightower Hall, John
Simpson Bratton House, York County Road 165, Brattonville Historic District,
York County, South Carolina. Italianate. 1853-56. National Register of
Historic Places. Based on design in The Architect, Vol. 1.
Builder: O. P. Crawford.
http://www.yorkcounty.org/brattonsville/structures/hightower.html
T. Robins Brown and Schuyler Warmflash, The Architecture of Bergen County, New Jersey, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2001.
Richard Grubb & Associates, Inc., “Landscape Rehabilitation: Archaelogical Component, The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus Borough, Bergen County, New Jersey,” August 1991.
Robert P. Guter and Janet W. Foster, Building by the Book: Pattern Book Architecture in New Jersey, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992.
Robin Karson, editor, Restoring the Nineteenth-Century Landscape: The Hermitag: A Case Study of Restoration Potential, Proceedings of the Garden Conservancy Conference held March 13, 1992 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, Cold Spring, NY: Garden Conservancy, November 1992.
William Kostura, Russian Hill – The Summit 1853-1906L Volume 1 of a Neighborhood History, San Francisco: Aerie Publications, 1997. Excellent coverage of Ranlett’s California years.
Susan B. Matheson and Derek D. Churchill, Modern Gothic: The Revival of Medieval Art, New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 2000.
Richard C. Muhlberger, “William H. Ranlett, 19th-Century Architect and Publisher,” Historic Preservation, 22 (Jan.-March 1970), 10-15.
William H. Pierson, Jr., American Buildings and Their Architects: Technology and the Picturesque, The Corporate and the Early Gothic Styles, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1980.
William H. Ranlett, The Architect, Vol. I & II, New York: Dewitt & Davenport, 1849-1851. Reprint, New York: DaCapo Press, 1976.
Short & Ford, “The Hermitage, Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey: Historic Structure Report,” April 1981.
Archival images from the collection of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
