Boston Flora

Tag: Gibson House Museum

  • Tuesday, May 5, 6:00 pm – Arts and Crafts Architecture: History and Heritage in New England

    Anyone who has spent time in New England will recognize the century-old buildings that Maureen Meister will discuss in a slide lecture on Tuesday, May 5 at The Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, that draws upon her new book, Arts and Crafts Architecture: History and Heritage in New England (University Press of New England). Focusing on the 1890s through the 1920s, she will explain how a group of Boston architects and craftsmen were influenced by English Arts and Crafts theories to produce works that are now landmarks, admired for their exquisite ornament. At the same time, the buildings reflect a rich intellectual culture that flourished in New England one hundred years ago. A reception begins at 6, with the lecture at 7. For more information email info@thegibsonhouse.org.
    Maureen Meister is an art historian who writes about American art and architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is the author of Architecture and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Boston: Harvard’s H. Langford Warren, 2003, and was volume editor of H. H. Richardson: The Architect, His Peers, and Their Era, 1999. She holds a doctorate from Brown University and an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College. Since 1998, she has taught at Tufts University.

  • Wednesday, April 1, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – The Nineteenth Annual Gibson House Benefit

    The Nineteenth Annual Gibson House Museum Benefit will take place Wednesday, April 1, from 6 – 8 at the Chilton Club in Boston.  This elegant and fun affair helps support the mission of preserving and sharing the Gibson House as a unique time capsule of Back Bay Life.  This year the benefit will honor author Anthony Mitchell Sammarco.  To purchase tickets on line, or for more information, visit www.thegibsonhouse.org.

  • Saturday and Sunday, October 4 – 5 – Gibson House New York Row House Tour

    Saturday and Sunday, October 4 – 5 – Gibson House New York Row House Tour

    Registration is now open for the Gibson House Museum’s 1859 Weekend in Manhattan and Brooklyn: Bricks & Brownstones: Row Houses in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Evolution of the New York Row House: 1835-1900.
    The focus of this tour will be the development of the New York row house during the Victorian Era (1837-1901). Proceeds from this tour will benefit the Back Bay of Boston’s own Victorian row house the Gibson House Museum. It is recommended that tour participants stay at the Grand Union Hotel, 34 East 32nd Street in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood. This hotel is a good value and has a convenient breakfast café from which to launch the tours.

    Saturday, October 4th: Our day of touring begins at 9 a.m. We will visit the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, pictured below, which provides a fascinating opportunity to tour what is probably the first complete recreation of a Victorian residential building. Built during the 1850s and torn down in 1916, the decision was made after T.R.’s death in 1919 to re-create his parents’ Italianate brownstone residence in the Murray Hill section of New York City. The President’s family was very much involved in this 1923 recreation and returned numerous furnishings that belonged to the Roosevelt family (Reservations are now in place for tour up to 15 people — admission is free)

    From T.R’s house in Manhattan we’ll take cabs to the Brooklyn Museum. Following lunch in the museum’s café we will have a guided tour the museum’s period rooms (Tour is booked for 1:30-2:30 tour of period rooms with emphasis on Victoriana—Adult admission $15, Seniors—62 and older:$13—guided tour included in price of admission ). The Brooklyn Museum was a leader in the installation of Victorian era interiors-as early as the late 1930s the Turkish smoking room from John D. Rockefeller’s house in the East 50s of Manhattan was purchased and made available for viewing at the museum. After lunch we will visit Grand Army Plaza, Frederick Law Olmsted’s Prospect Park as well as the late nineteenth century mansions of Prospect Park West and adjacent side streets. Following a reception at an 1888 Romanesque Revival/Dutch row house designed by C.P.H. Gilbert we will have dinner at the moderately — priced Two Boots (the cuisine of the boot shaped Louisiana and Italy) in Park Slope (Park Slope tour lead by Ed Gordon).

    On Sunday, October 5th we will gather in the Grand Union’s lobby at 9:30 a.m. to take cabs to Brooklyn Heights. Once the domain of descendants of wealthy Dutch families, the Heights, overtime, has been the home of well- known preachers (Henry Ward Beecher) poets (Walt Whitman), engineers (the Roeblings who built the Brooklyn Bridge) and above all writers — from Hart Crane through Carson McCullers to Truman Capote and Norman Mailer. Highlights of the tour include a look at “the City of Church’s” churches including houses of worship by Minard LeFevre, James Renwick, Richard Upjohn and others. We will stroll along the elevated walkway overlooking Brooklyn Heights known as the Promenade and enjoy brunch at a Heights restaurant. (Brooklyn Heights tour lead by Ed Gordon) After brunch we will return to Manhattan to tour the Seabury — Treadwell House (a.k.a. Old Merchant’s House). This 1832 red brick row house’s Greek Revival interiors contain fine examples of antebellum furniture that belonged to the Treadwell family who lived here from the mid-1830s to the mid-1930s (reservations have been made for a 3 p.m. appointment).

    Tour Registration: $175 ($100 donation to GHM and $75 per person to cover museum admissions and cab rides). Transportation to and from NYC as well as hotel and meals are not included). Limited to 15 people. For more information call 617.267.6338 or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

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  • Thursday, March 20, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Gibson House Museum Eighteenth Annual Benefit

    The Gibson House Museum will hold its eighteenth annual benefit on Thursday, March 20 from 6:30 – 8:30 at The Algonquin Club on Commonwealth Avenue.  The 2014 honoree is Jonathan L. Fairbanks, an artist who is also one of the world’s foremost experts on American arts and antiques. He created the Department of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and served as its chief curator from 1970 to 1999. He is currently the director of the Fuller Craft Museum. Mr. Fairbanks has received many awards for his outstanding and diverse contributions to his field. We honor him particularly for his long-standing dedication to historic preservation and for increasing our knowledge and appreciation of 19th- and early 20th-century American architecture and decorative arts. Tickets may be reserved by calling 617-267-6338 or by visiting www.thegibsonhouse.org.

    http://www.lib.utah.edu/img/people/FairbanksJonathanLeo.jpg

  • Sunday, February 16, 3:00 pm – William Morris’ Red House

    The Victorian Society of America, London and Newport Summer Schools Promotional Program at Gibson House Museum (Funded by the VSA/Summer Schools) will take place Sunday, February 16, beginning with a reception at 3:00 p.m.,followed by a lecture by Elizabeth Holbrook on William Morris’ Red House.

    R.s.v.p. required, please call 617-267-6338 to reserve. Free admission with R.s.v.p. Seating is limited Gibson House Museum is located at 137 Beacon Street, Boston, in Back Bay.

    http://www.williammorristile.com/morris_life/red_house_upper_landing.jpg

  • Monday, September 23, 6:00 pm – The Grandest of the Grand: The Mansions of Commonwealth Avenue

    The Gibson House Museum will sponsor a walking tour entitled The Grandest of the Grand: The Mansions of Commonwealth Avenue from Arlington Street to Massachusetts Avenue, on Monday, September 23, at 6 pm, led by architectural historian Edward Gordon.  The tour will commence at the Gibson House Museum at 137 Beacon Street.  For more information, and to rsvp, call 617-267-6338, or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

    http://blog.thecharlesrealty.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/153939800_55a9fbe555.jpg

  • Tuesday, January 22, 6:00 pm – Good Manners

    There were significant changes in American behavior over the 100-year span of the Gibson family’s residence on Beacon Street. Etiquetteer Robert Dimmick uses Gibson family stories from the archives to illustrate the evolution of etiquette and customs with a witty and informative one-hour tour of the family rooms of the Gibson House, 137 Beacon Street, Boston, on Tuesday, January 22 beginning at 6 pm.  Don’t miss this glimpse of Victorian and early 20th-century culture and customs in this unique setting.

    Admission: members free – GHM/VSA/NE; $10. – non-members . Space is limited, RSVP: 617.267.6338 or info@thegibsonhouse.org by Friday, January 18.

     

     

  • Monday, December 3, 6:00 pm – Repeal Day Anniversary Celebration

    Rumor has it that Charles Gibson bragged about the bathtub gin that he served at 137 Beacon Street during Prohibition. Join The Gibson House Museum on Monday, December 3 at 6 pm when the museum, in cooperation with Etiquetteer Robert Dimmick, hosts a benefit cocktail reception to celebrate the 79th anniversary of Repeal Day (December 5, 1933). We don’t have any of Charlie’s gin available, but the event will feature famous Knockabout Gin from Ryan and Wood Distillery in Gloucester.  For more information, email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

  • Tuesday, November 27, 5:30 pm – International Preservation Talk

    Join members of the Victorian Society of America/New England Chapter on Tuesday, November 27, at the Gibson House, 137 Beacon Street, for a lecture by Melanie Hall, Associate Professor of Art History at Boston University. Melanie Hall teaches courses in American and English architecture and preservation, decorative arts, and Museum Studies. She is currently the Director of the Museum Studies Program at Boston University. Ms. Hall will speak on her new book about international preservation, Towards World Heritage.  A reception will begin at 5:30, with testimonials on behalf of the Victorian Society London and Newport at 6:30, and the lecture at 6:45.  RSVP: 617.267.6338 or email: lauragresh@thegibsonhouse.org.

  • Monday, September 24, 6:00 pm – Puddingstone, Pinnacles and Pointed Arches: Church Construction in the Back Bay 1860 – 1880

    Please join the members and friends of the Gibson House Museum for a tour of churches of the eastern Back Bay lead by architectural historian Ed Gordon. We will view ecclesiastical edifices built in the eastern part of the neighborhood from Arlington to Dartmouth Streets during the first twenty years of the Back Bay’s massive land making project. During the course of the tour we’ll touch on topics ranging from architect Arthur Gilman’s unusual choice of English Georgian as the style for the Arlington Street Church (below) through Richard Upjohn’s early use of Roxbury puddingstone for the Church of the Covenant to the roles played by colorful personalities such as H.H. Richardson and Phillips Brooks in shaping the design of Trinity Church.

    Meeting Place: The Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, Boston (between Arlington and Berkeley Streets)

    Admission: $10 Members GHM & VSA/NE $12 Non Members. For information, visit www.thegibsonhouse.org.