Henry Vaughan (architect)

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for others with the same name see Henry Vaughan (disambiguation)

Henry Vaughan (1845-1917), a prolific and talented church architect, came to America to bring the English Gothic style to the American branch of the Anglican Communion (The Episcopal Church). He was an apprentice under George Frederick Bodley and went on to great success popularizing the Gothic Revival style.

[edit] Life

Vaughan was born in Cheshire, England. When he was a child, his family relocated to Dollar in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. He attended Dollar Academy, and was awarded a bronze medal in art from the school in 1863. He then began his apprenticeship under Bodley, eventually becoming head draftsman at the firm of Bodley and Garner.

In 1881, Vaughan came to America, settling in Boston and opening an office in Pemberton Square.He married Mary Shellow a few years later and they had ten children together. He rapidly found success with the Anglican (Episcopal) and Catholic churches. His first commission in the USA was the Chapel of the Society of Saint Margaret.

In the mid-1880s, Vaughan began to receive commissions from Edward Francis Searles, working on numerous projects continuing through until Vaughn's death.

Vaughn died in 1917 in the Boston suburb of Newton Centre, and was interred at the Washington National Cathedral.

[edit] Projects

Notable Vaughan projects include

Chapel of the Society of Saint Margaret, Boston, MA
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NY (particularly the chapels to Saint Boniface, Saint James, and Saint Ansgar)
Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. (with Bodley)
The Church of the Mediator, Kingsbridge, NY, called "the little cathedral of the Bronx" (as of April 2007, this structure is in danger of demolition to be replaced by condominiums) (1913)
Christ Church, New Haven, CT
Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY (with Ralph Adams Cram)
St John's Chapel, at Groton School, Groton, MA
Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, at St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire), Concord, NH
Amasa Stone Chapel, at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Collaborations with Searles include

Serlo Organ Hall (completed 1909) and Pine Lodge Mansion in Methuen, MA
Stillwater Manor, a 24-room 3-story mansion in Salem, NH
Stanton Harcourt Castle, now known as Searles Castle, Windham, NH. 20 room castle completed in 1915 at a cost of approximately $1,250,000, modeled on the Stanton Harcourt Castle in Oxfordshire, England.
Dream House, now known as Searles Mansion, Block Island, RI. Constructed 1886-1888 as a home for Searles and his wife, it had a "twin house" design with each of the Searles' having a separate identical side of the mansion.
Mary Francis Searles Science Building, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
various schools and churches